As a car ferry project to connect Cowes and Stony Point is revisited this year, the Advertiser reproduces articles written back in 2010 which aired the opinions of two local and long time men of the sea with a life time experience of the bay, who opposed the pier concept, and wondered if nature will yet have the final say.

The late Ray Dickie, a San Remo fisherman for over 50 years and long-time member of the San Remo Foreshore Committee, spent his lifetime in this region.

Over the years he watched as new structures, including the Phillip Island bridge, changed tidal movements and caused erosion in the area.

This is an interview with Ray from 2010 on this issue.

“It goes back to the approach to the old San Remo jetty, which had piles,” said Ray at the time.

“When they built that new jetty, they took those piles away and put in an approach and retaining walls in a filled area.

“That approach then went out 30 to 40 metres.

“Just doing that made a difference to what went on at the Back Beach.

“The tidal sand movement made it erode more.

“And that was only a small alteration to the tidal area.”

The bridge approach also affected the mudflats off Churchill Island.

“There were mudflats 40 metres out according to my brother, who worked in Western Port Bay mesh netting,” said Ray.

“It affected a number of different areas in the bay.”

Ray predicts the Cowes beaches will suffer alterations if the car ferry proposal goes ahead.

“I can’t say where it will be altered, but it will be on the north side of the Island.”

“Even engineers have trouble telling you where.

“The approach to the jetty and taking those piles out made a difference at San Remo.

“We know if you have structures into the tide, you are going to have problems.

“In San Remo it eroded more, that is why we put the groins up.

“I see problems with erosion with the Cowes project ….somewhere.

“The tide will tell you where, if they go ahead with the car ferry project.”

Ray said the natural tide movements were unpredictable in the area.

“I don’t know if it did anything at Newhaven, it alters just with the tidal movements.

“It builds up one year and disappears another.”

He told the story of a local resident complaining to the San Remo Foreshore Committee about the stones and weeds on the local beaches.

“Within six months it was all covered again with sand from the natural sand movements,” said Ray.

“The man wrote to us and thanked us for a job well done clearing up the beach.

“We never did enlighten him.”

Ray was opposed to a car ferry terminal at the Cowes jetty.

“I’m certainly not in favour of it there,” he said.

“It is one of the best north facing beaches in Australia.

“Don’t muck it up.

“They seem to want everything in the middle of Cowes.

“Cowes now in the summer time is busy enough, without getting busier again.”

Ray said there has been a lot of opposition to the plan.

“Locals are 90 percent against the car ferry terminal at the Cowes jetty,” said Ray.

“Most tourists are against that area as well.

“It is their beach.

“They don’t make beaches north facing anymore.

“It is a luxury I don’t think we need.”

However, he believes the plan will take many years to develop.

“A long time resident told me the car ferry will probably start the day the Isle of Wight starts,” he joked.

43 years working for Ports and Harbours

Frank Walton spent 43 years working for Ports and Harbours in San Remo.

The son of Harbour Master Les Walton, Fran started as a labourer in 1954 and ended up in charge of the jetties in the area.

“Bill Parker was in charge of the jetties, and I later took over his job,” recalled Frank in 2010.

“We built the San Remo jetty, Newhaven and Rhyll all out of concrete.”

He can’t remember when the original Cowes jetty was demolished, but recalls it was a big job.

“We worked off the old jetty to drive the new jetty,” said Frank.

“It was about 12 months work.”

“It could rise and fall 10 feet with the gantry lifting the deck up and down to suit the boat.

“It had two lanes on it, one for pedestrians and one for the railway line.

“It all got pulled out.”

Frank recalls a rock wall was built in east Cowes to stop the erosion in the area.

“The foreshore was eroding out, it was all tea tree along there.

“Tassie James built the rock wall and I carted some of it.

“Half the wall was bluestone that came out of Pentridge Jail.”

Frank said the area was prone to sand movements and tidal surge.

“It comes and goes.

“We put stone in from Silverleaves to Erewhon Point.”

He has an historical photograph showing waves crashing over the Cowes jetty.

“The tide was so high it was awash,” said Frank.

“The tide and wind was huge.”

He recalled a time when another big surge came into the Cowes jetty.

“There had been a bike ride and a boat load of people came from Sorrento and tied up at Cowes.

“The surge lifted the bare ropes off the pylon …the boat was free.”

Frank remembers when all the goods came to the Island by ferry.

“They would bring the beer and the mail.

“The ferry was well used, it was running everyday.

“If it was too windy and fresh, they would go to Rhyll and unload.”

But like many other locals, he is opposed to a new car ferry terminal at the Cowes jetty.

“It will upset the foreshore,” said Frank.

“There is no room to accommodate it.

“There is not enough room on the triangle to have all that going on.

Frank said he is not against a car ferry for the Island, believing the service will relieve the pressure on the local roads.

“The bridge is no good,” he said.

“At Easter time cars were lined up to the bottom hotel trying to get on the bridge after there had been a prang.”

He thinks there is an alternative site.

“They would be better off having it at Erewhon Point.”