By Request "Bad Karma"

[agnes_jack]

Bad karma
As requested here are some photos of the "KARMA" that was stranded near Agnes Water recently. The DPI have contracted it out to a salvage crew who are currently trying to patch it up enough to refloat it. They apparently have been patching it from the inside with some sort of a concrete based material. I couldnt manage to get down there at low tide, but it is sitting hard against flat rock. When I saw it a couple of weeks ago there appeared to be a long crease in it where it had been washing against the rock. Rumor has it that they will be towing it down to Bundaberg and adding it to the artificial reef down there. Absolutly cheesed that they are not going to dump it out off Round Hill Head as it would be a great fish attracter. The thing is completly rusted and it will be interesting to see if they manage to complete the salvage operation. Will keep you informed on how it all goes.

Agnes _jack

[agnes_jack]

photo 2

[agnes_jack]

photo3

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Thanks Tony. Those photos certainly gives a better impression of what the DPI are up against. Hope that isn't high tide in the photos, coz they are going to have their work cut out.
Hope they are planning to tie the idiot that beached it there to the deck of the boat before they sink it!
Cheers,
Jeff

[agnes_jack]

Jeff
Those photos were taken about half an hour before high tide last night.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Cripes! Give the guys a medal if they do get it off then.
I'm thinking its going to join the club of the Cherry Venture and Maheno; but at least they have a decent tale of why they washed up.
Have someone got an esky strapped onto a quad motorbike and applied for a permit to sell drinks to all the tourists over the holiday season? Someone may as well, coz it doesn't look like it is going anywhere fast.
Cheers
Jeff

[Kerry]

This isn't the first sinking/grounding this "person" has achieved. Actually he hasn't been out of prison long for doing basically the same thing, he has walked away from other "incidents" in the past and the Gov has had to pick up the pieces.

Cheers, Kerry.

[agnes_jack]

Yeah Jeff
If you saw it close up at low tide you would definatly be wondering how it would hold together. As I was saying to you I had a couple of contracters come into the shop asking about it one came back laughing after he had a look at it. The second one had tried to do some welding on it before the owner had snuck it out of the river at Maryborough. He reckoned that there was virtually no metal there to weld. I think that the blackjack that is plastered all over the hull is probably the strongest part of it. The second contracter said the only way he would try and move it would be to fill the hull with expandable foam, but that would be far too costly.

Tony

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

ABC website also chose today to mention the Karma again.

http://abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/200312/s1014560.htm

This Woolfe guy appears to be a one man eccological disaster and Queensland tax payers get to foot the bill. Not only do you have to suffer the consequences of this fool's actions, you get to pay to clean up after him. >:(

[agnes_jack]

Kerry
This dude has apparently done this same thing on at least 2 other occasions. He had 2 other boats that he took up to Rocky, both sunk in the river there and he just left them to rot. I Heard that the reason he went to jail was because of a toxic waste dump that he had. He was charging people to dump all manner of toxic materials, and storing it in a fenced yard in 44 gallon drums. The drums were rusting out and leaking allover the shop. The karma he purchased for $10,000 dollars and was intending to take it up to Rocky and dodgy it up, then take it over to the Phillipines to sell it. No doubt it would have ended up back over here loaded with illegal immigrants. That is probably where it came from in the first place. When he first landed this one on the beach a few of the locals upped him about making sure that the fuel wasnt going to leak out. His reply to that was "whats so bloody special about this beach" They actualy got him on film with that reply. Just a generaly lovable guy.

Cheers Tony >:(

[Kerry]

Jack, this whole mess goes back to at least the 90/91 floods as there's still many drums of waste not accounted for that went down the river.

Looks like it might be back to court if the salvage costs and fines can't be met.

Cheers, Kerry.

[anu]

this is quiet bad cept the only real damage that i can see is to the boat andto the sand, comparitively nothing compared to the idiots who put their npats through the barrier reef >:(

[sclmarine]

Hmm.. I have it on good authority, that whilst there is no doubt that the owner acted very irresponsibly, and all the rest, there is a lot more to that than meets the eye!
In fact, the shipyard from whence it came had claimed that there was numerous thousands of dollars spent to "repair" that vessel about 2 yrs ago... and a cost dispute... yet funnily enough there does not seem to be any evidence of these so called repairs ever taking place... A very sticky situation overall.. the sooner it is dealt with the better!

