Wave Generator Run
Ten cars and 19 hardy souls met at the Clubrooms for the Run on Wednesday September 21. The weather was bleak – overcast with light rain and it was very cold.
The further we went S/West, the better the weather got and, by morning tea stop at the Myponga Reservoir, it had started to clear a bit, but was still very cold.
We crossed the reservoir causeway and proceeded on to the lookout which overlooks the Gulf, at Carrickalinga, and the wave generator, sitting 1 km offshore in 30 feet of water, with about 30 feet above the water. The generator weighs 3000 ton and, to put that in perspective, it would equate to 50 house foundations stacked on top of each other. The Oceanlinx wave generator was being towed to Port Macdonnell by a tugboat on March 2nd, 2014, when its buoyancy failed and it started to sink.
The generator was built by a private company and was to produce 1 Megawatt of electricity – enough to power 1000 homes.
The salvage costs exceed $3 million, but the company has gone broke, so the future of the generator is unknown at this time.
We then travelled to the Port Elliot Hotel where we had a very enjoyable lunch in the dining room, with a large wood fire to keep us company. After lunch, we all headed for home.