GTom
Well-known member
Not much detail yet. Unfortunately no lack of yahoos on the water.
Fatality after boat/PWC collision off Menai Bridge
- Thread starter NotBirdseye
- Start date
vodzurk
Member
Was an absolute ton of them between Swansea and Cardiff this weekend. At least 5 had used the slip by Swanbridge. They were all well behaved and kept a distance though so no complaints from me.
GTom
Well-known member
NotBirdseye
Well-known member
G'urk! Thread merge alert!
TSB240
Well-known member
All too sadly there has been another death involving an off duty policeman and a Jet Ski at Pwllheli yesterday.
Very sad day for a well known local. Please save the thoughts and suppositions for the two grieving families. Let's see how the MAIB and Police Investigations pan out.
Caernarfon Harbour Trust had an active patrol out on the Strait yesterday and will also be extending the speed limit area at Y Felinheli to include up to Plas Newydd on Monday.
Very sad day for a well known local. Please save the thoughts and suppositions for the two grieving families. Let's see how the MAIB and Police Investigations pan out.
Caernarfon Harbour Trust had an active patrol out on the Strait yesterday and will also be extending the speed limit area at Y Felinheli to include up to Plas Newydd on Monday.
vanoord
Member
I'm not going to comment on the subject of the thread, other than to note that it's a particularly tragic accident; and that it sadly proves that some water-based behaviours can have terrible consequences.
Unfortunately, it comes at a time when there has been a lot of local disharmony around the Menai Strait in the last couple of years, for the most part fuelled by the (perceived) disturbance created by greater numbers of PWCs, the fast RIB trip operators and a couple of incidents where people with above-water exhausts have annoyed locals (and one person in particular).
There isn't a big problem caused by boats travelling along the Menai Strait: the problems have mostly been caused by PWCs and boats going round and round in circles (and sometimes waterskiing / wake boarding).
Unfortunately, the the likely result is going to be impositions of speed limits, which will impact most (and unfairly) on those who regularly use the Menai Strait in a sensible manner, while those who tit around and annoy local residents will either ignore the rules or go somewhere else.
There's now a desperate need for a proper code of conduct for boaters on the Menai Strait, agreed between the Councils and the Harbour Trust and private launch slips - to be given to anyone launching. That needs to be backed up with some sort of enforcement and ultimately banning people who won't behave from launching.
Okay, that won't stop people coming in from further afield, but the alternative is a blanket 5 knot speed limit which will pointlessly take away the pleasures that most people have enjoyed for many years.
Unfortunately, it comes at a time when there has been a lot of local disharmony around the Menai Strait in the last couple of years, for the most part fuelled by the (perceived) disturbance created by greater numbers of PWCs, the fast RIB trip operators and a couple of incidents where people with above-water exhausts have annoyed locals (and one person in particular).
There isn't a big problem caused by boats travelling along the Menai Strait: the problems have mostly been caused by PWCs and boats going round and round in circles (and sometimes waterskiing / wake boarding).
Unfortunately, the the likely result is going to be impositions of speed limits, which will impact most (and unfairly) on those who regularly use the Menai Strait in a sensible manner, while those who tit around and annoy local residents will either ignore the rules or go somewhere else.
There's now a desperate need for a proper code of conduct for boaters on the Menai Strait, agreed between the Councils and the Harbour Trust and private launch slips - to be given to anyone launching. That needs to be backed up with some sort of enforcement and ultimately banning people who won't behave from launching.
Okay, that won't stop people coming in from further afield, but the alternative is a blanket 5 knot speed limit which will pointlessly take away the pleasures that most people have enjoyed for many years.
DownWest
Well-known member
Licences and PWCs . Down in Portugal, all craft have to registered and any boater must have the suitable licence. Does not stop abuse. I was repeatedly dowsed by some idiot who thought it was funny to turn sharply very close. Far more serious, I was showing some friends the caves and some kid came the other way on a pwc at speed. How there wasn't a major accident I don't know. We bashed the wall avoiding it. Later, saw it by a large mobo anchored in a bay. They declined to talk to me. Kid was prob 10, way under the age to use it. Do licences reduce accidents, seems not.
One other thing, on PWCs, when you shut the throttle, you lose the steering, as it is by the jet. So the inexperienced tend to shut it down, then carry on straight ahead to what-ever they were trying to avoid.
One other thing, on PWCs, when you shut the throttle, you lose the steering, as it is by the jet. So the inexperienced tend to shut it down, then carry on straight ahead to what-ever they were trying to avoid.
duncan99210
Well-known member
I used to keep a mobo on the Menai, just by the Britannia Bridge. When we first arrived, it was a quiet, pleasant spot. Then the speed limit was introduced on Windermere. Cue the arrival of the “how fast can I slalom through these moorings” mob. I know they were refugees from Windermere as they still had their registration numbers on the boats. They only stopped messing about round the moorings after I went over to where they were launching and discussed with them the likelihood of my chasing them for damage caused by their wakes (wouldn’t happen of course, I know that but...) as I knew who they were from their registration numbers..... Thing got better after that, especially as the landowner stopped them using the beach to launch over.
If the Menai were to have speed limits imposed, it would not stop the overall problem but it might move it elsewhere to what are less protected and therefore more hazardous areas, as happened with Windermere. The limits there were largely the result of persistent agitation by irritated locals: the same may well happen on the Menai if things continue to irritate them enough to continue their campaign. I’m not personally in favour of speed limits for no reason but if people don’t moderate their behaviour it may well end up with a blanket limit being imposed.
If the Menai were to have speed limits imposed, it would not stop the overall problem but it might move it elsewhere to what are less protected and therefore more hazardous areas, as happened with Windermere. The limits there were largely the result of persistent agitation by irritated locals: the same may well happen on the Menai if things continue to irritate them enough to continue their campaign. I’m not personally in favour of speed limits for no reason but if people don’t moderate their behaviour it may well end up with a blanket limit being imposed.