Safety Concerns

[Jordo]

The problem with flags is that I hate the flapping noise and most of them, if not all, can not be lowered while you are on the water and in the event of electrical activity, they become a wonderful lightning conductor.

Surely ur takin the piss here mav?

[maverick]

Nope, the noise shits me. I had my rods buzz once when there was electrical activity and they gave me a shock so I was able to lower them, with a fixed flag I couldn't.

I am not saying don't carry them, I am saying it should remain voluntary. I try to wear the high viz clothing when I can. Of more concern to me is the lack of lighting by many yakkers.

[shane]

Just have a flag you can dismount when needed. A lot of DIY flag poles are PVC so not an issue. Mines Aluminium but its mounted behind my seat so i can easily remove it when needed. I can also remove the flag when its windy at night while keeping the LED's up high and visible.

[Jordo]

Nope, the noise shits me. I had my rods buzz once when there was electrical activity and they gave me a shock so I was able to lower them, with a fixed flag I couldn't.

I am not saying don't carry them, I am saying it should remain voluntary. I try to wear the high viz clothing when I can. Of more concern to me is the lack of lighting by many yakkers.

Ok I understand where you're coming from. I still beleive flags are vital - but can see your point.

[maverick]

Interestingly - according to the current laws, if you are at anchor in a kayak, you do not need to wear a PFD. That is stupid, but that is the law - page 51 & 52 of the boating safety handbook.

Same as lights, no requirement for a 360* "If practicable, any of the combinations for vessels under sail or an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light
and exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision"

I was involved years ago when we had to put in place a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Dive Industry after a number of deaths. Every one wanted to run around and make new rules. I suggested perhaps we shoudl have examined each death and work out what rules could have been changed to save the person - guess what, nothing. One was medical, one was a person who did a penetration dive on sub that they were not qualified to do and one didn't listen to the dive instructions and when they got in trouble they didn't follow the basic training rules. The upcoming forum has come about as there has been a large percentage increase in kayak deaths, but it is still not a large number. Unfortunately you can't regulate commonsense. We probably all agree that we think someone will probably be hit by a boat one day in Vic, but it hasn't happened yet. So do you regulate for what may happen or what has happened? No easy answers.

[Anthony]

Interestingly - according to the current laws, if you are at anchor in a kayak, you do not need to wear a PFD. That is stupid, but that is the law - page 51 & 52 of the boating safety handbook.

Same as lights, no requirement for a 360* "If practicable, any of the combinations for vessels under sail or an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light
and exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision"

Wouldn't almost all kayaks fall under the heightened risk rule being that there is only one person aboard the vessel in most cases?

[maverick]

Good point - but shouldn't regulations not be open to interpretation. In a 2 man kayak at anchor you don't need to wear a PFD, really?

[Anthony]

Yeah, I agree it's a bit silly to not just have them required at all times outright. There should also be a requirement for a all round light that can be seen for 2km+ on the water at night. I think white works but there could be a specific colour scheme for yak maybe white over blue or something. I'm not sure if that would make any difference but I have had some boaties say they get confused when they see a moving white light as it can look like a bigger boat moving away from them or something moving on-shore.

I'm not sure about making PLBs mandatory given their cost which has to be taken into consideration. It might be better if people were to put that money into a better yak then get a PLB at a later stage. I know when I was starting out I had a budget of $1000 which I think would be a fairly common budget. An entry level yak that is suitable for the bay runs $600-800 plus another couple of hundred dollars for a PFD and accessories saw that budget go pretty quickly. If people are required to have a PLB which costs around $300 they might be tempted to spend less on the kayak and go for an eBay cheapie rather than something decent.

[Kingo]

So to try and get more exposure for these safety issues ive posted about itfon the victorian kayak anglers and victorian kayak fishing facebook pages. I've so far been surprised by how many experienced yakkers beleive that flags aren't important, or just don't bother using them. It's no surprise then that people getting into the sport are recieving mixed messages. I know a lot of people have gotten to the point where they dont bother trying to tell people how to best go about it anymore, but its the experienced anglers that the new guys are looking up to and take the most on board from (even if they take on very little). I think its vital that the kayaking community be very vocal about the safety requirements, whether it be on the forum, on facebook, or in person.

Great thread - the more we talk about it the better!

Im dumbfounded by the responses on the facebook post i cant believe people throw around S#!^ like that on a public forum that has a heap of very inexperienced people with no clue

[Jordo]

So to try and get more exposure for these safety issues ive posted about itfon the victorian kayak anglers and victorian kayak fishing facebook pages. I've so far been surprised by how many experienced yakkers beleive that flags aren't important, or just don't bother using them. It's no surprise then that people getting into the sport are recieving mixed messages. I know a lot of people have gotten to the point where they dont bother trying to tell people how to best go about it anymore, but its the experienced anglers that the new guys are looking up to and take the most on board from (even if they take on very little). I think its vital that the kayaking community be very vocal about the safety requirements, whether it be on the forum, on facebook, or in person.

Great thread - the more we talk about it the better!

Im dumbfounded by the responses on the facebook post i cant believe people throw around S#!^ like that on a public forum that has a heap of very inexperienced people with no clue

The important part is that good or bad, every comment will get more people reading through. Some of those people will take something away from it. Unfortunately some of the people commenting arent seeing the bigger picture.