Disappointing many water users still ignoring rules - Harbourmaster

Bay of Plenty Regional Council harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters. Photo / Supplied

Excessive speed and a lack of lifejackets from recreational boat users continue to provide the biggest headaches for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council harbourmaster team.

From Labour Weekend to January 10 patrols have handed out breach notices to 94 skippers for speeding violations and to 86 for breaking lifejacket rules. A total of 345 breaches have been identified.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters says they’ve interacted with more than 1700 boaties and it’s disappointing many are still ignoring rules.

“Again, the biggest culprits are power boat and jetski users, but we are seeing an increase in kayak and paddleboard users not carrying lifejackets or personal floatation devices,” Peters said.

Of the 86 lifejacket breaches, 22 were kayakers and 17 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.”

Two-thirds of the speeding violations were by jetski operators.

Peters said jetski owners also needed to remember their craft must be registered and powered vessels longer than 4m 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 been great to deal with.