Combie Trader, soon to be just a memory

[Fish Guts]

What does everyone think about hawkins having the monopoly now. According to news reports hawkins have purchased the combie trader with no intention of running a barge service to moreton island out of scarborough. Resulting in all vehicular access to moreton island via mi-cat at the Brisbane river ?

and an end of an era for all im concerned !

fish guts

[Didley]

I bet it'll cost a fair bit more to get to Moreton soon:-/:'(

[SIWA]

Could not agree more mate. As far as I am concerned they should not be allowed to do such a thing and have a monopoly. I can see the prices starting to go up now!! :'( Just makes it even harder for people wanting to head over and enjoy the spectacular surrounds of MI. Not to mention the local business (Scarborough and Bulwer) that rely on the Combie leaving/arriving in these locations and also the tour guys that use the Combie.

Having grown up in the area it is a real shame to think that such an icon of the Scarborough area is going to go (so the reports say) :'( . A lot of people from north of Brisbane use this as a gateway to MI, as you can cut a good 45-60 minutes off a trip to Brisbane….all counts when you have a long drive ahead of you.

Apart from greed >:( , I don't see the sense in stopping the Combie departing Scarborough to MI as it is easy to access and spreads the load of vehicles when you get to MI .

[tunaticer]

I think that it will not take long before some competition steps in and starts another service from scarby or bribie or maybe even Caboolture river.

Jack.

[mowerman]

Hawkins are looking at buying out the business only.
The ferry itself, steel thing with motors, is owned by Stradbroke Ferries down at Cleveland. It will probably end up running to the Bay islands.

Y
The lady from Hawkins put it perfectly on the radio this morning.

"Since the EPA took over Moreton Island and reduced the number of visitors allowed at any one time, It is not viable to run two main services."

Yep,,the price will probably go up.

Rod

[liltuffy]

Well gentlemen, we are on the way to being the elite of society.

With Diesel for the fourby at $1.49 a litre and unleaded for the boat at $1.39 and the few trips to Moreton each year now touching out at $250-$300 for a few days,we will become a dying race. Don't you just love GST and the fuel exice levy.

And I thought Mr Rudd was looking after the working man

[somescott]

Its Bl@@dy (Bl@@dy) ridiculous.

The number of people allowed on MI is not restricted by the EPA anymore. Its freaking Hawkins as the MI CAT can only take so many too and from MI. It'll no longer be a weekend destination for the average family.

We might as well all be locked up if we can't truly enjoy what's in our own backyard:-[ .

[TheRealAndy]

And I thought Mr Rudd was looking after the working man

Dont get me started. I am a die hard union labour supported who now votes liberal.....>:( I did not vote for rudd...

[bushbeachboy]

Well this is a bit of an old thread. Has it happened yet? Have they stopped the Combie Trader service? And what about the EPA question: do they restrict visitors to Moreton?

[PADDLES]

yeah mate she's all over, apparently it was used as a floating party for river fire. and of course the national parks restrict camping numbers on moreton, but not necessarily visitor numbers. they have been doing so for a while now (and so they should) at all our beaches, if it was left as a free for all the joint would get wrecked. you only have to look back at the bad old days when some tosser would set up camp right next door with his ropes going through your ropes to see that control of camp sites is the best thing to have happened to our beach camping areas. they're finally churning some of the money that we have given them over the years back into facilities, it's a good thing.

[SgBFish]

New ferry in doubt


news (http://redcliffe-and-bayside-herald.whereilive.com.au/news/)
Local News (http://redcliffe-and-bayside-herald.whereilive.com.au/news/list/category/local-news/)26 Aug 08 @ 04:15pm by Nick Berrett

Going going ... The Peninsula may lose out on a Scarborough-based ferry service
SCARBOROUGH:
THE bid for a new Scarborough to Moreton Island link has hit a new snag with the Scarborough Marina set to purchase the lease for the Scarborough landing facilities.
If the sale of the lease from Stradbroke Ferries to the marina proceeds, a new ferry will have to be located elsewhere on the Peninsula or in north Brisbane.
Scarborough Marina managing director Mark Robertson said the marina was looking forward to expanding and reinvigorating the State Government-owned land.
“We’ve planned, for some time, to expand and develop the marina,” he said.
Mr Robertson said the expansion would make room for boats currently stored across the road from the Scarborough landing facilities.
But the Moreton Bay Regional Council will oppose the sale and seek to lease the land itself.
Mayor Allan Sutherland said council would do everything it could to ensure the land remained for a ferry link.
“If we lose that infrastructure, the chances of a ferry starting again are next to nil,” he said.
Mr Robertson said the marina was too small for a large ferry to operate from safely.
“It’s a safety issue,” he said.
“To run a ferry of that size from the marina is a waste of time.
“
Redcliffe and Bayside Herald

[tunaticer]

It could be viable to have an access location near Clontarf boat ramp for vehicle access. This would also ensure that the ramp area being maintained at a suitable depth for operations.

