Palmwoods has a distinction none of its neighbours share. Its nearest recorded public boat ramp is not on the Maroochy system at all, it is at Baroon Pocket Dam. Seqwater permits only electric powered watercraft, sail craft and paddlecraft on Lake Baroon, with no motorised boating and no water skiing, jet skiing, wakeboarding or tubing. The village itself sits on Paynter Creek, which MSQ describes as extremely narrow and shallow, navigable by only the smallest of ships such as dinghies, kayaks and canoes.
Ask where the nearest recorded boat ramp to Palmwoods is and the answer catches people out. It is not on the Maroochy. Palmwoods is the only suburb in its group whose nearest recorded public boat ramp is at Baroon Pocket Dam, a Seqwater drinking-water storage. That matters because the rules on Lake Baroon are set by what the water is for: Seqwater permits electric powered watercraft, sail craft and paddlecraft, with no motorised boating, and no water skiing, jet skiing, wakeboarding or tubing. If your boat has a petrol outboard on the back, the nearest ramp on the map is not the ramp for you.
So the first useful thing a Palmwoods boat owner can know is which water suits the boat they own.
Lake Baroon is a genuine launch, with a designated ramp, for the right craft. Electric powered watercraft, sail craft and paddlecraft are permitted and fuel powered craft are not. One caution worth stating plainly: whether any particular electric motor sits under or over the Queensland licence threshold is not something we can tell you, because it depends on the motor. What is settled is that the threshold of more than 4.5 kilowatts applies on inland waters exactly as it does anywhere else, because the laws on all inland waterways are set by Maritime Safety Queensland.
The other hinterland storages are not interchangeable with Baroon either, and this is where people get caught. Wappa Dam permits no in-water activities at all. Cooloolabin Dam permits no boating, paddling or swimming. Poona Dam is not open to the public for recreation. Ewen Maddock Dam, further south, permits non-powered craft only. A dam near you is not automatically a boating water, and each storage has its own answer.
The village's own creek is a different kind of water again. MSQ describes Paynter Creek as extremely narrow and shallow, navigable by only the smallest of ships such as dinghies, kayaks and canoes, and records that it reaches the Maroochy system at the Dusty Rhodes Bridge at Diddillibah, where the clearance is about three metres. Water skiing is prohibited on Paynter Creek, gazetted 28 February 1997.
Which leaves the tidal option, and for a trailer boat with a petrol motor it is the real one. The recorded Maroochy River trailer ramps differ on one field that decides your day: Muller Park at Bli Bli, MSQ identifier MA21, is flagged Low Tide Restricted, while the Cod Hole on Bradman Avenue, MA11, and Fishermans Road, MA14, are not. The run down from Palmwoods is along the Nambour Connection Road to our Maroochydore venue on the Maroochy River, which is also where the on-water day runs. You complete the online theory first, and it has to fall no more than three months before your practical day.
The course itself is the same wherever you sit it: the theory online first, in your own time, then a day on the water with a trainer before the assessment. You need a licence for any boat with an engine over 4.5 kilowatts, which is nearly every tinny, runabout and cruiser. Pass, and the Queensland licence never expires. Pick the date that suits you and book online.
