Some nasties in the water there
www.perthnow.com.au/wa/popular-kite-surfing-spots-safety-bay-beach-and-the-pond-closed-after-bacteria-found--c-19799399
Thanks for the heads up. Its been getting worse and worse as its closed up. I think it really lost its appeal for windsurfers a couple of years ago when it started to close up further in (thanks to the yearly dredging). Im sure all the kiters will be devastated. But it was only a matter of time before it turned really skanky.
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
Thanks for the heads up. Its been getting worse and worse as its closed up. I think it really lost its appeal for windsurfers a couple of years ago when it started to close up further in (thanks to the yearly dredging). Im sure all the kiters will be devastated. But it was only a matter of time before it turned really skanky.
Makes you wonder doesn't it. Was it the dredging that changed things or just the way it was always going to be? I had some good years sailing there.
I keep hoping that the shallow section opens up a bit more to let water in and out a bit, but its probably shallow enough that its closed completely at low tide.
The Pond was/is forever changing, i think it was always going to fill in. but the dredging has certainly accelerated the process, no question about it. The cut at the end of the tern island point has let in a whole lot of sand and weed thats formed up whats there now.
ironically, they've not only screwed it up for windsports, their million dollar jetty is completely unusable now.
Here's a sequence view of Safetybay from 2002 to around 2015
Here it is now
Its a nice line of sand from the cut at the end of the point, and leads straight to the boat ramp.
i'll always have fond memories of the pond, but i fear this now means we're going to have the entire pond kiting population out with us on the west side of the tern island point
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
i'll always have fond memories of the pond, but i fear this now means we're going to have the entire pond kiting population out with us on the west side of the tern island point
Don't be too worried. I think a lot of them will stay inside the pond, no matter how small it is. I think they love the flatwater, but it makes it crazy congested. Even if they are outside it has heaps more room, but then again some kiters have no idea when it comes to who goes where.
Last season I was kiting (don't judge me!) outside the pond because the sandbar where we used to gybe over was deep enough for kiting even though it was still shallow. No one else was kiting out there even though it was pretty good. I think they saw me enjoying myself too much as an hour later there were 4 or 5 people kiting around me. Maybe that will become the new section to use?
Select to expand quoteelmo said..
Here's a sequence view of Safetybay from 2002 to around 2015
When I stared in 2001 the sand bar was pretty much perpendicular with the shore. Sooner or later it will join back up with the shore and the natural flow of sand down the beach.
I remember Simon from GoWindsurfing tell us on a trip in Fiji that Safety Bay was better and that they would gybe near a sandbar somewhere and video it. I guess that must have been in 2000 or slightly before because by the time I turned up in about 2002 I think the sandbar had already started to move across to the east.
I would prefer if it moved a km or so further to the east 
I think it's sort of funny that the 'protected' area of Tern Island where you weren't allowed to rig up in or launch from has pretty much washed away completely. It was meant to be a reserve to protect nesting birds but nature had other ideas.
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
Here it is now
i'll always have fond memories of the pond, but i fear this now means we're going to have the entire pond kiting population out with us on the west side of the tern island point
No mate, already noticed the increase in twin tip idiots in and out of the break at Dutchies last summer
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..Subsonic said..
Here it is now
i'll always have fond memories of the pond, but i fear this now means we're going to have the entire pond kiting population out with us on the west side of the tern island point
No mate, already noticed the increase in twin tip idiots in and out of the break at Dutchies last summer
I guess we'll just have to share the luv then. :p
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..Mark _australia said..Subsonic said..
Here it is now
i'll always have fond memories of the pond, but i fear this now means we're going to have the entire pond kiting population out with us on the west side of the tern island point
No mate, already noticed the increase in twin tip idiots in and out of the break at Dutchies last summer
I guess we'll just have to share the luv then. :p
Nope, more shotguns needed..
Does anyone think that the Pond will come back after the winter storms rearange everything? Everytime I go past I see it changing and to my optimistic eyes its looking closer to what it has been in the past. I will be curious to see the outcome next summer to see if it has returned to something close to what it was before.
Guess that's the million dollar question, hard to predict. Drone snapshots of recent changes might give some indication, but nature does what it does best. Let's see what it has in store for us...
Took these this morning from the jetty, that sand bar has completely gone now ( probably made the pond itself super shallow) and the original spit has also shrunk and has another opening closer to tern island . It was like this before the recent storm so who knows how it will look in a few months .
the bottom one is from the jetty October 2025 
It's amazing what nature can do. Would be cool if someone with a drone can take a photo every month or so and turn it into a time-lapse. This area will change drastically over the next few years, so interested to see what happens next. Maybe we end up with a perfect wave 🤣
It produces little ramps everywhere in a good blow because of the depth without all the chop
Select to expand quoteptsf1111 said..
It's amazing what nature can do. Would be cool if someone with a drone can take a photo every month or so and turn it into a time-lapse. This area will change drastically over the next few years, so interested to see what happens next. Maybe we end up with a perfect wave ??
It would be awesome if someone could do this. I keep on going out of my way to drive past every now and then but its probably better to just wait and see what happens by September.
I hope it doesn't change and then the council decide to start dredging again... ;-(
They do whatever the modelling tells them to do which is always wrong.
And who,s got a mate for a sand removal contract to steel our money.
It’d be nice if it did open up to something usable again, but not holding my breath. Looks like the council may pick up the dredging again if nature helps. It’d be a shame if they dredge where they did before, it’d be the whole saga over again
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
It'd be nice if it did open up to something usable again, but not holding my breath. Looks like the council may pick up the dredging again if nature helps. It'd be a shame if they dredge where they did before, it'd be the whole saga over again
Hey, if people are campaigning about red rubbish bins, maybe someone can campaign about not wasting money on dredging?
It sounds like the money would be better spent building/rebuilding another boatramp somewhere else where its not likely to get inundated with sand. Clearly where the yacht club is tells us that its difficult to stop sand buildup.
Select to expand quoteFormulaNova said..Subsonic said..
It'd be nice if it did open up to something usable again, but not holding my breath. Looks like the council may pick up the dredging again if nature helps. It'd be a shame if they dredge where they did before, it'd be the whole saga over again
Hey, if people are campaigning about red rubbish bins, maybe someone can campaign about not wasting money on dredging?
It sounds like the money would be better spent building/rebuilding another boatramp somewhere else where its not likely to get inundated with sand. Clearly where the yacht club is tells us that its difficult to stop sand buildup.
While they’re at it, if they could trim the top off tern island point back to the kite beach and replant some nice salt bush to hold everything in place, that’d be money well spent (well, from our perspective).
i think the boaties have had their turn with the space/council spending on maintenance. Our turn now.
I reckon they should add some shotgun towers there so we can pick off the kites that pollute the pond as well. That would make the area a lot nicer and safer for everyone. 😀
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
While they're at it, if they could trim the top off tern island point back to the kite beach and replant some nice salt bush to hold everything in place, that'd be money well spent (well, from our perspective).
I remember seeing the area after a storm washed away the whole point. It was sort of amusing as it was a restricted area due to Tern nesting, but mother nature wasn't reading the sign and washed the whole thing away. It was full of shrubs and grass, but it didn't hold it together. I think once those winter storms get going, not much can stop it.
