Tinny hoon caught on video harassing boats anchored in Gold Coast Broadwater

A tinny driver recklessly performing stunts just meters away from houseboats and anchored vessels has been caught on camera. Watch the video.

A tinny driver recklessly performing stunts just meters away from houseboats and anchored vessels has been caught on camera.

The tinny driver was spotted in the Broadwater at Biggera Waters about 6.30am on Thursday morning.

He was seen driving at speed in a northerly direction before purposefully tipping his boat up to a 90 degree angle.

This tinny driver was seen hooning around the Broadwater on Thursday morning.

He then turned and headed to some anchored vessels and houseboats.

There he again performed the stunt – tipping his boat up to 90 degrees numerous times, before speeding back in a southerly direction.

The acts were done in a busy section of the waterways with a lot of boaties and recreational water users already on the water.

The tinny hooning act was condemned by Gold Coast Water Police officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Tony Nelson.

This tinny driver was seen hooning around the Broadwater on Thursday morning.

“It is an ongoing issue in relation to the behaviour and operation of smaller boats, including tinnies,” he said.

“It does come to our attention a lot.

“We do generally see increased activities for obvious reasons around school holidays and public holidays and weekends.”

Sen Sgt Nelson said complaints about tinny hooning were not increasing any more than normal for this time of year.

“It’s expected so we have a number of strategies to deal with it,” he said.

That includes police following up on complaints, increased water patrols, education about boat safety through schools and other groups and working with Marine Safety and Gold Coast Waterways.

This tinny driver was seen hooning around the Broadwater on Thursday morning.

“A lot of our work is about trying to influence behaviour and increase water safety,” he said.

Sen Sgt Nelson said it was not just tinny users who needed to be mindful of water safety this Christmas.

He said in the past week there had been a death in Cleveland after a boat capsized and a rescue in the Torres Strait, also after a boat overturned.

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“The key point out of both of those is none of them was wearing life jackets,” he said.

“Every single person who has drowned in the past 12 months as a result of a boating accident has not been wearing a life jacket.

This tinny driver was seen hooning around the Broadwater on Thursday morning.

“My key message is that if you are in a boat on the water wear a life jacket.

“You don’t know when something might happen and that could be the difference in you coming home or not.”

Sen Sgt Nelson also urged people not to mix alcohol and boating, ensure there was always a sober master of the vessel, obey the water rules and be considerate of other waterways users.

Anyone who wishes to make a complaint about tinny hooning or other inappropriate behaviour on the waterway can do so by calling Police Link on 131 444 or visiting https://www.police.qld.gov.au/policelink-reporting.

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