Patrolling the Beach

I love this 'blogging' business.  It's so easy and instant.  I type my little stories and as soon as I publish them they are instantly available for you to read.  Thanks for the positive feedback too, it's very encouraging.

Noel emailed me with some great pictures taken at the beach in the last week.  He has also given me a report on the Preston Beach Beach Volunteer Rangers, so seeing that he has done all the hard work, I will just copy and paste his report and upload the pictures for you to enjoy.

Washed ashore

PRESTON BEACH VOLUNTEER RANGERS REPORT

There was a time when winter ensured our beach had a bit of a rest, an occasional vehicle and sometimes maybe just the odd hardy soul braving the elements. Sadly those days seem to be but a distant memory. The new highway combined with a change in our weather pattern has resulted in the beach still being busy on many weekends and for the Volunteer Beach Rangers this has meant we have also had to change the way we operate. Putting the vehicle away in a shed for winter is hardly an option these days. The sand is soft, many drivers are not experienced and as a result we are getting more needing assistance. Whilst it is not the role of the Volunteers to act as tow truck operators the fact is that on many occasions we are the only option to get people out of bother.

In addition, we are getting an increasing number of calls to check on injured roos and to pick up dead ones and dispose of them. Again this is not one of our designated duties however we will assist whenever we are able.
Picking up litter off the beach is ongoing and whilst this summer we noticed a marked improvement with less litter this year compared to other years it is interesting to see what the ocean is throwing back at us following some of our winter storms. In the back of the Ranger vehicle we have 2 crowd control barriers, a tyre, various floats, an assortment of rope, timber, stubbies, cans and bits of plastic etc.

However the prize for the most unusual find so far this year goes to Volunteer Ranger Barry Pittman who came across a barnacle encrusted aluminium dinghy that had obviously been on the bottom of the ocean for a long time
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Live Barnacles attached to the dinghy

Anyone who has been to the beach this week will have noticed the new signs at the beach access tracks. No excuses for not knowing the rules pertaining to the beach from now on.

Regards, Noel.

I love the pic of the boat and barnacles, and for those who haven't been down the beach for a while, here are preview pics of the new signs.

If you want a close up view of any photo's just click them and they will load as enlargements.