Boaties are grumbling after a scramble to evacuate the Reef Marina resulted in damaged boats and thousands of dollars in insurance losses. 

The Cairns district Harbourmaster, Captain Michael Barnett, issued a Yellow Alert at 6am on Thursday, followed by a Blue Alert at midday and a Red Alert at 5pm. 

The entire Reef Marina was evacuated on the Blue Alert, but boaties reported chaos and confusion as vessels attempted to flee into Dickson Inlet for a storm that never came as Cyclone Nathan passed far to the north. 

At least three yachts and a houseboat were damaged in collisions with other vessels or mangroves.

Damages from the collisions are estimated to reach up to $5000.

Port Douglas was on the very southern edge of the warning zone, leading one boatie to argue that the evacuation order should have never been issued in the first place. 

“I think they got the balance of risk wrong, given that Port Douglas was right on the southern boundary of the cyclone watch area,” the boatie said.

“The cyclone had been moving further north for two days - the sensible thing would have been to not order all of the boats out of the marina. 

“Getting all the boats out of the marina and into the creek is a big, complex operation that risks property damage and injury.

“And as it turns out there was more damage caused by the evacuation than would have happened if everyone had stayed in the Marina. 

“The chances of the cyclone suddenly turning south was so remote that it should have been dismissed.”

However Reef Marina general manager Rob Cruz supported the Harbourmaster’s decision, saying that it was better to be safe rather than sorry when cyclones were concerned.

“The Harbourmaster is in that position for a reason,” he said.

“We have to remember that cyclones are unpredictable and you really don’t want to see what happened to Mission Beach Marina during Cyclone Yasi, where they didn’t evacuate and all the boats ended up piled up on the shore because it changed course at the last minute.

“There’s a definite change in attitude between this cyclone and Ita last year - Ita was thought to be directly on course for us the whole time and all the Marina users got out in time, no fuss.”