Fisherman preparing to launch from a boat ramp on the East Coast. File photo / Alan Gibson
Fisherman preparing to launch from a boat ramp on the East Coast. File photo / Alan Gibson
"Prop surfing" will inevitably result in mutilation or death say boaties frustrated with people who jump close to their vessels as they approach the inner Gisborne harbour boat ramp.
The ramp and pontoon are popular locations for children and adult jumpers but boaties are fed up with the irresponsible behaviour they encounter too often.
The term prop surfing refers to the many jumpers who try to leap into a boat's propeller wash, or jump as close as they can to a boat as it approaches the ramp.
"It's like playing tag with a logging truck on the main highway to see if you can touch the wheel and run back off the road," says recreational fisherman Graeme McKay.
"I can understand kids want to go for a swim but they're swimming in areas where someone will get killed one day."
Swimmers are attempting to get as close as possible to vessels in order to experience the wash from the propellers. Fle photo / 123rf
Approaching the ramp and his awaiting boat trailer recently Mr Miller saw three young people jump from the pontoon and into his propeller wash. If he had to reverse the boat to re-angle his approach he would not have seen the jumpers and the chances of mutilation or death would be high, he says.
"When you're pulling your boat on to the trailer you're focused on the front. You can't see behind the motor and you can't hear the splash over the engine noise. Sometimes, with swell and movement, you have to reverse a little.
"If there's a kid in the water behind you they're going to be sucked into the prop wash."
In another heart-stopping moment two girls who had swum under water from the wall opposite the pontoon surfaced in front of the incoming boat.
When an accident inevitably happens it will be the boaties who will find themselves in the line of fire, he says.
"The council has been good in having Maori wardens go down there but the kids go down later when no wardens are about.
"One day someone will get hurt. This is an ongoing parental issue. Parents need to say 'don't do this'."
Although Maori wardens regularly visit the boat ramp, recreational fisherman Craig Miller does not believe the Gisborne District Council is taking the issue seriously enough.
"Maori wardens can't be there 24/7," he says.
Maori warden regular visits to the boat ramp have been effective in encouraging children to move along from the boat ramp, says the Gisborne District Council.
"The council's harbourmaster has also attended on several occasions this summer, however neither Maori wardens nor the harbourmaster can be there at all times."
The council plans to work with the port to consider more suitable, alternative spots the jumpers and swimmers can use.
Meanwhile, a lack of parental control, concerns boatie Mike Beale.
"I've been there when there are groups of 15 to 20 people and there are little kids with no adult supervision whatsoever. They jump off the top of the piles as well. You don't know what they're going to do. Some of the older ones get abusive. There's no control there at all.
"Heaps of boats are coming and going. You can't watch every kid and you can't watch what they're doing."
Boaties do not want to be "fun police" but safe ramp users are also subject to negative comments and racist abuse on social media, says Mr Miller.
In a post on Facebook last week a woman complained of threats and abuse by gang members at the ramp who objected to the blue colour of her boat.
