WARDANG ISLAND MARITIME HERITAGE TRAIL

The web page found at http://www.southaustraliantrails.com/top_trails.asp?wardang says, "To reduce anchor damage, mooring buoys have been installed at five of the wrecks, for boats to tie up to". We asked the SA Trails Coordinating Committee how are those mooring buoys were going, adding that, “David Nutley, Principal Maritime Heritage Officer, Heritage Branch, Department for Environment and Heritage, advises us that the Norma mooring buoy has not yet been replaced. "We are looking at the whole question of the future management of shipwreck mooring buoys and whether their ongoing maintenance is viable" he said. "Maintenance costs are significant due to their susceptibility to damage from weather, etc.. Not an easy problem to solve at present. The Star of Greece buoy was collected from the beach last Friday (24/7) and is unfortunately unrepairable. We will be looking into options for that site", he said.” We received a reply from Marty Krieg, Project Officer, Asset Management & Development, Office for Recreation & Sport, which reads, “Thank you for your email. I will forward it on to the DEH representatives on the SA Trails Coordinating Committee (SATCC) who may be able to follow up on this issue with David Nutley. Judy Hani is the representative from SDFSA on the SATCC, and she noted the issue with the Star of Greece buoy at the last meeting a couple of weeks ago. Generally speaking it is probably a good idea to raise these types of issues via Judy as the SATCC is a good forum in which to do that.” Visit http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/resources/shipwreck_trails.html for more details re the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail.