Tasman Harbourmaster's safety message

Tasman Harbourmaster Dan Cairney works for the Tasman District Council and has responsibility for navigation/ water safety throughout the Tasman District, including Tasman Bay, Golden Bay, the Kahaurangi coast and the regions lakes and rivers.

As Harbourmasters the biggest part of our job is to help to prevent maritime accidents and incidents but if things do go bad, we, along with other agencies are also there to help.

Every year there are lots of lessons learnt from assisting with accidents and incidents.

One of the most important things I can pass on to boaties is that when something goes wrong, it goes wrong fast and there is not much point in for example having lifejackets under boat seats if the boat sinks.

Also, in the last few years we have seen an increasing number of people getting into trouble in their small 10-foot dinghy's.

The trouble with these boats is they can easily be swamped by waves, and they also don’t usually have much reserve buoyancy.

So, what-ever boat you are on it is very important to wear lifejackets and to carry at least to forms of communication so that you can get help.

Local knowledge is also essential for safe boating and anyone going out on the water in Tasman should also pick up a copy of our free Tasman District Council Boating and Water Sports Brochure, this has a lot of relevant information including six months of tide tables.

It is available at Tasman Boat ramps and from TDC offices in Richmond, Motueka, Murchison and Takaka.

We are also noticing a lot of people out there who are new to boating, if you are new to boating consider joining a boat club to benefit from the experience of others.

All boaties should know that just like out on the region’s roads there are a lot of rules out on the water, but the rules are common-sense, and they are in place to make everyone safer.

Along with central government boating safety rules Harbourmasters also have additional navigation safety bylaws to help keep people safe in their respective districts, it is very important that people have an understanding of the bylaws that apply in each region.

The Tasman District Council bylaw can be found at https://www.tasman.govt.nz/my-region/recreation/boating-and-fishing/.

One particularly important rule is to make sure you slow down to 5 knots near shore (within 200m) as this gives a safe zone for swimmers, kayakers etc, but also for your own vessel as there are a lot of near shore rocks in the Abel Tasman and the consequences of hitting these at speed would be catastrophic.

Also know that the 200 meter 5 knots speed rule apples around any structures, and divers blue and white dive flags.

The speed limit is three knots in marinas and anchorages such as inside Adele Island and Anchorage Bay and this is to make travel safer in congested areas and also to reduce wake that would otherwise impact on the anchored vessels.

We have a system of buoys in place throughout the district which help to direct boating traffic, and again the best guidance for this can be found in our boating and water sports brochure.

Have a great summer on the water and please remember to follow the rules to keep everyone safe!