Wormimg story

[dnej]

A fellow I know makes a living digging worms. He uses a little tinnie to get to and fro to the worming grounds.
He has been told by the powers that be, that his boat has to go to survey, and he also has to obtain the associated commercial boating licence.

Well, he told them he will just walk now instead.
Hard to believe. He doesn't take any one with him.
So does that mean all professional crabbers etc, have to go through the same thing?
David

[Shark Poker]

Basically Yes.
If your boat is used for work!
I heard of a similar story where a Real Estate Salesman used his boat to take photos of canal properties that he was trying to advertise.

Interestingly, if you use your privately owned car for transport during your employment and this type of thing does not apply. Go figure...
However like any law this is subject to defence, details and a prosecution or complain in the first place.

For example in a wormers case it is nothing wrong with having a picnic and walking over to some worm grounds afterwards to dig worms.
So therefore there is nothing wrong with travelling by boat to have a picnic and then - walking over to some worm grounds afterwards to dig worms!

The problem with wormers boats traditionally is that they are left banging around on the shore and look terrible.
But the good news is that a new tinny probably only needs the basic survey requirements of decent foam and would not be expensive to buy or put into survey.
I expect most wormers will run with what they have for as long as possible. They end up with pretty bad backs quite often.
Pauly

[tunaticer]

I have got to agree with Pauly.
If he is making a living from worming he needs to have the correct accreditation basics for the job. If the guidelines say the minimum is XYZ, he needs to make sure the covers those grounds.
If he becomes un-viable because of it, he isn't giving it a decent go.

Examples of shonks not following rules are everywhere and all too often they skimp on too many things.
The insulation scheme was a blatant event of hundreds of shonks getting away with lies, bad ethics and bad attitudes, sometimes at a bad cost.

[dnej]

Coxswain, is the associated licence requirements.
I like your private car comparison Pauly.

So if I am an accountant, and I want to use my boat to go to Stradbroke everyday, to go to work, the same applies. It doesn't seem right to me.
David

[Cav(J.C.)]

Big brother is everywhere. The bureaucrats and others that make this crap up, and those that take pleasure in enforcing it, know that they don't have a real job, and they bludge on the taxes paid by the hard working wormer. Not only that, they act as if they are superior to him.
Australia was once a country where you could get out and have a go. Now the bloke who want's to have a crack is confounded by regulation, for regulations sake.
A lot of which makes no sense at all, is thought up by people who if they knew what they were talking about, would actually be doing it.
Cav(J.C.)