Boaters need to be schooled on the rules of the water

What is it about a Personal Water Craft that give its rider an enhanced sense of entitlement?

We constantly deal with it at the canoe club; idiots who scream up and down the harbour on those nefarious machines, oblivious to the huge signs that scream out in big red letters: No Wake; maximum speed 7 knots. It’s one thing when they do it on a windy day and we’re not on the water (well it is – still illegal), but when it’s a calm day and the harbour is full of not only our boats, but also folks from the rowing club — and these boaters will still rip around in circles, kicking up huge wake and generally interfering with anyone else’s enjoyment of the water.

Most of the power boaters are pretty good, though we get the occasional ignorant driver who either isn’t aware of the rules of the harbour, or just flat out decides to ignore them (these are usually the folks who make a big deal about the fact they’ve lived in Collingwood their whole lives, and they know one of the local cops, and they’ll just do as they damn well please, thank you very much).

One early morning while I was out with the dragon boat crew, one of these boaters came speeding into the harbour, right up to the dock at the launch ramp; we thought the guy might have had a medical emergency, but when I chatted with the Harbourmaster about it, it turns out he’d forgotten his fishing net.

So this Thanksgiving weekend, being how nice it was, a bunch of us headed over to the Beach to paddle in the Nottawasaga; we put in at the Schoonertown bridge, and paddle down to the Main Street bridge and back again — about nine kilometres — followed by brunch at the Mosley Street Grill.

The Nottawasaga River through Wasaga Beach is a bit of an oddity; while boating regulations specify a boater must be limited in speed to 10 km/h within 100 feet of a shoreline, the speed in the Nottawasaga is 50 km/h. to a point south of the Schoonertown Bridge. And based on the experience with several boaters on Sunday morning, we figured they must take it that the minimum speed is 50 as well.

A couple of folks in our group got a little yappy with one guy on a PWC about his speed and wake when he came in close proximity; remember, the Safe Boating Guide specifies, “everyone… has a responsibility to respect and share waterways with wildlife, swimmers, divers, other boaters and watercraft ranging from sail boats to float planes.”

The guide further states: “A boat’s wake can damage other vessels, docks and the shoreline. It can also be a risk for swimmers, divers, and people on small boats that might capsize. Be aware of how your boat’s wake might affect others when choosing your speed. You will be responsible for any damages of harm you cause.”

Anyhoo, the gentleman just up to where Mrs. Scoop and I were (as we were further upriver, paddling in the two-person outrigger canoe, which is slightly more stable than some of the other boats our group was paddling), asked if those other folks were with us, then proceeded to inform us he had every right to drive his PWC at the speed limit, but was trying to be ‘courteous’ in acknowledgment of the paddlers. I tried to point out what I’ve quoted above, but I don’t think he was listening (probably couldn’t hear over the din of his machine).

Of the several boats we encountered (not including the anglers who were trolling), Sunday, only one boater gave way to the paddlers, and was cautious of his speed and wake when he was overtaking us.

There have been numerous complaints about boat speed on the river over the years, as residents who live along the Nottawasaga have called on the municipal council to lower the speed to 10 km/h. So far, those concerns have fallen on deaf ears — even though there have been several accidents on the river in which speed has been a contributing factor. And at this time of year, there’s zero enforcement of speed and wake regulations either in the river or in the harbour.

Now, I don’t know if folks, when applying for a Personal Watercraft Operators Card, get any kind of education on speed and wake when in proximity to smaller boats; given the attitudes I run into some of the time, especially among the PWC set, they choose to ignore that section of the test…