Experts expect hundreds of boats to fill Moreton Bay after COVID restrictions eased
Hundreds of boats are expected to fill Moreton Bay after the Greater Brisbane lockdown ended but it might not all be smooth sailing, with showers, gusty winds and even storms expected.
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Brisbane’s most recent COVID scare isn’t set to keep boaties away from popular Moreton Bay with big crowds expected over the Easter long weekend, despite potential weather woes.
Easter is usually one of the busiest times of the year on the water as people take the opportunity to get out for the four-day holiday and with lockdown lifted it could be even busier.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a mild wind warning for parts of Queensland this morning with forecasts predicting showers across the four days and a minimum of 18 degrees.
According to BOM, the tide will also be at its highest (1.98m) at 12.11am Friday morning.
“Fairly fresh and gusty south easterly winds leaving Moreton Bay on Friday and Saturday with showery conditions,” a BOM spokesman said.
Brisbane can expect up showers across the weekend, with up to 10mm on Sunday and a possible storm bringing in up to 30mm on Easter Monday.
“It’s the busiest time of the year, it’s busier than Christmas,” Moreton Bay fishing expert, Spero Kartanos, said.
“The only thing that’ll hold people back is the weather, with rain expected all weekend and winds expected to be up to 25 to 30 knots.
“But if the weather somehow holds up, there’s no way boaties will be put off by the recent lockdown, it may get even more packed because more people just want to get out after being locked down for three days.
“There’ll be hundreds of boats out in Moreton Bay.”
Brisbane Coast Guard volunteer Harvey Shore, from the Manly base, said they expected a busy weekend on the water.
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“If the weather is OK, the recent COVID scare won’t impact the minds of boaties at all and you’ll see scores of boats pack the local boat ramps to get out over the weekend,” he said.
“Because it’s a four-day weekend, it’s also usually an opportunity for people with the bigger boats that don’t get much use to get out as well, so I would expect to see some pretty big boats out there over the weekend.
“It’s always one of the busiest weekends for us too, even if it rains and the weather is bad, there’s always people who still go out that we’ll have to rescue.
“If the lockdown continued, we would have only had bare bones staff on here at the Coast Guard but now we will be here in full force but just still urge people to take the necessary precautions and if the weather is bad, don’t go out.”
Mr Shore also expected Water Police to be out in force over Easter.
EASTER LONG WEEKEND TIDE TIMES
Friday: Highs - 1.98m at 12.11am, 1.41m at 12.15pm; Lows - 0.47m at 6.23am, 0.37m at 5.58pm
Saturday: Highs - 1.92m at 1.06am, 1.25m at 1.15pm; Lows - 0.57m at 7.37am, 0.49m at 6.50pm
Sunday: Highs - 1.85m at 2.13am, 1.17m at 2.38pm; 0.62m at 9.07am, 0.61m at 8.01pm
Monday: Highs - 1.83m at 3.27am, 1.2m at 4.12pm; 0.61m at 10.30am, 0.68m at 9.30pm
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