Well it’s definitely been a season with a difference thanks to the El Nina weather . The combination of summer storms,very high tides and swells caused significant erosion of the Southern length of Seven Mile Beach from the river mouth right up to Berry’s Beach . The major issues were in the section between the beach accesses from north and south of Shoalhaven Heads . Sand cliffs up to 4metres high formed as the swell cut into the dunes taking big sections of bush vegetation away with the tidal flow and leaving a trail of weathered sea wood in its wake. At high tides there was no accessible beach and sand cliffs where the beach entrances had been .
This presented the club executive and patrol members with extreme beach management challenges as this impacted the main beach entrance for moving patrol equipment to the beach and for the public to be safe accessing the beach. In consultation with Shoalhaven Council engineers earth-moving vehicles were bought in to dig a safe access to the main beach and trim the cliffs with additional public safety signage and beach closure notices in place over the busy holiday period.
This pattern of weather actions has continued and with the rain has meant it’s been a very hard season to offer families consistency and resulted in a Nippers programme that has been on and off all season. So thanks for the families who have kept coming rain or shine and thanks to the amazing efforts of Kim, the age managers, water safety, cadets and patrols more than 40 kids have had a fun time building new skills, ocean confidence and family friendships .
Over the summer Shoalhaven Council commenced external renovations which has included replacement of rotten fascias, facade trims and guttering, communications mast and associated repainting.The timber gear garage doors have been replaced with metal roller door in red with yellow trim in respect of our Surf Life Saving colours . External brickwork to both buildings will follow later this year. This means the planned mural project for the west and north sides of the garage has been set back until render is completed. Again the success of this has been due to coordination and negotiation between council and the club committee and support of our local councillors.
We want to acknowledge all members who regularly contribute to club management and maintenance using their many and varied personal and workplace skills . Some of you are on committee and some help out when an extra job needs doing in the gear shed, on patrol or with Nippers, so thanks to you all.
This is what makes Heads a great little club. So if you are a newer member and have skills we don’t know about yet that could complement and contribute to do tasks that need to be done please let us know.
In the next few months we have some internal projects starting and your experience will be welcomed . If you’re in a trade business , project management, hospitality, accounting , health and training , PR and creative arts, cleaning or an all rounder these are all relevant to running a successful surf club. Our long standing committee would welcome your contribution knowing as always many busy hands make all our tasks easier.
COVID restrictions on gatherings has meant that we haven’t been able to plan social events into our calendar yet but with Nippers finishing on March 28th and patrols ending on Anzac Day weekend plus NSW health easing numbers we are planning to end the seasons with presentation events. We will celebrate everyone’s efforts and acknowledge the generosity of organisations and individuals that have supported us though donations to the club this year. More news re this will be sent out to all members after the next committee meeting on March 8th.
Remember “#Our Club is Your Club” only if we all contribute to club activities. So tell us how and why to help us continue as a valued club and service in our community