A record 18 harbourmasters around the country are taking part in this year’s ‘No Excuses’ campaign, focusing on recreational boaties who don’t carry or wear lifejackets or whose speed on the water is unsafe.

The fourth annual campaign gets underway tomorrow – Saturday, 12 October – and involves harbourmasters and Maritime New Zealand Maritime Officers working side by side for at least five random days in each region over the summer.

Action will be taken against boaties who break lifejacket and speed rules, including infringement notices of up to $300.

The campaign has been steadily growing since it started in 2016, initially involving eight councils and Maritime NZ working together in each area to reinforce safety rules and regulations to recreational boaties.

Maritime Officers and harbourmasters will check that people are complying with the safety rules, including those for life jackets, speed, dive flags and towing with an observer.

Maritime NZ Deputy Director, Sharyn Forsyth, said it was great to see the campaign moving for the first time into the Buller, Gisborne, Taranaki and the Manawatu areas. “Harbourmasters and Maritime Officers are working together on the water to ensure boaties know, understand and follow the rules,” she said.

The “No Excuses” campaign will be run for five days by each of the councils and on Lake Taupo at different times between today and 31 March 2020.

“Up to two-thirds of recreational boaties who drown might have been saved if they wore lifejackets,” Ms Forsyth said. “Boaties speeding in busy areas is dangerous and can injure children, swimmers, divers and people in small craft.

“Safe boaties follow the rules each and every time they go on the water. There are no excuses for breaking the rules and causing risk to yourself and others.”

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