A recreational fisherman, after literally being left in the dark, has called for the lights at the Sanctuary Point Boat ramp to be actually switched on.
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The fisherman and a mate went out for a fish one recent evening and had always expected to get back when it was dark.
However, they did not expect it would be so dark that they would have difficulty finding the ramp.
“It’s a good facility during the day but not so good at night because they don’t turn on the lights,” the fisherman said.
“We were 200 yards off-shore, there was no moonlight and it was just dark.”
He said it was dangerous because they could not see anything.
“It was just a joke,” he said.
“The lights don’t even look like they actually work - one of the lights upwards and another is covered in cobwebs.”
It was so dark they could not even see the cardinal mark.
The cardinal mark is a watermark used to indicate the position of a hazard and the direction of the safe water.
The fisherman, to cap the night off, tipped over once on dry land because it was so dark and he could not see where he was going.
He wants Shoalhaven City Council to do something about the lights.
Council is aware of the lights and they are on the maintenance schedule to fix.
The lights, according to council, are not there for the purpose of water navigation but for general safety.
The Roads and Maritime Service, according to council, is responsible for on water navigation and boating safety.
Council completed the Sanctuary Point Boat Ramp at John Williams Reserve and made significant improvements to the car park, access road and the landscape in October last year.
There now exists a two-lane boat ramp with a fixed timber jetty.
Meanwhile, heaps of chopped up weeds float around the boat ramp and the fisherman said it would be good if council could cut a channel near the ramp so they could avoid the weeds.
As weed growth/accumulation is a natural environment process, council has no plans at this stage to remove the weeds.