Harbourmaster reinforces water safety messages

An inflatable dinghy with an outboard motor on the back was found floating in the North Channel, between Tawharanui Peninsula and Kawau Island, by the Rodney harbourmaster this month.

David Thatcher says the dinghy had a broken bowline and was later returned to its owner at Gulf Harbour.

“It’s a relatively minor incident, which pretty well sums up our summer so far,” he says. “Most people on the water are behaving themselves and we’ve had very few complaints or problems.”

Mr Thatcher says jet skiers were inevitably a source of concern, particularly at places such as Whangateau Harbour.

He says all boaties and jetski operators need to observe all safety requirements of the navigational safety bylaw, including the requirement to watch out for swimmers. Boaties need to make sure their speed is appropriate to suit the conditions.

“When any vessel is within 200m of the shore or any structure, 50m of another vessel or 200m of a vessel flying a ‘divers’ flag, it must not exceed five knots.
“While we all enjoy getting out and having fun on the water, we do need to remember that it is just as easy to have an accident on the water as it is on our roads.”

Meanwhile, the Auckland Regional Council’s Environmental Management Committee on December 9 passed a recommendation to undertake a special consultative process to enable some draft amendments to the ARC Navigational Safety Bylaw 2008. This included deleting the new special reserved area in Whangateau Harbour, which will be replaced by an access lane elsewhere in the harbour. This will allow Mr Thatcher to undertake more consultation regarding the most appropriate solution to best manage the variety of activities which occur on the harbour.

Although the bylaw came into force on July 1, the special reserved area in Whangateau Harbour is not operative because markers and signs are not in place.

There have been few problems on Rodney's waterways over the holiday period.