Port Fairy port notify Department of Transport of changed boating conditions

Port of Port Fairy co-ordinator David Mattner said the nunn buoy was normally located in Port Fairy bay and broke away about 8.40am Wednesday.

"It's (normally positioned) about 500 metres from the entrance to the Port Fairy channel where boats enter the Moyne River," Mr Mattner said.

"It's a navigation mark. Vessels entering use it as a navigation mark before they enter the channel. It's broken away with the storm."

He said the buoy travelled about one kilometre straight into shore, coming to rest almost parallel to its original location.

The steel navigation buoy landed on the shoreline of the town's main swimming beach, about 300 metres north of Connelly Street.

"We monitored it this morning and it took 20 minutes to reach the shore which highlights the storm effect," Mr Mattner said. "It beached within 20 minutes on East Beach."

He said it wasn't unusual that the buoy had broken away considering the unpredictability of south-west conditions.

"Mother Nature will do its own thing and we've got big seas out here," Mr Mattner said.

He said they had conducted recent work on the buoy, replacing most of the components a couple of months ago.

"We replaced all the hardware and shackles on it as part of our regular program. Even with maintenance Mother Nature will turn around and slap you."

He said port staff would wait until the weather abated before recovering the buoy and assess if there was any damage.

"Until we get to recover it we won't know if it needs repairs or if anything's broken."

He said a Notification to Mariners had been requested through the Department of Transport to notify users of the changed conditions.

He said fortunately there wouldn't be too many people heading out on the water in the current conditions.

"That's the beauty of it happening in a storm, who's going to be going out in this weather?" he said.

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