Warning to crabbers and Boaters.
On Sunday i rocked up at Woodys Pt (right at the point) at 4.45am to have a bit of a look around Garden/carnac sailing my kayak over,,of course there was crabbers (snorklers) out well before i got there (how do they see the crabs when its still a bit dark ??) anyway a couple were about 200 meters out right where the morning rush of boats from the Cockburn ramps were coming around flat tack as usual.
Most crabbers don't have diving flags and they are hard to see anyway if its choppy,dark etc,,they really need bright red/orange/fluro flags,,,
Anyway to get to the gist of it two crabbers nearly got cleaned up twice as boats veered away at the last few seconds,,,so crabbers watch out and boaters also,,now that the Cockburn crab bans over theres a few out there (and real early),,,,i still think theres going to be a death or serious injury,,but lets pray thats not the case.
.thumbnail.jpg "Champagne crabs?")
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Good call shorty. Cheers Dale
Good call shorty.
Cheers
Dale
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
Colt_Striker
Posts: 624
Date Joined: 26/07/09
Good call shorty, & not not
Good call shorty, & not not a dig at you mate but some Yakka's can be in the same boat (excuse the pun). I see most with a flag or vest all good, but some out with nothing to stand out, no lights & dark clothes very hard to see.
Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Thats right Colt Striker,,i
Thats right Colt Striker,,i have heard boaties say the low profiles of the kayaks are hard to see,,,thats why i thought crap,,these snorklers under water must be much harder to see.
big john
Posts: 8726
Date Joined: 20/07/06
Natural selection?
While its a serious point you raise shorty maybe a little common sense from the crab snorkellers wouldn't go astray either.
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Shorty
Posts: 1549
Date Joined: 10/05/08
Thats my point Big
Thats my point Big John,,some of these crab snorklers have no commonsense, rarely have i seen any,anywhere very visible,,,,sometimes just a little puff of water alerts you to them,,,or the odd flipper,,,
Some boaters go flat tack around the Point as they have always done its open water after all and there not expecting snorklers 200 meters out in the darkness or near darkness.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17863
Date Joined: 11/03/08
realistically you should be
realistically you should be visable in the dark but some people that go after the crabs are the same as the ones that go after the abalone , no brains. generally the snorklers have torches byt are hard to see when they are under the water, someone is going to be hit and injured , if not killed going after the crabs. prob is the only regs they have is size and amount. they dont need brains
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
kaney68
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 29/07/08
Good post Shorty
I haven't come across the crabbers yet, but last week came across divers on the 5 fathom (admittedly with a float/small flag) but you couldn't see them until right on top of them... no boat within cooee didn't help either !
Might be worth a call to the Water Police to keep an eye and try and educate some of these guys..
I'll also give Scotty Coghlan and suggest he puts something in this weeks Sunday Times fishing section.
jersey
Posts: 393
Date Joined: 12/06/08
Good advice
Shorty,as far as I know,a personal dive flag must be towed by the snorkel diver on a float,to not do so is asking to be hit,as for yaks ,why dont you have a flag like we see on those GoGo things that the older people use or off roaders have so they can be seen from a low aspect.jersey