Roger Kelly organised the first Osprey River Rangers Patrol with four NICA Volunteers on 17th April.
The first stop was to refuel at O Boats and we then ran down stream to the western end of Woods Bay. Landing the volunteers was easily achieved and we spread out along the riverbank and adjoining wetlands. There was no shortage of rubbish both in the river and along the strand.
All the usual stuff, plastic bait bags bottles – glass and plastic cans, ropes, chip packets and assorted picnic detritus.
The Osprey picked up the volunteers and moved into the Noosa Sound canals and under the Garth Proud Bridge with no problems on a half tide – obviously – we’d be unable to attempt it at High Tide. Volunteers landed and secured rubbish along the Canal as far as the Noosa Crest Boat Ramp adjacent to the recently constructed Rock Oyster Reefs.
We were running out of time by then and headed towards the Coast Guard Beach where we unloaded our haul and binned it in the Skip provided. In addition to the general waste, we had collected 3 derelict abandoned Crab Pots without floats or owner details.
In conclusion, the new craft is perfectly suited to this work and is stable and powerful enough to make collection and removal simple and efficient. If you can spare a morning once a month, please contact NICA, as we are working towards a weekly patrol.
Thanks to the Qld Government Community Benefit Fund Gambling Grant which helped finance the purchase of Osprey.