Powered boats on the lake

tylersmayhem said :

What leisure do you see going on in the water?

Sailing boats, people having chilled out picnics on the shore, row boats, etc etc. I’m glad we don’t have noisy petrol powered boats flying around disturbing the quite. Can you hear the serenity? 😛

ignoring the row boats, paddle boats picnickers, etc, etc, I would prefer to be able to use a 5hp petrol motor when i am becalmed near scrivener dam. the electric motors just didn’t seem to shift my trailer sailer. (apart from in circles, looking really stoopid) having to get the water police to tow me back into the wind is embarrassing, too. and if there was pollution from motor boats, why is it that many other lakes in nsw allow their use, even though they are in the catchment? What pollution does the ferry put out?

What on earth is the point of allowing motor boats if they can’t go fast enough to tow a slalom skier (grins)?

Not sure we’re talking about the same lake tyler – I’m talking about LBG. Take a cruise by LBG today and tell me how many row boats are out there.

The lake is massive. They could easily designate one end, say near the Governor General’s residence, to motor boats. No boats need to be flying around – they impose a speed limit, as i’ve mentioned in several other posts.

What leisure do you see going on in the water?

Sailing boats, people having chilled out picnics on the shore, row boats, etc etc. I’m glad we don’t have noisy petrol powered boats flying around disturbing the quite. Can you hear the serenity? 😛

Boats aren’t particularly noisy at low idle – just impose a speed limit. Also people will mostly be fishing from these boats so many will be anchored.

Lake for leisure? You’re kidding me. What leisure do you see going on in the water? It’s friggin deserted!

Pollution is a nonsense argument. Canberra is crammed with cars – a few motor boats would make no difference.

I think it’s great more people are using the lake but I have not heard one decent reason as to why regular petrol powered boats are not allowed

Because they are f**king noisy and polluting and dangerous on a lake designed for leisure.

Pickle said :

The power boat alternative at Molonglo is cute too.

We were obliged to have the boat registered in NSW, be licenced in NSW, obtain an ACT permit, just to be able to Ski on that narrow river. The cute bit is that water skiing on any equivalent narrow river in NSW is illegal.

Ok it has been a few years, things may have changed, but that is how I remember it…

It hasn’t changed – no way that we would feel safe skiing on that skinny stretch of river, especially with little kids in tow. We go to Good Hope (Yass) instead.

i spent years fishing the lake. the electric motors are awesome. not built for speed, id say the max speed of mine is about 5kmph. there are plenty of good yellowbelly and murray cod in lake burley griffin and some fairly big redfin. it’s also a lovely place to spend a few hours on the water. i personally like that you can only use electric motors on there, creates a really nice relaxing place. i moved up to darwin with fishing being a major reason, but i still miss fishing the lakes in canberra and when i was in canberra over xmas/new years i made several trips to the lake with a rod and some lures.
just a little note on boat licence and boat rego, funnily enough in the NT you dont need a boat a licence, or boat rego. boat ownership up here is pretty high and introducing licences and rego would be a nice cash cow for the gov but for the moment they have held off. boat licences would be a good thing.. although most of the boat drivers i see driving like dicks are the water ski/wakeboard people or the jet ski riders. not too many of them up here, i think the crocs keep them in check. theres also no drink driving for boat skippers too.. but i think the cops can charge you with operating a vessel recklessly or something like that.

Spoilsports.

Big block Chev V8 powered ski-boats FTW.

ummmm… if the lake gets a jolly good stir, does that mean the Blue-Green Algae Bacteria won’t be so active!?! If so – I am all for the ‘lectric powerboats…

isn’t it dangerous to dangle the power cords in the water though?

I’m sure a mechanically minded bloke could build a 200HP electric boat, along the lines of the Tesla on Top Gear the other night. Quicker than the Lotus it was based on.

Sweeet. 100klicks on the lake in silence.

The power boat alternative at Molonglo is cute too.

We were obliged to have the boat registered in NSW, be licenced in NSW, obtain an ACT permit, just to be able to Ski on that narrow river. The cute bit is that water skiing on any equivalent narrow river in NSW is illegal.

Ok it has been a few years, things may have changed, but that is how I remember it…

PsydFX said :

It probably has something to do with the extremely rich residents of Yarralumla not wanting the noise to drive down their property prices.

And in conjunction with animal liberation nuts terrified of boat noise upsetting pelicans.

Easy solution, apply a speed limit. Boats at low idle make little noise.

Duke said :

I think it’s great more people are using the lake but I have not heard one decent reason as to why regular petrol powered boats are not allowed (unless they’re police, emergency, or belonging to wealthy private schools).

It probably has something to do with the extremely rich residents of Yarralumla not wanting the noise to drive down their property prices.

I think it’s great more people are using the lake but I have not heard one decent reason as to why regular petrol powered boats are not allowed (unless they’re police, emergency, or belonging to wealthy private schools).

tylersmayhem said :

The point is HB that ANYONE can get a licence for an electric boat, and there are good ones out there now.

So you’re saying an 8 year old can get a boating licence?

No, the minimum age for a license is 16, that said, under 10hp you don’t need a license. Thanks to that I’ve been driving boats since I was 8 (supervised) and since 12 un-supervised. This has been on both a 9.5hp and a 8hp. But they don’t go fast (20k/h is about their limit)

I’ve got no problem with electric boats, I’d even open the east basin up to all craft subject to speed limits. The Canoeists are the people I have problems with – always making straight for the fishing line (and I love catching carp – kilo for kilo they’re a great fighting fish on light tackle, now where do I find an asian couple with a spare $50?)

Is there power limits and speed limits for these electric boats you speak of?

And are there restrictions on sleeping on boats on the lake? I’m thinking cheap rent, close to work…

If you have not time for it peter, perhaps best not to be opining about it?

Now back to the subject of electric powered boat use….

Ari said :

peterh said :

not that there is much to catch in the lake. carp, carp, carp.

… and heaps of redfin, lots of golden perch, Murray cod and even the occasional trout.

Obviously you don’t fish the lake much, Peterh.

who has time to fish?

last time, i got a few large carp and $50 from an asian couple for the carp. buggered if i know why, i was just going to bin them.

Think the electric part just dawned on me. I think that’s gr8, and it would be interesting to see the lake get the extra use if the masses were allowed some power action.

Sorry, I should definitely shut up before it becomes a sea of me hehe. (wondering why my boatless self even cares lol)

Thanks JB..

I must’ve mistook it a bit. I didn’t get the bit that said I could have one if I asked for a free permit and showed my boat, just cause I want to fish or float faster.. It just appeared to me there were certain things allowed and you could get a permit for those purposes only.

My bad 🙂

70cm Murry cod was mentioned on 666 yesterday. He was released again.

peterh said :

not that there is much to catch in the lake. carp, carp, carp.

… and heaps of redfin, lots of golden perch, Murray cod and even the occasional trout.

Obviously you don’t fish the lake much, Peterh.

not that there is much to catch in the lake. carp, carp, carp.

The point is HB that ANYONE can get a licence for an electric boat, and there are good ones out there now.

So you’re saying an 8 year old can get a boating licence?

The point is HB that ANYONE can get a licence for an electric boat, and there are good ones out there now.

Oh it doesn’t bother me one bit if they do or don’t btw.

Well theys makes the rules! I read it, it’s not that they aren’t allowed like the common belief, you just gotta prove you’re working for the elite first! (rescue, coaching and judging boats and for lake management work)

Although like everything, where there’s a will there’s a way for the rest.

Hell no, as long as they are no high powered and noisy, which is sounds as though they are not.

Just kinda sad really than anything else!