As I sit here looking over the beautiful mass of water which is the Knysna lagoon, I can not help but think of all the regulations which make it a nightmare for all to enjoy the way mother nature intended. Especially if you have a boat and neglegted to familiarise yourself with the rules and regulations of even getting it launched. It has to be surveyed, including to check that you have the necessary buoyancy in case of an accident. That is something that will keep our boat afloat and will cost in the region of R2500 ….Notwithstanding the fact that you also require life jackets to keep the passengers afloat. Then you have to have a skippers license and have your boat registered and pay a further fee to SANPARKS which will be used for the upkeep/maintenance of the lagoon. Mind those missing channel markers or you will require a new prop or engine as well after you hit the unmarked sandbanks. 

Should you then also wish to go fishing with your boat, you will require a fishing license, a permit to collect bait and a further fee just because you dare wanting to fish off your boat as opposed to sitting on the shore, with your line in exactly the same water and maybe not too far away from a boat where the occupants are fishing close to shore…..Seems a tad over the top to me……a bit like hunting squirrels with a machine gun.

I cannot help but think of all the holiday makers who arrive here at this time of the year, just to find that it will cost them around R3000.00 before they are allowed on the water. That is if the necessary buoyancy still needs to be seen to as they acquired the boat 3 years ago and no one told them about the new laws. If rumour is to be believed then beware anyone deciding to ignore these rules…. The “lagoon police” will get you. They may not be able to do anything about the foreign fishing vessels who venture into SA waters, but you have nowhere to run on inland waters and literally become a sitting duck for the government money machine. If only we knew where the money collected for the fishing permits went.

I have my pride and joy, a cabin boat, which has been in the water for 6 years and I wasn’t even aware of all these regulations until a week ago. Consider the mad rush to get everything seen to a week before the holidays……Not pleasant at all seeing that there is only one person in the whole of Knysna who can see to it that your boat complies with the necessary buoyancy requirements…..and he is booked till the end of January 2009! You may just have to leave your boat on dry land for the duration of your holiday. At least on a positive note, you will not have to bother with flushing the motor after churning salt water the entire holiday!

Anyway, having gotten that off my chest, I guess that’s enough for now. The weels of the government money making machine will continue turning…No matter what my point of view is.

Cheers for now.