G'Day,
Does anyone know what the new (introduced about 12 months ago, i think) rules concerning lifejackets, & when they need to be worn in NSW are?
In particular im interested to know if I need to wear a lifejacket when rowing out to my moored vessel? Or rowing to & from shore when anchored?
If boating alone in a boat under 4.8m you need one, but there are many conditions attached to various craft, surfskis, kayaks & tenders. One of which is if you carry a bailer in the tender you are exempt from carry other safety equipment (does this include lifejackets?), if your not required to carry them, surely you cant be expected to wear them?.
I have spoken to NSW Maritme about it but are none the wiser.
cheers
I'm not sure about NSW rules but here in Tas some sanity prevailed and you do not have to wear a life jacket if rowing a tender between the boat and the shore.
You usually don't have to wear lifejackets rowing with any new laws as it is impractical (or so the rowing clubs say) to wear a jacket rowing for sport so rowing is usually exempt.
That you have to wear one in a kayak but not an inheriently unstable single rowing skull always dumbfounded me but that's the way it tends to go sometimes.
If all else fails, try to decipher this.
www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/viewtop/inforce/subordleg+109+2009+FIRST+0+N
The appropriate section of the legislation reads:
87F Lifejacket must be worn on small vessel at certain times
(1) A person must wear an appropriate lifejacket if that person is on board a vessel that is less than 4.8 metres in length (other than a personal watercraft, kiteboard, sailboard, canoe or kayak) and the person is on board the vessel:
(a) at night (being the period starting 30 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise), or
(b) when that vessel is on open waters, or
(c) alone without emergency assistance, or
(d) when that vessel is being used more than 400 metres from the shore to transport persons or goods between:
(i) the shore and the vessel, or
(ii) the vessel and the shore, or
(iii) vessels.
The answer is a lifejacket is to be worn when rowing alone to your boat on a mooring. The nanny state is alive and well.
I'm afraid I will have to ignore this law as being impractical. I always wear a pfd when it is dangerous such as at night, crossing a bar, in weather that I consider dangerous but I am happy to take this particular case to a magistrate if necessary.
There is less risk involved in my rowing out to my yacht 100 metres off the shore than there is in my surfing at a nearby beach, swimming out to the boat, snorkelling off the rocks, all for which I don't need to wear a jacket.
The section goes on:
For the purposes of this clause, a person is on board a vessel alone without emergency assistance if the person is operating a vessel as master without the company of another adult person or a support vessel capable of rendering practical assistance in the case of emergency (either physically or by contacting the relevant emergency services).
As there are invariably people on boats nearby I will take them as being the support vessel as I could call out to them to render assistance.
Cheers,
When I spoke to the NSW Maritime officer, they didnt know the answer to my question: Do I have to wear a lifejacket when rowing alone, out to my moored yacht?
He consulted a Maritime lawyer on it, who said you do need a lifejacket.
So I asked the same question again, just to be sure, & he said, 'oh rowing?', I said yes....then he said you can row out in tender, out to 100m from shore without needing a lifejacket. I asked where the 100m rule is in writing & he pointed me to the Legislation that slainte provided the link for.
I couldnt find any reference to the 100m ruling in it for tenders.
But found this at the end of the document in Schedule 5.
Modified safety equipment requirements for tenders
A tender is not required to carry safety equipment specified in Part 1 if the tender carries the following safety equipment:
(a) a paddle or a pair of oars,
(b) a waterproof torch if operating between sunset and sunrise,
(c) a bucket, bailer or bilge pump.
Part 1 details minimum safety equipment, life jackets, compass, fire extinguishers etc required for recreational vessels.
So the loophole(or my point is), if you carry a bailer in a rowing tender you are exempt from wearing a lifejacket?????, or do you still need to wear one, even although your vessel (the tender) is not obliged to carry one?????
Is pleading guilty 'your honour', but claiming the law is impractical a good defense?
The nanny state bureaucrats get paid to dream up & implement all this legislation, yet its the general public that has to decipher it (& still work their own day jobs)....im gonna need a full-time secretary soon, just to keep up-to-date with all the rules.
cheers
Well picked up on the modified rules. I have only seen one person wear a PFd in their tender, he was with a youngster and they both had jackets on. Quite sensible.
Like the laws on toilets and holding tanks, enforcement is problematic. I expect, hope, for a sensible implementation of the law.
I think the 400 metre rule covers most of us. A lot depends on the Waterways inspector on the day. If you have pissed him off you may get by on the lifejacket bit but he may well ask to see your whistle and torch! Next door neighbour got pulled over for speeding in a 4 knot zone 50 metres from the main wharf in the middle of the day in a 14 footer. Got nailed for speeding and fined for no torch and whistle!
I believe the 400m rule is separate from the small boat rule. Alone in a boat under 4.8m a jacket is required. The table is misleading because of the lack of punctuation, the Legislation is clearer but not great.
I agree that implementation will be subjective to the mood of the BSO. more brilliant Labor legislation, maybe BOF will amend it!