[agnes_jack]

Sclmarine
I spoke to tony Wolfe the day after he beached the boat and he told me that the alledged repairs had been carried out, and that the reason the boat had broken down was that the new bearings had siezed on the shaft. He then tried to anchor but the equipment that he had wouldnt hold the boat, so he claimed that he deliberatly beached it. Regardless of if the repairs had been done or not, he had no right to be in command of a boat that size without the proper qualifications to operate it or the safety equipment required. Was the boat carrying insurance cover? And did he fullfil his obligations for the safety of his crew? And was the boat a seaworthy vessel as required by law? I think not. This guy should be made to pay for all salvage, fuel removal and clean up for this the latest in a line of irresponsible actions on his behalf.
REGARDS TONY

[sclmarine]

Agreed, and dont misunderstand, I 100% agree that he should be held fully accountable for the mess. It doesnt take a rocket scientist, nor any more than a few mins to put saftey gear on a boat.. along with everything else.
I am a reasonably well qualified person, having been in the industry (large vessels like this one and far bigger...) for over 20yrs and skippered tugs and boats like this from time to time, and yes, I find no excuse for such incompetence. However, I also have a lot of "inside" info on this one, and can tell you that , although Wolfe is the one responsible for the act, and must be held accountable for his stupidity, there are others who have or had contributed to the situation. Anyone with 1/2 a brain would know that a vessel that large for $10,000...... hmm.... must be pretty bad. (That dragline on the foredeck was worth more than that to wreck!) And, I have to ask... why was it then, when it "left" its berth.. was MSQ not informed immediately, knowing the state it was in and its real danger. Any responsible operator or marine person would have done so... but no... only "after the event" are things said.
That being said... I certainly do agree with your views re Wolfes "ability, irresponsibility and responsibility for his actions".
At least he hasnt got any more of these large vessels, at least not any more, and there will now be changes in leglislation re the ownership of these ex commercial ships.

[agnes_jack]

scl marine
Who is it who would have actually been responsible for notifying MSQ that this vessel was leaving its berth? From what ive been told he was told before he left maryborough not to leave the river by the port authorities (who I assume was the MSQ) which he totally disregarded. Who else should we regard as at blame for mr Wolfes actions?


CHARTER BOAT?, WHAT CHARTER BOAT??? 8) ::) ;D 8) 8)

[Lucky_Phill]

Those Dolphins still playing in the bar Tony ?

OH That's right we are talking about grounded ships, sorry !

How's the spanish going at the moment ?

Cheers Phill

[merv]

NEWS FLASH ( BAD KARMA ) HAS BEEN REFLOATED AND TOWED AWAY MUST BE CHRISTMAS AFTER ALL. BEST WISHES FOR HAPPY ,SAFE CHRISTMAS TO ALL . MERV

[sclmarine]

Hmmm..... as I have said. Agreed... Mr Wolfe is totally to blame for his own actions, in the same way that any idiot that foolishly operates any kind of vessel without proper experience, knoweledge or as appropriate qualifications puts everyone else at risk.
I am a shipmaster, and am fully conversant with the laws, etc that relate to craft of all sizes. The problem with the "Karma" was that it, like quite a few others before it (one was the "Parmella" sunk of Eden some years ago) fall through the cracks and are permitted to become registered as PRIVATE vessels, no matter what their condition, once their commercial life is over. There are no saftey inspections to qualify for registration, and even though the Karma was unregistered at the time, prior to that it was a registered private boat. (MK124Q I think) Further, its maximum speed was declared to be less than 10Kts... which crazily enough means that anyone with a rec boat licence would have been legally able to skipper it! I know its crazy.. but thats just one loophole in the law that has been exploited more than once in the past.
The law, however also has provision for the mandatory reporting of unsafe vessels within port areas. The problem is that, although there are safeguards in place, often no-one really does much about it.
I have no doubt that Wolfe was told in no uncertain terms not to move the Karma until it was seaworthy enough to do so, and that he just did not give a damm. Yet also that the Karma is a 450ton vessel that is not capable of travelling in excess of 10Kts, that was located well up the Mary River. So it stands to reason then that
a: If it were moved, it would be very noticable
b: There were people "in the know" as to its state and the directives of MSQ.
Yet, depite this, no-one bothered to call them and warn them that it was on the move? It wasnt even detected until it had run aground!
None of this absolves Wolfe from any responsibility for his actions. However, it is also fact that if the harbourmaster had been made aware of the vessel "taking off", (and there were many who knew that it had done so and about its condition and directives upon it) it would then have been intercepted much earlier in the day and in all likelyhood that incident would not have happened.
But again, I do not disagree with you about Wolfe. The man is a menace and should be banned from ANY sort of boat forever. Those sort of actions belong on "Australias Most Stupid"
Oh... did you also query a charter boat? Which one? (Yes, we have one and we deal with a lot of other owners... chartering is one part of my company)

