Motors on kayaks

[rb85]

Theres no need to register these vessels what there is a need for is users of these vessels to be properly equipped with safety equipment for the type of activity they are partaking in which I believe is already regulated.

My only concern with motorised Kayaks is that people will endanger themselves or others by trying to push the vessel and themselves beyond their limitations or ignoring safety requirements all boaties must follow.

Mate, I would be more concerned about people on here who take their kayaks out in 37 meters of water off port fairy or many kilometres off Portland where one rouge wave would end their life or go out in bass strait or be hidden in big swells for a boat to come along and collect them, most kayakers I know tend to stay fairly close in and use their very small electrics for trolling in close

I had a cootacraft gunshot and an evolution 552 get hidden behind swells when not even 20m away the other month. Maybe we should ban all boats under 6m too from places subject to large swells?

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

Or operate the vessel to the conditions

[Kenle]

I honestly dont understand why theres such conflict with this topic. I personaly dont think its fair to pay fees to add such a low powered motor to your kayak, its no different to an extra pair of hands for those that may be physicaly impaired or just an extra luxury of trollying freely effortlessly. Isnt fishing about enjoyment and passtime? Electric motor wont kill the enviroment with polution and it can be seen as a safety feature too if in an instance out on the water the weather turns suddenly and you needed that extra kick combined with your paddle power to get back in to safety. Then again, each to thier own no ones wrong.

[4liters]

I feel as though there are biased opinions on this topic. Obviously those that dont own a yak will want to see yaksman pay fees but those that owns a yak will want to go fee free. Its simple, kinda like how car owners have to pay for using toll way back in the days and motorbikes didnt have to but now they make them pay part fee. Maybe its fair for yaksman to pay part fee but they will have to get same prevliages as boats then. Wonder what happens if you cut out a hole from under your car and power it with your feet, will you need to pay for rego then?

I use a yak and I'm all for making people get a boat licence if they put a motor on their yak.

4L, please explain why you think this way. Why does having a motor (of limited power) make a difference? If your top speed is say 5 knots under pedal/paddle power and this same speed limitation is applied to a "motor yak" then what makes you feel they should be registered? As an aside, a sailing dingy can reach incredibly fast speeds in the right conditions and is much more difficult to control; no registration needed and I don't see how registering one and paying a fee would improve the safety of one either. If this is not a safety issue and I'm missing some other issue that makes registration appealing then let me know.

Cheater summed it up, it isn't so much about how fast they go as it is how far and if they get in trouble can they stay afloat for long enough for help to arrive.

I know other states don't have those requirements and I think it would be interesting for everyone posting here to see the marine safety data for those places to see which approach is justified. I haven't looked myself and while my gut instinct is that forcing motorised vessels to be registered is a good thing I am open to changing my mind depending on what the data shows.

I wonder, if the registration is to pay for coastguard etc then maybe it would be fairer to require a licence or registration to be more than 2nm offshore in a yak with or without a motor.

[cheaterparts]

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

this is the real worry and of cause the main guys that wont to fit motors are normally the guys with poorly designed kayaks ie Ebay cheapies that are to hard to paddle

maybe motors should only be fitted to kayaks that are rated to use a motor a bit like the ratings that are on a boat ie HP and weight of an engine for that type of boat

then the craft would be rated to carry a battery and be strong enough to carry the motor and thrust on the area that the motor is fitted

[4liters]

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

this is the real worry and of cause the main guys that wont to fit motors are normally the guys with poorly designed kayaks ie Ebay cheapies that are to hard to paddle

that, or they're not fit enough to paddle any significant distance, or they're just plain retarded: I had someone call in to my work asking about the best way to protect and secure the tractor battery they put in the back of the yak because they were worried about tipping over while paddling after getting on the jim beam

[fishpod]

deleted

[4liters]

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

this is the real worry and of cause the main guys that wont to fit motors are normally the guys with poorly designed kayaks ie Ebay cheapies that are to hard to paddle

that, or they're not fit enough to paddle any significant distance, or they're just plain retarded: I had someone call in to my work asking about the best way to protect and secure the tractor battery they put in the back of the yak because they were worried about tipping over while paddling after getting on the jim beam

deleted you :notworthy:

*yawn* aaand here comes the PC police...

edited

[cheaterparts]

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

this is the real worry and of cause the main guys that wont to fit motors are normally the guys with poorly designed kayaks ie Ebay cheapies that are to hard to paddle

that, or they're not fit enough to paddle any significant distance, or they're just plain retarded: I had someone call in to my work asking about the best way to protect and secure the tractor battery they put in the back of the yak because they were worried about tipping over while paddling after getting on the jim beam

(edited). Has it ever occured to you that others might have a different opinion to you :notworthy:

maybe a poor choice of words but it's not an elitist attitude - these are straight forward safety issues

Safety worries all of us that take our sport of kayak fishing seriously and we see it all the time - so a guy buys a cheap short pool toy from Ebay or one of the big camping stores
then find he can't get out to the fish as it's to hard to paddle there so why not just fit a motor - now you have not only a poorly designed kayak but even a worse designed power boat - now it's easy to get a couple of ks out - if you now loose the motor due to battery life or bad conections to leads can you fix it - can you paddle it back with the extra weight on a poor designed kayak -- if you tip it over can you get it up right and re mount it

don't think it is ever elitist to think about safety -

[re-tyred]

Maybe this trial should limit it to vessels designed to have a motor that is less than ?HP. and go less than 5knts. I would have serious doubts about some small kayaks having a large battery on them. I understand the current situation is you can fit a motor to a kayak as long as you register it as a motor boat and have the licence and safety equipment. I am not aware if this means anything you choose to call a vessel or when applying for rego, have to have a vessel that has been designed to have a motor and has a manufacturers plate stating motor size and carry capacity. I might do a bit of research on this.

[fishpod]

I'd be more worried about some bloke in his $500 eBay special with a 30+ah deep cycle battery on the deck and a home made knock up motor mount 1km off Mornington with an impending sea breeze than the guys hitting up Julia reef on their purpose built skis/kayaks....

this is the real worry and of cause the main guys that wont to fit motors are normally the guys with poorly designed kayaks ie Ebay cheapies that are to hard to paddle

that, or they're not fit enough to paddle any significant distance, or they're just plain retarded: I had someone call in to my work asking about the best way to protect and secure the tractor battery they put in the back of the yak because they were worried about tipping over while paddling after getting on the jim beam

edited