Boating Basics
How to go boating - safely
Here's some important advice from the Broads Authority's navigation rangers. They provide help and information to boaters, and are responsible for checking 24 hour moorings and enforcing the Broads Navigation Bye-laws. They also work with the emergency services, the coastguard and the Environment Agency.
If you are on a holiday cruiser, your boatyard should supply a skipper's handbook on board - please read it carefully to ensure a safe, trouble-free holiday. For further information, navigation maps are on sale at the Broads Information Centres.
If you have any navigation problems during your Broads holiday you will be able to get advice from your boatyard or by telephoning Broads Authority River Control on 01692 678459.
Andy Cullum is Navigation Ranger for the Rivers Yare and Wensum. "Visitors often ask for advice. It could be about moorings or boat handling or the most likely place to see a marsh harrier. It can be about almost anything! We're always happy to help people - it’s an important part of the job," says Andy. "We keep in touch with each other and Broads River Control by radio, and the Broads Beat police work closely with us."
Wear a life-jacket at all times while on deck - even if you can swim. It's very cold in the water and even strong swimmers can get into trouble very quickly.
- Children should wear life-jackets even when your boat is moored and adults should keep an eye on them.
Don't jump. Cast off and moor up carefully - these can be the most difficult parts of handling a boat, but with preparation and a little practice you'll soon be confident.
- In advance, you should make sure your ropes are ready and that your crew knows what to do.
- Don't jump - this is where the majority of injuries occur.
- The most appropriate member of the crew should step ashore (the fittest adult - not a child) and should wear a life-jacket.
- Always approach a mooring against the tide, with a careful hand on the throttle. You’ll then be able to hold the boat stationary heading into the tide and approach the mooring sideways under perfect control.
- Always use your mud weight when moored.
Keep an eye on your crew at all times. It’s possible for people, especially children, to fall overboard without anyone noticing.
- Don't let children sit on the front of the boat, or play at the stern of the boat or on the roof unsupervised, especially when the boat is underway.
Be aware of what's going on around you, too. - Over approximately the next 20 years Edmund Nuttalls, contractors for Broadland Environmental Services Ltd (BESL), will be moving heavy plant and equipment around the waterways and working on flood defences throughout the Broads. Please take note of warning signs and give the machinery a wide berth.
- At Haddiscoe Cut take care to avoid wire baskets, which contain flints, on the western, railway, side of the cut. They are there to help build up the flood banks. On both sides of the cut stay within the marked posts.
- Take care when mooring where works have recently been completed until the new banks are established.
- Watch out for waterskiers on the Rivers Waveney and Yare. There are 10 marked waterski zones on these rivers - keep well to the right as you pass through them.
- On the River Yare you may also meet coasters travelling between Cantley and Great Yarmouth. It is important that other boats follow the directions of the Broads Authority navigation rangers escorting them.
- Give way to bank-side and waterborne anglers if possible.
Check your wash and speed. There are speed limits on the Broads to reduce boat wash - the waves created by the passage of a boat through water. Limits reduce erosion of the banks, prevent disturbance to water-level nesting birds and protect people on moored boats.
- Speed limits in the Broads vary between 3 mph and 6 mph.
- Even if you are under the speed limit you may still be fined if you are creating excess wash, so you must check your wash regularly, especially if you're on a day boat or just starting out on your holiday and getting used to the speed of your boat. Navigation rangers carry out radar speed checks. Maximum fine £1000.
Mind your head at all bridges. - At Potter Heigham hire boats must use the bridge pilot to go through, and private boats are advised to do so.
- At Wroxham there's an optional bridge pilot available to help you.
- At all bridges it’s essential to think ahead.
- Take down your canopy and get everyone off deck before approaching a bridge.
- Ensure that all hands and heads are in board in plenty of time before the bridge.
- You must know your air draught (the height of your cruiser shown on a plate in the cockpit) and check against the gauge board on the bridge that you have clearance.
- If there is a strong current make sure you have the boat well under control before the bridge.
- Watch carefully for signs of other boats coming through - usually the boat travelling with the current has right of way.
- Don’t raise heads until you are well clear of the bridge, and if things go wrong, don’t try to fend off using your hands or feet.
- At Wroxham there are two bridges very close together.
Take care refuelling - always switch off the engine.
- Never refuel while a boat is underway.
- Fill cans away from your boat - don't refuel the motor directly.
- Petrol should only be stored in a low risk position and in compliance with current regulations. Guidance on relevant regulations is available from the Broads Authority.
- Extinguish all naked lights during refuelling - this includes pilot lights on fridges, etc.
- Hot surfaces can be hazardous so give appliances time to cool.
- Clean up any spillage.
Don't swim - the Broads is a natural, wild place and the water in the rivers and broads is always cold, no matter what the weather is like, and cold shock can kill. With just your head above water you’re also nearly invisible to boaters.
- There are lots of hazards: underwater weed, obstacles and fast currents.
- Another hazard is naturally occurring but poisonous blue-green algae, encouraged by very hot weather. Areas particularly susceptible to blue-green algae include Barton, Ranworth, South Walsham, Thurne and Whitlingham.
- Weil's disease, a potentially serious or even fatal condition, can also be contracted from rivers or other water sources. The infection may seem like flu in the early stages and may enter through cuts or scratches. If you have any concerns, get medical advice immediately.
Don’t drink and drive - it's essential to keep your wits about you while you’re on the water.
- We recommend that the helmsman doesn’t drink until the boat is moored up for the night.
- Please also remember that getting on and off the boat and moving around on the deck can be equally hazardous when you've had a few drinks.
- You can be fined for navigating while not being able to take proper control of your boat - either through drinking or drug use.
Take care with barbecues - don't use them on your boat.
- Keep barbecues away from fuel, don't put them on anything which will burn (such as grass or the wood on top of moorings), don't put them where people will be walking, and please dispose of them in a bin or skip when fully extinguished. We are trying out concrete slabs for barbecues at moorings at Rockland and Hoveton Viaduct - if successful they may be extended to other areas.
Broads Beat
Police: In an emergency telephone 999. The Broads also has its own dedicated police officers. Call 0845 4564567 and ask for Broads Beat for non-urgent calls.
