RIVER SILT DEPOSIT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 240, 11 October 1938, Page 4

RIVER SILT DEPOSIT

OARSMEN INCONVENIENCED C RAFT C ANNOT BE LAUNCHED. POSITION AT LOW TIDE Members of (he two city rowing sheds in Wanganui have expressed deep concern at the serious silting which has taken place on the foreshore directly in front of their sheds, and temporary suspension of training and coaching may prove a serious interruption to the season's preparations. At low tide last evening several yards of slimy mud separated the Wanganui Rowing Club's pontoon from the shallow water of the river on which was floated the coaching boat, the occupants of which had to wade thigh deep through an unpleasant mixture. Members of the Union Boat Club were but little better placed, and it was impossible to launch a craft at their pontoon at low water, several feet of mud separating the pontoon and the edge of the stream. In wading out to his boat during the week-end one member of a Union crew gashed a foot rather seriously on a piece of tin buried in mud 2ft. deep. Wanganui Club crews had to take the water several hundred feet below the pontoon, and in doing so they had to traverse a lengthy stretch of muddy foreshore. It is only vtith difficulty' that the committees of the two clubs have been able to carry out the coaching of new members and the training of crews for early trophy racing. It is understood that the Wanganui Harbour Board is to be approached with a view to securing co-operation in removing the bank of silt deposited by the river. Last season working-bees of members made a temporary improvement, but during the winter the deposit has been heavier than ever. One ironic feature of the position is that directly opposite the two rowing stheds, on the Taylorville bank of the river, there is reported to be a depth of between 60ft. and 70ft. of water at high tide.