'It's not really the machine, but the person riding them'

WARWICK jet ski trainer reveals exactly who are the worst perpetrators when it comes to dangerous behaviour on water.

RIGHT WAY: Amy and Isaac Gale playing it safe on Leslie Dam. Picture: Contributed

THE Jet-Ski - Love 'em or hate 'em, they're here to stay. For the purpose of this article, I'll call them by their official name. Personal water-craft, or PWC's for short, to be accurate.

Whatever you call them, it doesn't take very long to find new stories or even videos on the internet that show them in a very bad light. Marine incidents, complaints, more incidents and more complaints, feature in the news feeds I follow and read on a weekly basis.

Ask most fisherman and they will probably tell you plenty about them straight away. Words such as idiots, reckless and far, far worse words that I dare not attempt to place into print will probably be used.

It's sad really, that such a well designed and developed piece of equipment can get such a bad name. As usual, it's not really the machine, but the person riding them that is the real problem.

I've been around them most of my professional life. I've used them recreationally. I've used them as items of law enforcement equipment when I was in the Water Police and now I train people to use them.

Yes, since 2006 it has been a requirement to hold a special licence to legally operate a PWC. I'm the first to disclose that I do make money out of them, some weeks more than others and yes, I am the person who has probably signed off on a lot of the licensed people riding them in our waterways. Hopefully, the ones you see doing the right thing.

I'm a fisherman as well and I know how many of my mates who fish absolutely hate the sight of a PWC. To be honest, we rarely ever notice the PWC operator who is doing the right thing. We surely always notice the one doing the wrong thing though and there are still plenty of them that give everyone else a bad name.

Having a jet ski at Leslie Dam. Picture: Contributed

One thing I can say with certainty is that the licensing system works very well. I say this because almost every time I see someone doing the wrong thing on a PWC on the waterways I use, they are people who don't have licenses.

I see them riding them at speeds and in ways that are contrary to the laws that we have. Most commonly "freestyling” at speeds and at distances that are way too close to other waterway users or infrastructure.

So how do I know they don't have licenses? I don't go over and ask them and I certainly don't have any way of finding out via registration numbers like the police and fisheries can, and nor should I. My days of law enforcement ended over a decade ago. I know because these people tell me.

I remember the first time it happened. I'd just lobbed up at Leslie Dam and I saw a person operating a PWC in one or all of the aforesaid ways. The next thing you know, that person came over to me and announced that they needed a PWC licence as they had just bought themselves a PWC and were just” trying it out”. "Oh right” I said to myself, slightly amused. I then proceeded to tell them how to go about it. I also reminded them what they were doing was highly illegal and punishable by way of some steep fines. Over $500 for unlicensed driving and almost $400 for going too fast near swimmers and anchored boats like they were.

That day stuck in my mind because it was the first time this happened to me. Being an ex-copper I wasn't too used to people coming up to me and giving themselves up like that either.

Now, it happens pretty much every time we see something like that happening. So much so that when my kids are with me and they see it they say, "Better get the business cards out dad, there's someone without a licence.”

Originally published as 'It's not really the machine, but the person riding them'