kayak saftey gear while fishing in the ocean.

Hi every one,I got stopped last year by dept of transport one time off ocean reef and insisted that we must have an anchor,pfd1 and flares.
At that time we were about 1.5 km's out. because we did not have all that we were instructed to go back in
because we were in the ocean.
Apparently the distance from shore does not matter, you still require the safety gear.
So why dont surfers or wind surfers carry the same gear?????
Even though the kayak is a sit on and not sit in, it made no difference.
I have tried to find the relevant legislation regarding this to no avail.
It all refers to powered vessels or PWC's(jet ski's).

If some one can point me in the right direction to facts that apply to kayaks I would very much appreciate it.
Cheers

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I dont need counselling just a bigger boat


Paul H's picture

Posts: 2104

Date Joined: 18/01/07

Not sure too many jet skis

Thu, 2011-11-17 11:00

Not sure too many jet skis carry anchors or flares that I am aware of.....

Not to say it makes it legal....

 

If on a kayak I would prefer to have these regardless myself (including a PFD)

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madfishoholic's picture

Posts: 187

Date Joined: 25/03/10

I always wear a pfd3 but not

Thu, 2011-11-17 11:05

I always wear a pfd3 but not sure if any other yakkers have had the same issue.
With fishing gear and so forth it becomes quite bulky on a yak.

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I dont need counselling just a bigger boat

Posts: 361

Date Joined: 09/08/09

I think this is a bit of a

Thu, 2011-11-17 11:31

I think this is a bit of a grey area. I was trying to find some rules for what I need to carry on my inflatable with little outboard on it. It’s not really a proper boat with just a 2.2HP on the back, but treading it as a boat from the rules side of view, I should have flares, anchor, etc.  

I think I saw somewhere that jetskies are excluded from carrying it up to 200 of 400m offshore. But then nowhere was said that the same goes for kayaks, surfers and so. Not really clear rules when it comes to unregistered boats. My opinion is, that it should be left to the angler/user what he chooses to carry. We have too many rules as it is. So from what I found, if you are out on your body board you should have an anchor, flares, rope, knife…… And it looks like you’ve been send back based on similar assumption. Crazy world we live in. Fun police!

 

Albee Mangles's picture

Posts: 985

Date Joined: 20/05/08

Its a grey area.

Thu, 2011-11-17 11:57

In the Kayak Fishing Community it is a general assumption that we apply the same rules to us as to a small boat, and that is the way it seems to be enforced.

 

So for Offshore, we all carry Flares, Bailer, Anchor and PFD1. Better that we all carry this now than the powers that be bring in legislation to carry a whole bunch of useless stuff to counter for the 1 in 100 that doesnt care. We also carry EPIRBS when outside the Epirb Exempt area, and radio's where required.

 

For safety's sake, its not a bad idea too! 

madfishoholic's picture

Posts: 187

Date Joined: 25/03/10

I agree that having safety

Thu, 2011-11-17 12:27

I agree that having safety equip is necessary but I will draw the line at a fire extinguisher.lol
Just how much fishing gear can you fit on a small kayak as well?
Guess the answer is buy a bigger kayak.

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I dont need counselling just a bigger boat

rocky's picture

Posts: 90

Date Joined: 07/06/10

hi i just emailed the people

Thu, 2011-11-17 17:28

hi i just emailed the people in the know and this is there reply.

 

 

Hello Rocky

 

A kayak is classed as a normal vessel and therefore needs to carry all the required safety equipment depending on the area of operation. Operating in unprotected waters, (Offshore), you will be required to carry the following:

 

·           Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Type 1

·           Inshore Flare Kit consisting of 2 red handheld flares and 2 handheld orange smoke flares if within 5nm from the mainland or an offshore flare kit consisting of 2 parachute rocket flares and 2 handheld orange smoke flares if over 5nm

·           Bailer or Bucket

·           Sufficient Anchor and Line

·           A Marine Band Radio either 27MHz or VHF if proceeding over 5nm from the mainland

 

An EPIRB must be carried when navigating more than 2 nautical miles from mainland shore. In the Perth Metropolitan area there is an EPIRB exempt zone which incorporates Cockburn Sound and across to Rottnest Island.

 

These are minimum safety equipment requirements and the department always recommends that vessels carry in excess of these requirements.

 

Regards

Peter Beattie
Coordinator Safety and Compliance
Navigational Safety and Compliance
Marine Safety

 

 

 

 i hope that will help every kayaker out there.

 

thanks rocky

Shorty's picture

Posts: 1549

Date Joined: 10/05/08

You can get on the local

Thu, 2011-11-17 17:34

You can get on the local kayak fishing forum yakfishwest and in the safety section theres a few ideas on what else to carry as well,always wear a PFD type one, Hobie and a few others make good ones suitable for kayaking.

madfishoholic's picture

Posts: 187

Date Joined: 25/03/10

Hi Rocky, thanks for taking

Fri, 2011-11-18 09:24

Hi Rocky, thanks for taking the time to help.
I think I will invest in an inflatable pfd1 to avoid the bulkiness.

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I dont need counselling just a bigger boat

Josh's picture

Posts: 283

Date Joined: 14/09/10

 Hey guys, Seems the rules

Sat, 2011-11-19 08:45

 Hey guys, 

Seems the rules are a little bit strange on this one, as I have a few mates who fairly regularly paddle their ocean surf skis to rotto, and they dont have any of that anchor etc... as its about the lighter you go the faster you go

madfishoholic's picture

Posts: 187

Date Joined: 25/03/10

thats very surprising they

Mon, 2011-11-21 14:42

thats very surprising they have not been stopped.

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I dont need counselling just a bigger boat