Other alternatives could be Cabbage Tree Creek, Shultz's Canal, Caboolture River or Pumicestone Passage.

Jack.

[Crestcutter]

In past times here on the Bay Islands when competition was welcomed by Islanders, fares for a large car went down as low as 25 bucks return. That of course was caused by Stradbroke Ferries having to run at a loss to squash the oppisition over a length of time.

Once they were squashed fares went straight back up again and continue to escalate to this day.

I haven't caught the barge for a long time but i think it is 79 return now for Islanders and 20 or so bucks dearer for mainlanders. Ah too think when i first came here the passenger ferries were only 2 bucks return compared to 7 bucks one way now.

Combie trader has been doing a few runs from Redlands to the Bay Islands but it is a prick of a barge as it drags it's arse all the way over and back, and they are always having drama's with props.

Maybe Stradbroke Ferries should put a few bob into that nightmare Moggil ferry thing, Christ isnt that thing an eye opener.

[SgBFish]

It could be viable to have an access location near Clontarf boat ramp for vehicle access. This would also ensure that the ramp area being maintained at a suitable depth for operations.

Other alternatives could be Cabbage Tree Creek, Shultz's Canal, Caboolture River or Pumicestone Passage.

Jack.

Jack the only one out of these would be Pumicestone Passage. That barge has picked in there before. In fact the ramp near the VMR is called the Barge Ramp.

Scott

[PADDLES]

yeah scott there was a barge from bribie for a little while but it went out of business. problem with running from bribie is that it's a fair drive from pretty much anywhere. nice short run in a barge though which would keep the prices down. i feel for the people who have set themselves up in redcliffe and have a place over at bulwer, they've now gotta either go down to the flyer (and dump a car at tangas somewhere) or if they're taking their car they gotta cross the gateway and go to whyte island. it was way easier to go to scarborough. but i guess the commercial reality is that the service became unprofitable/unsustainable and so it had to go. don't think for one minute that there wasn't a monopoly when there were 2 operators either.

[dazza]

hi all,
it will be interesting how the moreton bay council go. the mayor allan sutherland has a house on moreton and i can't see him letting it go or something replacing it without a fight.
least on this one the local council will be pushing for something
cheers
dazza

[PADDLES]

spot on dazza, he was one of the more vocal oponents to it closing. even if someone starts a passenger service from the redcliffe jetty or something similar, the big issue is getting off at bulwer, heaps of people used to walk on from redcliffe and a service like the flyer needs a jetty to pull up to.

[oldboot]

I can see the sad side of the whole thing
but from a business point of view ( from what I understand)

The main market for moreton island is seen to be from Brisbane....so working from there makes sence.

The combitrader is an old barge and would not be anywher near as fuel efficient as the newer units and it will be getting expensive to maintain.
How much do ya thing it would cost in diesel for a return trip of the loaded barge.

The councl and the locals can do and say all they want, but if what has been decided has been decided and thats what "WE" ( the state government) want they will be having a hard time changing things.

All the services in the lower bay have been upgraded to bigger faster boats, but if the current location is "too small to be safe" the management of the current players just wont be interested in a hard option.

If a new player was to come in it would have to be a new technology fast & efficeint barge....... where is that going to come from.

I thing there is a conspiracy of circumstances that influence the situation very strongly....it might all " get better" but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Things change & thats tough..........there will be plenty more where that came from......unfortunately.

cheers

[SgBFish]

Isolating Bulwer even more will only lead to more inbreeding of the Labrador population over there and those things are as big as bears already!!!!!!! :o :o :o

Nelson the alpha male needs his travelling bags off!!!!!!!;D ;D ;D ;D

[PADDLES]

that's frikken funny. old nelson knows how to get a feed or twelve by staying on the move. i'm surprised he's not had a ride back to the mainland yet courtesy of qnpws, he's a sneaky bugger.

[Fish_gutz]

Isolating Bulwer even more will only lead to more inbreeding of the Labrador population over there and those things are as big as bears already!!!!!!! :o :o :o

Nelson the alpha male needs his travelling bags off!!!!!!!;D ;D ;D ;D

Very Funny! Nelson Is Craigies blonde partner isn`t he ?Also a bit of a hunter aswell if I remember correctly! Cheers Andrew

[SgBFish]

Old Nelson also has a nasty habit of chucking anywhere and everywhere.

[cuzzamundi]

tHAT IS BLOODY HILARIOUS REGARDING NELSON!!! SUCH A CHARACTER THAT BOY. REGARDLESS OF THE PROS AND CONS, IM VERY SAD KNOWING THAT I'LL NEVER CROSS THE BAY ON THAT STURDY OLE VESSEL AGAIN. VERY SAD INDEED. SO MANY MEMORIES.

CUZZA