A heap of crew made the drive to the murray mouth today ready for a good session only to be greeted by 3 national parks staff imforming us that as sailboarders we are classed as personal water craft and as such under their ledgislation we are not permitted to sail within the coorong national park area. This is because they claim that sailboards are doing environmental damage to the surrounding habitat but under the same law all power boats can be used within the park because they dont impact on the evironment, work that one out! So if national parks rangers catch anyone sailing the mouth you will be issued with a $170 fine[}:)] So you can all thank the goverment for ruining what is one of the best flat water spots in south oz.

hm... that sounds strange... perhaps tree hugin' Peter Garett should look at banning fossil fuel burning motor boats and jet skis in National Parks before banning plastic bags.

"Personal water craft" is a well established generic term for jet ski. Just hit google if you doubt it. If some moron from the Parks department wants to make his own definition because he has a dislike for sailboarders then take the fine, fight it in court and when the Parks department has a bunch of costs awarded against them maybe he will loose his job (unlikely).
If they want to ban windsurfers then they have to change the law. This country has had enough of trumped up people in uniform putting their own interpretation on laws (immigration dept etc). It is about time they got with the mood of the nation.

Even in Sa law PWC are defined as being power driven eg.



HARBORS AND NAVIGATION REGULATIONS 1994 - REG 8
8—Interpretation



"personal watercraft" means a device that—


(a) is propelled by a motor; and


(b) has a fully enclosed hull; and


(c) is designed not to retain water if capsized; and


(d) is designed to be operated by a person who sits astride, stands, or kneels on the device, and includes the device commonly referred to as a jet ski;

Take a copy of this Act with you with this definition when you go there again and wave it under their noses. And see whether they are willing to misuse their authority now they know they cant bluff you and you know THEY are acting illegally.

you can find it here.

www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/legis/sa/consol_reg/hanr1994322/s8.html#personal_watercraft

Oh well next time a make the trip down to the MMouth i'm gonna fit a little plastic outboard between my back straps that should class me as a boat.

Well it looks like we'll be back at boggy again guys I hope ya did'nt get fined? Not long now and we'll be sailing at beach port cant wait.

Abuse of the environment in a National Park has nothing to do with windsurfing. Its like saying public schools are bad because Ivan Milat was educated at a public school. Some people are idiots who leave rubbish behind and treat National Parks as their own. Just because some of them happen to windsurf is beside the point.

As said before, classing windsurfers as personal water craft is a distortion of the truth. Are they banning kayaking, dingies and boogie boards? By these jumped up Nazis definition, then yes they are personal as in someone uses it, yes they go on the water, and yes they are craft. So by their warped definition they are personal water craft.

If some ranger had a go at me about this, I would ask to see the rule and what relevant legislation that rule is based on. If the ranger could not provide it in person, I would understand that and ask if they can get it to me ASAP and thank them for their public service. If they were still not going to let me in I would just tell them I don't sail, its a paddle board. I lay down on it and paddle around.

Rangers should go round chasing the troublemakers, rather than taking the easy option of kicking everyone out of the park. I would contact my local state MP in writing immediately and ask what the hell is going on. You have to fight this and make sure these power trippers don't get the upper hand.

A PWC is also required to be registered, rider to be licensed, must carry a V sheet, flares,and pfd... ?????? This SA national park definition is freaking warped...

mkseven said...

I think you will find PWC can include all powered and non-powered craft (canoes, boats, sailboards).

Not according to legislation in South Australia or NSW


Personal watercraft (PWC) is the term used to describe trade names such as Jet Skis, Waverunners and Sea Doos. Regardless of the type of PWC it is important to remember PWC are just another form of powerboat, and are generally subject to similar regulations and laws. However, there are also some special rules that apply to the use of these craft. PWC are much more manoeuvrable than traditional power boats, have different handling characteristics and when used carelessly they can present a danger and nuisance to both the operator and to other people using our waterways.

www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/index.html

So these jumped up playschool cops need to get their definitions right firstly, then need to be able to show their regulations backed up by law. Just because they thought it was a good idea when they had an idle moment, of which there are probably many, doesn't mean its law.

mkseven said...
As RioGirl said we do have an impact on the environment, if that is a roosting area the impact could be quite significant. It is a national park- it's there for a reason. I'm sure the dog walkers felt quite the same way when they were banned from national parks.

Fair enough, but instead of committing possibly illegal actions by stopping people from visiting the park they should be enforcing laws that they can enforce, ie gathering evidence and charging people who do break the law in the National Park.

These rangers forget its not THEIR national park, its OUR national park.

Lumping windsurfers as PWCs is a very dangerous precident which needs to be fought wherever it occurs.

We launch from the boat ramp area and it had nothing to do with the exclusion zone around the bird freindly dredge. This was premeditated and was due to someone complaining. I took the ranges details and will be most certainly making some calls tomorrow. While we were there a number of power boats where cruising past including a 40 footer. On the other side where we sail there were 4wd drives every where with guys fishing. The sign where we launch from reads
"The use of personal water craft (Jetskis) is prohibated." but does not refer to us at all. Looks like you can ski though. Its like telling someone that they cant ride their push bike on a 4wd track

Fair enough.

Well all I can say is sign... what sign?

It appears that there are certain moronic sphincter muscles that are on this planet just for the sole purpose of making life difficult for others.

Well I got a bit fired up when we got there and found out the others were kicked out .A Parks vehicle rolled up later away from us in the carpark and I could'nt resist confronting the two men about what had been said to the others who had been kicked out of the water. It turned out that they said the rangers had been there before and they were the ones who approached the sailors before ,funny thing though is that they still had parks uniforms on. Then they produced a camera and started taking pictures of two sailors who still went out!
THEY IGNORED THE BOAT THERE DRAGGING TWO SKIM BOARDS WITH PEOPLE ON THEM!
Can anyone say "just take the pictures we want "
This is all very strange ,I've downloaded the National Parks Act of 1972 with amendments and I can't find any referrence to sailing craft being banned from that region.
Also I've got the Conservation Council of SA recommendations 2003 onward and it only has reference to Jet skis and they being the only PERSONAL WATER CRAFT they are concerned with causing possible damage .
I'm writing to my MP and the Paper to report on this unfairness ,just little people trying to big note themselves it seems in one word BEAUROCRACY

The whole thing sounds suss the more that is said.

Sounds like someone with influence who doesn't like windsurfers ( one of those waterfront property owners?) has used his connections to get the "blight" out of his patch. The whole thing smells of corruption. Pity they don't have a ccc there.

the whole situation is rotten. its encouraging that poeple are passionate enough to have the drive to do something about it. i dont know what i can do but this sort of thing really **s me off., and i offer my full support (for what its worth). i have not been here long enough to know who is who, and what is what as far as local politics is concerned, but i do know a guy who "knows people" in politics and will see if any advice or halp can be given.

Good work Dave!!

I remember about three years ago when the City of Holdfast Bay tried to ban Windsurfing between Seacliff and North Glenelg. Us Windsurfers ended up winning that battle!! so it can be done.