Use of Powerboats in the midlands Lakes

pablo21

A determined drive is being made to Ban all pleasurecraft off midlands Lakes. I'm interested in finding out peoples opinions and thoughts.

scaldybelt

I dont care or have an opinion!

This is annoying to hear about as the thought of having to tow my boat over to the East coast every other weekend would get me down. We're not exactly blessed with the most reliable weather in this country, but raining/slightly windy on a lake is much more pleasureable than the same conditions in open sea.

Why can't we have a proper regulated system whereby users/boats have to be licensed, hold insurance, and possibly even be a member of a club. Then designated zones of waterway could be allocated for specific craft users.

Quatre Mains

I dont care or have an opinion!

if all boats were banned that would be one of the regions best attractions gone. Its hard enough to compete with other areas of the country for tourism.

Occidental

Most of the problem on the Mullingar lakes are with Jetski's rather than powerboats. Off the top of my head, the complaints I'd normally hear are

Too fast when close to shore and swimming areas.
No respect for fishing areas or wildlife areas.
Too noisy.
Not from round here and bring nothing to the area.

While the last point can be taken with a pinch of salt, the other three are valid and can be seen all too regularly, particularly on Lough Ennell.

I'd be quite happy to a Jetski ban and perhaps some limits on where and when Powerboats can be used. A size limit on the Shannon would also be welcome, as it seems only a matter of time before someone tries to bring an
ocean liner into Lough Ree.

As regards what can be done, I'd have thought an approach by the various boating/sailing interests to WI and Westmeath CoCo would help. It's much easier for the council to wave a big stick than to put a bit of thought and finesse into a sensible solution. It's up to the boating community to come up with a soultion which involves no effort, no cost and has no comeback for the council.

pablo21

I dont care or have an opinion!

The current situation is that Jetski's are banned but boats are permitted. But the article ran in last weeks westmeath examiner despite the fact it was completely inaccurate, seems only intended to incite a wave of disapproval for the use of our midland waterways as a facility for the boating fraternity. Now I dont have a problem with Newspapers being inaccurate but because the boating fraternity have no formal body or representatives the council can in all likelyhood push this one past us! Anyone any idea's on how to put up some structered oposition to this?

LizzyD

Get a councillor on your side and apply to make a representation at the next meeting of Westmeath County Council, think it's in August... even if 5 or 6 of you got together and asked for a meeting it'd be better than doing nothing. Then voice your concerns.

Saruman

Thats stupid.. it should be policed maybe... speed limit etc but the cheaper option is to ban it and not think of the consequences. The irony being they will then need to pay to enforce the ban

pablo21

I dont care or have an opinion!

Saruman wrote:

Thats stupid.. it should be policed maybe... speed limit etc but the cheaper option is to ban it and not think of the consequences. The irony being they will then need to pay to enforce the ban

How would you go about enforcing the speed limit on the lakes? Police boats?

I think licence money could go towards physical barriers to keep users away from the coast similar to any beach on the continent. Spot checks for licence holders etc. etc.
From my experience a small amount of the jet ski fraternity do tend to show a disregard for other users but thats only because its not regulated.
The very nature of speed boats mean they cannot be operated near the shore so I think with the right regulation they should be allowed use the lakes. I'd like to see a more realistic approach that see's all residents of the midlands and lake users able to use this wonderful amenity right on our door steps


Lizzy D. Excellent suggestion.

Saruman

Eh of course, how else would you enforce it Well i suppose a garda on a dinghy with a speed camera might work......
I think you missed the point of my post. I was simply saying that banning something outright seems like a cop out and a way to not spend any money on doing anything about it. And the irony is that they will in the end have to spend money policing the lakes when people ignore the ban and bring their boats anyway.

pablo21

I dont care or have an opinion!

;-) I couldnt help myself! Sorry! Picturing the Hoff policing Loch Ennel!!!

Saruman

Classic spongebob moment there!
Though there might be complaints about the speed of the hoff

Victor

Occidental wrote:

A size limit on the Shannon would also be welcome, as it seems only a matter of time before someone tries to bring an
ocean liner into Lough Ree.

I presume locks dictate sizes, unless its brought overland for use on a limited stretch.

Do-more

The County Council would be far better employed banning all petrol engined boats from Lough Owel. Don't think I've ever seen a Powerboat or Jetski on Owel (bar maybe Safety boats for the Sailing club). Given that Owel supplies Mullingar's drinking water it seems ludicrous that petrol engines are allowed on the lake.

scaldybelt

I dont care or have an opinion!

Couldn't the council control access to slipways?
At a minimal cost they could employ someone to man the gate and charge for each launch/retrieval. Insurance would have to be displayed and maybe membership of a local club (should any exist?) to get a discount.

Then the funds could be invested in creating zones of use for different craft including documents on things like underwater hazards etc. Heck - they could even provide an ice cream van!

otwb

I dont care or have an opinion!

Am all for banning jetski's. Noisy & dangerous. I think that other boats could be licenced - e.g. clubs/businesses ok as long as they conform to a code of ethics & display licences, this way the untrained people whoo have just bought boats and speed around with no regard for other peoples safety would be eliminated.

Firetrap

Ban all PWC (Personal Water craft- Current Bye Law)

Jetskis are like the souped up Honda Civics of the lakes. Maybe there are nice considerate people who use them but I've yet to come across any. The big problem is that they're unregulated and any cretin can get onto one even if they don't know anything about etiquette on the water or the few rules that there are.

barneylakes

Proper licensing and policing of powerboats and pwc's is the way forward; the policing will be a problem particularly if it is in the hands of waterways Ireland who are not really on top of the current issues on the inland waterways - their legislation is reactive not proactive but they are improving.

It will take a long time before we are doing our driving test on the water I think though. ON the other hand it is a bit sad to see over in the UK that they have speed limits and blanket bans on pwc's and powerboats in an awful lot of areas and they actively police these stretches of water and regularly fine anybody breaking them. It would be a perfect world I suppose if everyone respected the water and everyone else on it!!!!

ShaunC

I dont care or have an opinion!

would it be too simple of a solution to say, powerboats & jetskis can use one lake, and ban them from all others in the county.
e.g. derravaragh for fast craft. Fishermen, swimmers etc can have the other dozen or so.