Police charge Boat driver with Neg ,

[cabfisher]

On this morning News 4bh at 5-30 am
It was anounce that the guy returning from Morton Island with his two young sons and had to be rescued when his boat was starting to swamp has been charge with Neg Opperation of a vessel and will apeer in court at a later date .
I wonder if this will save others from doing stupid Boating Opperation ?
Cheers Harry

[westie]

SORRY guys but I totally disagree with this, it was unfortunate what happened, but he could not predict the sudden change in weather.

Do you really think a farther would put his kids into a situation that would harm them.

We all have been caught with unpredictable weather changes and wrong forecast.

Are they going to charge the 3 in the tinny that had to be rescued, noticed by a person using a Telescope miles away.

In the Bay seas can rise and fall so quick and catch the best of us off guard. I have had it happen off Mooloolaba, IT HAPPENS

This was an unfortunate mistake, that did have a happy ending.

Could the Authorities not spend there time getting the REAL Problem makers.

Maybe he did have a error of judgment, do you think he is proud of it, and he is not going over what could have been and if's and buts for a long time to come.


Boats with all the latest electronics on board can suffer from, The Bay horror stories.

[bushbeachboy]

Westie,
I'm with you. He will be going over and over it in his mind for a long time to come. Imagine how much of a verbal thrashing he is copping from the Mrs. Also, we don't know the full facts. You can rarely believe what the media say. They change and twist and sensationalise things to suit their own ends. For example if the reporter was quoting a police source that said the boat operator could potentially face charges it's very easy for them to lose a word and suddenly it appears that an otherwise decent father of two boys is actually facing charges. Until he actually appears in court and the charges are read out in full in public we aren't likely to know the truth.

[fish2eat]

Sorry to be a disenting voice here, but an error of judgement is one thing, but the police aren't charging him with stupidity.

I understand that the charges relate to the fact that he was not carrying the appropriate safety gear for partially smooth water. Can we excuse taking kids out in Moreton Bay in an open boat WITHOUT the mandatory safety gear??????

[MADKEEN]

If the police don't make peolpe accountable for their actions and take responably for the safety of the people onboard thier boats by having the correct safety gear. In my opionon i think there should throw the book at him. On another point if the weather was that bad is it worth risking your life and your childerns for a day out on the water. Stay at Moreton Is and wait for the weather to drop there is always more than one opotion.

fish2eat is right he is being charged with neg operations.

[bushbeachboy]

Fish2eat,
Mate, if he didn't have the safety gear, you're 100% right, and he deserves a good ar$e kicking.

[4x4frog]

This is the preverbial can of worms.
I can only say I 'heard' this all second hand from my wife...the guy had visitation for the holidays, how ever long that may have been. He could have possibly needed to have the kids home by a certain time that day.
One thing at least is that he did make a point he had lifejackets for the kids.
All other things aside, I personally think to travel that far across Morteon in a very small tinny is madness to say the least. It was early morning wasn't it, and rare to see such bad conditions so early. Correct me if I am wrong, didn't the problem arise from running out of fuel? If so...very poor planning o his part.
There certainly needs to be more responsibility taken by individuals for their own safety on a more regular basis than we see currently.

[martini]

I would like to put in my 2 cents worth on this matter.
I have been in boats all my life (52 yrs) and have crossed the bay in a 14ft abalone in rough and smooth, fished for mackeral of point lookout with the rest of the fishermen who launched off the surf beach in up to 6ft or so surf. I have driven my 36fter around mud in the worst conditions. Driven from Cleveland to Cape Moreton up the inside and driven from Cape Moreton to Pt Lookout down the outside in a 14ft abolone.

You may think and accuse me of being a reckless idiot.
BUT it comes back to seamanship and knowledge and I would do the same right now.

Anyone going out in a boat no matter where they are should have the knowledge to handle all conditions like the night I was racing my 26 ft Ross 780 trailer sailer with 5 on board. We were rounding E5 off moreton when 100m from the beacon we were gobbled up by a 50knot squal. The yacht behind us lost a crew member overboard and we could not even see the rounding mark. Within 20 minuted the storm had passed and we were sailing in 10 knots of wind but what an exciting time for 20 minutes. I would not put my crew in danger and while it blew we sailed with only a mainsail at half size and were still doing 14 knots and plaining.

We cannot critisize anyone for their actions unless you are in the boat with them and know the full story and what experience and safety measures have been taken!

Cheers Noel

[Streetkid]

I read in the paper today that the guy in question is facing a number of charges relating to reckless endangerment, I reckon good on the police. He blamed poor advice from the shop he bought the kids life jackets from for him having the wrong ones, well its not hard to read the print on a jacket that lets you know its correct application, and he would have known they weren't suited when he put them on. As for running out of fuel, does he blame the petrol station for that? Accidents do happen but i think this is one that could easily been avoided.

[westie]

I will live with him being charged with not having the propper Safety Gear on the boat. This is the LAW and he did not comply.

Is it possible with the Life Jackets he or the person who sold them thought .........." I will get the next size so they can grow into them as they are just about grown out of the smaller size" Can you say that you have never done that when buying clothes, shoes, Bicycle Helments ETc.


Have you not had a drink and driven home when you know you shouldn't have>

Drive over the speed limit some times, We all at some time do a wrong call, if it works out you can back on it we will do the same thing again.

But if it goes the other way .............................well we all handle it in our own way for the rest of our lives and learn.

[Louis]

I'm curious to know the size of the dinghy he was in?



Louis

[Streetkid]

4.5 metre

[Louis]

Thanks




Louis

[Leo_N.]

Good discussion guys...highlights out own need to be as safe as possible. My understanding of the law is that if you get into some sort of trouble and there was something that you could have done to avoid it, then you are not living up to your general safety obligation. I think that changable weather doesn't fit into this category as you can't control it.

I agree totally with Noel's comments about vessel size. If you are competent to operate a small craft then they can be every bit as seaworthy as large ones. I am just upgrading from a 4.3m tinny (which I used to take out 30 nm inside the reef up here in North Queensland) to a 5.3 m boat. I am very concious that this boat could be more dangerous than my previous one, because it has a lot more power and a lot of people feel over-confident in larger vessels.

[outsiderskip]

if the weather boys cant get it right
how do they expect us to

have u checked the forecast lately
how can they get it so wrong

cheers pete