Cheers,

Kris

[agnes_jack]

Kris
I do get your drift about people in the know etc.
The bit about the charter boat was not in relation to you in any way whatsoever and I had no idea at all that you had anything to do with charter boats. It was in relation to an NRMA insurance advert that has been on TV where a guys wife bags him out for being silly enough to run into a charter boat. Was a joke only in relation to mr wolfes stupidity.

The Karma was removed from the shore this morning after a salvage crew had virtually plastered the inside of the hull with some sort of concrete based material. I just had a bloke come into the shop saying that once they were about 1km offshore, the stern of the boat started to look very much like it was going down.
I guess we will find out the outcome of this shortly.

May end up with an artificial reef out there yet he he he! ;D ;D :-X

Have a merry xmas Kris and all the best to you and your family
regards Tony ;D

[agnes_jack]

Hey Phil
The mackeral have moved offshore a bit since that bit of rain we had last week dirtied the water up. They seem to be hanging around the color change line approx 1-2km offshore. The spotties were around in almost plague proportions last week, and for a couple of days bustard bay was nearly full of em. Most were just on or just over size. Is this a sign of things to come and a result of the ban on ring netting allready? If it is we should have good size spotties around in good numbers again soon . I take it the dolphins on the bar was to try and change the subject eh, ;D


A merry Xmas to you Phil regards Tony ;) ;D ;D ;D

[sclmarine]

Yep... one free artificial reef coming right up! (oh well...) and you have a great Xmas too Tony and your family.

Grrr... I gotta work... no rest for the wicked!

[Justme]

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year to all at Agnes Water
It looks Santa has come early for you Tony with an artificial reef
Be a good place to take a charter boat. ;D ;D
Cheers
Larry

[Justme]

Hi Tony,
Any more news on the sale & development of the caravan park yet.
Be a shame for us folk who have been staying there every year for over 10 years to see it change. It's too beautiful a spot to destroy with noosa like development.
Please keep us posted.
Regards
Larry

[agnes_jack]

Gday larry
It seems that the redevelopment of the caravan park at Agnes is still going ahead, with it scheduled to close in about june. This is going to be a great loss for this area. We are sadly following in the tracks of Noosa. Rich man in, Poor man get out of the way.
One of the great attractions of this area has always been our caravan park right on the beach. Mum and dad can kick back and relax while the kids play on a relatively safe beach. The place has always been family oriented, but I guess you cant have familys spoiling the view for the rich. It will be a very sad day indeed when it closes. On a brighter note it seems they did have to sink the Karma. Once they got it off the beach they sent the divers down for a look see and they came up shaking their heads. It was supposedly droped about 20 mile off the mouth of the Baffle.
Thats 2 new reefs in the last couple of weeks. Another trawler went down out between here and hoskins a week or so ago.
I dont know why GBRMPA are worried about the reef ,At this rate its getting bigger by the day! ;D ;D ;D

[Justme]

Hi Tony,
Looks like our annual trip to Agnes for the June/July holidays are at risk hey.
Might have to look further afield.
We are keeping in touch with Tom & Charles to see what is likely to happen but if you can help us with ideas for accommadation for 6 adults & 3 kids & 3 boats please let me know.
Cheers
Larry

[jockey]

Sure this guy is an idiot, but I reckon a few others need to be strung up as well for allowing it to happen. If the cracks are that big how they expect to controll illegal immigration?

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Update.

http://abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/200312/s1016966.htm

How perfect if he is charged on laws enacted from his previous actions.