Byron Shire Echo – Issue 22.30 – 08/01/2008

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Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 22 #30 TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2008 22,500 copies every week

L I G H T

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Dumb gets dumber and dangerous in wild weather Story & photo Jann Gilbert While it may have put a bit of a dampener on New Years Eve celebrations the wild weather that has been lashing the north coast has caused more than a few headaches for local lifeguards, marine and SES personnel. A brief glimpse of sunshine on Wednesday brought people flocking to Main Beach where, in the space of 30 minutes, lifeguards were required to help four people from the water who were being swept down the beach by the strong side-sweeping current. They also rescued another man who was swept from The Pass to Clarkes Beach. A young local girl who alerted lifeguards to his predicament spotted the man, a holidaymaker who could not swim. The man was subsequently rescued and ambulance officers attended. Apart from suffering exhaustion, the man escaped unscathed and hopefully wiser.

The Lifesaver 4 helicopter and the Surf Club rescue jet ski were also called into action on Wednesday when a 000 caller reported a possible sighting of someone in trouble off the Cape. Despite an hour-long search there was no sign of anyone in the water and the search was called off. Steve Leahy, Northern NSW Lifeguard Coordinator with Surf Life Saving NSW, says, ‘Most people are smart enough to stay out of the water or swim between the flags and not go out too far in conditions like this but there’s always a small percentage who seem to think they’re invincible.’ Senior Lifeguard, Al Mactier, agrees. ‘Our greatest concern in these conditions is with beginner surfers on hire boards or novice bodyboard riders. I’ve seen so many guys get into the water out the front here and within seconds they’re on an expressway to The Wreck in a huge swell and they’ve

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THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO

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Eighty tonnes of wood chopping fun at Bruns

got no idea how to get back in.’ Steve and Al would both like to see more responsible practices from board hire operators such as a no-hire policy when conditions are dangerous, and more water safety and local conditions information for people hiring boards. ‘Prevention is important,’ says Al. ‘If we can educate people on where to swim or surf then obviously there’s less rescue work involved, which is safer for everyone.’ Beachgoers who ignore warnings about the dangerous conditions also cause additional and unnecessary stress for lifeguards, not to mention putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk. ‘On one of the worst days over the past week the Lifeguard at Suffolk Park warned a family of two adults and five children that the beach was closed due to treacherous conditions,’ says Steve. ‘Despite repeated warnings they continued on page 2

Chief Log Yard Steward Colin Watson contemplates sorting and stacking 80 tonnes of woodchop logs at Brunswick Heads.

Story & photo Eve Jeffery Colin Watson loves the Brunswick Heads Woodchop. In 1966 in the event’s fifth year, Colin started as a 16 year old lad helping out in the ring, picking up wood chips after the races. He has been involved in the chop every year since and is a Life Member, who 15 years ago became Chief Log Yard Steward. Colin, who lives in Ocean Shores, started preparing for the chop in mid December and will continue until the end of January when, after the event, he will dress the area with topsoil, re-seed and feed and water the new grass until it

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returns to the condition it was in before the logs arrived. Last week four 20 tonne trucks loads of sized poplar logs were delivered to Banner Park in Brunswick Heads in preparation for this year’s Fish and Chips Festival, and Colin and his team of six set to work sorting and stacking the logs, a job that takes about four days. Each of the 34 races has a specific sized log and there are few spares, so Colin and his crew have to make sure they get it right when they are processing the load. The smallest logs are 250mm and the continued on page 2

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