From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, 9 January 2026 2:14 PM
Subject: CONDITION YELLOW - Important Weather Notice #3 to Marina Customers at 2pm (09/01/2026)

To our Marina Customers, Residents and Community,

The Severe Weather Warning for the North Tropical Coast remains in effect for heavy to locally intense rainfall and damaging winds with a Watch Area covering an area between Cardwell and the Whitsundays.

The BOM have issued their most recent forecast track at 11am this morning and they anticipate the tropical low 12U is most likely to form in to a Category 1 Tropical Cyclone around 10pm on Saturday. The system is expected to continue moving slowly in a S/SW direction across today and Saturday and to weaken after crossing land on Sunday.

Winds are expected to be gale force with gusts reaching 100kmh or 50 knots about coastal areas.

Despite the low pressure system having not yet formed in to a cyclone, Breakwater Marina has advanced it's Cyclone Warning status to Condition YELLOW as of midday today on the expectation we have an intensifying system approaching with impacts within 48hours. We advise the Townsville Port has also advanced their Warning status to Condition Yellow and have closed the Port for commercial shipping.  

 

What does it’s mean for you when we advance Breakwater’s Warning System to Condition Yellow?

Moving your Boat - The wind is expected to strengthen and heavy rain develop. Wind gusts are already being recorded up to 28 knots so the conditions to move boats in and around the marina are now unfavourable. All boat movements should cease effective immediately.

Finishing your Readiness Measures for Severe Weather - For boat owners, this is the window of opportunity – before winds strengthen and the rain sets in - to conclude your boat readiness measures for damaging winds and heavy rainfall. As the winds increase, boats move around a lot and mooring lines tend to stretch so please arrange to get down to your boat today to adjust your lines and add lines so that you’re taking advantage of all available tie-off points; both on-board and on the pontoons.

Mooring Lines are your Vessels Best Defence:

• If you have a heavy displacement boat or a boat with high windage, make sure the mooring lines you use are suitably rated to your boat and use as many lines as practicable to spread the load over multiple tie-off points.
• If you have any mooring lines that have any sign of deterioration – they’re frayed, stiff, been sitting in the water, have knots in them, variances in diameter - they must be replaced.
• At a minimum, double your mooring lines and do your best to run your secondary set of lines from different tie-off points to your primary set. Note: a full mooring line set is a bow, stern, forward spring and aft spring.
• If you have mooring lines that run continuously between multiple tie-off points, please change your set-up so your lines only run between a single point on the pontoon and a single point on your boat.  
• Don’t use lines that don’t stretch like cables or chains.

Other Important Readiness Measures:

• Lowering wind loadings like shade sails, tarps and clears will be important as will lashing main and furled sails.
• With the likely prospect of heavy rain, check your bilge pumps are working
• Gusting winds, heavy rain and the prospect of thunderstorms can take power out so make sure your batteries are charged so your vital systems like bilge pumps will continue to operate.  

Multi-Hull Vessels:

• If you’re Berth is a T-head and you wanted to relocate temporarily, this move should be done by now.
• If your vessel is in a double pen, you may add ropes to the unused side of your pen. This is a measure for severe weather only so please be prepared to take them down again as soon as the weather’s passed.

Vessels on Air Docks:

• Breakwater’s Cyclone Plan, Condition Yellow has a compulsory requirement for all vessels sitting up on Air Docks to be lowered in to the water. Please lower your vessel in to the water as soon as possible.
• This is critical to lowering windage and lessening the loads running through mooring lines and tie-off points.
• Once your vessel’s floating, use 2 complete sets of mooring lines to secure your vessel to the pontoon.

Utilities:

• Should the system not strengthen beyond a low Category 1, we will not be turning the power off. We will however flag the prospect that power in Townsville may be affected as conditions worsen over the weekend; this will in turn end supply to the Marina.
• We add that and in the event the system intensifies to a Cat 2 or higher, Breakwater will turn the power off but this decision will coincide with further Notices to customers and a further advancement of Breakwater’s Warning System to Condition Blue.  
• The Fuel Wharf will be turned off and isolated tomorrow (Saturday) morning

Evacuation:

• In line with the above and on the expectation the system doesn’t intensify beyond the forecast Cat 1, we don’t expect to advance our Cyclone Warning Status to Red and therefore obligate the compulsory evacuation of all Marina residents from their boats and the Marina.
• We add that and in the event the system intensifies to a Cat 2 or higher, Breakwater will advance its Warning System to Condition Blue and potentially Red which will then obligate Marina residents to leave the Marina and seek alternate shelter until the system has passed.  
• We will circulate further correspondence to let customers know of any changes to Breakwater’s Warning Status and any prospect residents may be required to leave their vessels and vacate.

The forecast and the corresponding conditions may change as the system slowly approaches the coast so we’ll continue to monitor the advice and communicate with you accordingly.
Please feel free to speak with Marina staff if you have any questions or would like some guidance.

Many Thanks

Scott Marshall    |    General Manager