Those heading out on the water should check the weather forecast, says harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters. Photo / Supplied
BTG 24Oct22 - Those heading out on the water should check the weather forecast, says harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters.
Those heading out on the water should check the weather forecast, says harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters. Photo / Supplied
BTG 24Oct22 - Those heading out on the water should check the weather forecast, says harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters.
Speeding boaties and jetskiers “not knowing the rules” have been blamed for hundreds of harbourmaster breach notices in recent months.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council Harbourmaster team has now voiced its disappointment in the behaviour of recreational water users, including people not wearing lifejackets.
The breach notices follow concerns already raised about erratic and speeding boaties which prompted the installation of speed limit markers at Lake Rotoiti and Lake Ōkāreka in November as a summer trial.
At the time, local residents said fears for children’s safety while swimming and lake users not knowing the rules were among the main issues.
Last week, Bay of Plenty Regional Council harbourmaster Jon Jon Peter said that from Labour Weekend to January 10, patrols handed out breach notices to 94 skippers for speeding violations and 86 for breaking lifejacket rules. In total, 345 breaches had been handed out.
Peters said across the region, his team had interacted with more than 1700 boaties, and it was disappointing that many were ignoring the rules.
But it was not just powerboat and jetski users in trouble. While they were the biggest culprit, he said there had been an increase in kayak and paddleboard users not carrying lifejackets or personal floatation devices.
Of the 86 lifejacket breaches, 22 were kayakers and 17 were stand-up paddleboarders.
“The stark reality is, we had two people drown on Rotorua lakes last year who were in kayaks and not wearing lifejackets.”
Jetski operators committed two-thirds of the speeding violations.
Peters said jetski owners also needed to remember their craft must be registered, and that if they owned a powered vessel more than four metres long, it must be named.
Those using craft on the water can face a $200 fine for breaching the rules.
Peters said it was great to see the majority of boaties had been sticking to the rules and were great to deal with.
Rotorua resident Mark Burrows took a boat out on Lake Tikitapu on Friday with his stepson and his friend.
He said he had been boating since he was a child, and most people he saw wore jackets. He wanted to see more people following the rules and knowing them.
In particular, he said there were a few that did not travel anti-clockwise around the lake as they should.
He said in his view, it was jetskiers who were often the culprit.
Rotorua boatie Mark Burrows with his stepson Declan Vakaj, 11 (left), and his friend Rena Macfarlane, 11, spent Friday afternoon at Lake Tikitapu. Photo / Andrew Warner
When the buoys were installed in November, Lake Ōkāreka Community Association chairman Mitch Collins welcomed the move and hoped the markers would make for a safer summer.
He thought many people did not realise the five-knot limit continued as far as it did.
Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post on Friday, he thought the harbourmaster team did a good job considering the number of lakes there were to manage in the region.
Rotorua Kayaking owner Bradley Lauder said it was always a problem at this time of year, particularly with speeding jetskiers, who he believed did not know the rules.
His business was based at Okere Falls, by Lake Rotoiti.
The speeding was the biggest concern as a kayaker, particularly as people ignored the marker buoys.
