Hatches were well and truly battened down in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which was anticipated to be one of the most significant weather events in recent Australian history, but fortunately, impacted the coastline as a weaker system when it made landfall 8 March.

Heralded as a category 4, Tropical Cyclone Alfred didn’t arrive at catastrophic intensity. Nevertheless, the torrential rain and peak wind gusts of up to 120 kmh caused flooding, huge swells which gouged out beaches along 500 kilometres of coastline between Coffs Harbour and the Sunshine Coast, power outages to thousands of homes, closure of airports, schools, businesses and public transport services, and damage to roads, homes and infrastructure.

The boating industry and its various communities are more prone than most to the effects of wild weather. Summer 2024-25 was relatively kind to South-East Queensland and Northern NSW, but Tropical Cyclone Alfred tested the industry’s procedures to their limits.