Transport Canada New Boat Regulations for Guides

S

Saltwater Cowboy

Active Member
Hey everybody,

Has anyone alse heard about the new regs that TC is coming up with that take effect Jan.1,2005. I've been told by the head guy at TC that all boats will have to be capable of level flotation by no later than 2009 so I've been told. I know that currently all boats under 6m are manufactured with level flotation. However apparently there are no such requirements on boats over 6m. But that will now change and all boats that are used for any type of business use such as tours or charters etc.. The guy I talked to said that they have to have all businesses conforming by 2009. However he said that they are agressivley pursuing to have full compliance ASAP. I don't know how this will effect the fishing guide industry. I know most guide boats for fly in lodges are small welded aluminum boats that don't conform. This is very frustrating as boats that are under 20' feet currently comply but all boats over 20' do not. I have a 20'9" Grady White it's brand new but I'm told it won't be able to be a guide boat. Boat if it was 18' it would be fine. There is no flotation requirements on all boats over 6m but mine has basic flotaion meaning it would stay afloat after swamping just it wouldn't be level, and this is better than all other boats other than boston whaler's which also have basic flotation on boats over 6m. I wondering what everone thinks of this and what they have heard. I know that most private guides and charter boats are over 6m and therfore won;t conform. I'm wondering how this will affect insuring a boat for guiding etc.... I'm interested in guiding in the future starting in 2006 so if anyone has any info on what has to be done to start a personal fishing guide business I would appreciate the knowledge! Thanks ... SW Cowboy

I do the Fishing, God does the Catching!
 
SW:

This kind of talk has been "floating around" now for at least the past 5 years. "Transport Canada is going to require all guides to have 15 ton masters tickets!!" Transport Canada is going to require all boats to have "C" numbers insdtead of "K" numbers as they are changing the definition of commercial boat!!!" "Transport Canada is going to require full safety equipment including internal fire fighting systems and beauforts on all passenger carrying boats!!!" etc, etc....

Frankly, its getting irritating and frustrating for those of us who actually do already work in the tidal watwer guiding business and would like to ensure we comply with all regulations. My experience with Transport Canada is that if you talk to three different "head guys" in the same office that:

1. They'll all be the "head guy" in that office and...

2. They'll all have different interpretations of the same existing or proposed regulation.

Its ridiculous!

My strategy now is to simply ignore them. Until they get their act together internally, its simply too confusing to try and understand what is required and why.

For now, I'm satisfied with the old adage that the key to safe boating and therefore safe guiding is common sense combined with experience. Have the right boat to safely handle the waters you fish. Have the right safety and navigational equipment aboard to suit the waters you fish and the number of people aboard. If you don't know what that is, you sure as hell shouldn't be guiding on those waters!Dont take risks with weather or sea conditions. No fish is worth drowning for.

If Transport Canada ever do get their collective acts together and come up with a reasonable standard for equipment and guide certification it will probably be a very good thing for our industry. Most experienced guides or charter operators can tell horror stories associated with "weekend warriors" who figured doing a little chartering might be a good way to pay off the boat, and getting them off the water would be a good thing.

Until then though, I guess I'll stick to common sense and experience.

Gama
 
I've been chartering for a couple years now, and I whole heartedly agree with Gama. Heard it all before. My boat complies with all the preposed regs., but common sense is what it's about, and I know the limitations of both my boat and myself.My wife has always called me "Safety Sam" for good reason. I even give my client the safety run down when they first board so they can either get help or run my boat just in case something happens to me.
And the week-end warriors thing is another story...I had to help four boats out this fall when they got lost in the fog..not one of them had a radio, GPS or even running lights!
I'd love to see regs for saltwater guides.But no matter what happens, they'll always have a problem with inforcement.

boc
 
I agree w/ Gama. Although I love the beautiful province of B.C., there are a lot of power trippers in Govt. There. I work in Northern B.C. in the oilpatch, and see it every day. Govt agencies I deal with have people, and many of them, who interpret the rules, as they see fit. Gets very frustrateing at times.
 
I head what your all saying! It's very frustrating when people who don't know anything about the industry or about boats in general are the ones making the rules. I guess I'm just wondereing how these regs are going to affect insurance for Guides in case of an accident? I'm far from a weekend warrior as I've been doing this for 20 years just not as a guide and my brother is a guide up in the charlottes for West Coast Resorts so fishing is in the blood and the genes as my Dad also used to run a guide business when I was a kid and I helped him. I'm just a little pissed that I've bought a brand new Grady White 20'9" and I'n being tolf that the best, most reliable, sturdiest boat in the world won;t be good enough for guiding because it only has basic flotation when some people I know are guiding out of boats just waiting to sink!! So I'm just wondering if I can still guide, be certified and insured without complying with all these new regs! Thanks for the knowledge!
SW Cowboy

I do the Fishing, God does the Catching!
 
Well one thing you have to think about who is going to regulate all these changes dfo?????? good luck they dont even have the funding to take a boat out to check people I feel sorry for them in a way there told to do a job with no funding and try and bust people that want to do illegal things the problem isnt with the guides its the weekend newbie that gets into the most trouble out there in the fog with no gps or compass if I was given a $100 every time a guy came up to me in the fog asking "where the hell am I". I would be a very rich man.

But yet its the guides the go after we pay the highest insurance and at some marinas charter fees and we are the ones that buy the most gear,bait,gas etc booking rooms for clients,they should really look at the whole picture of what a charter operator acually does for communities,look at renfrew for example if it wasnt for the guides up there that little place wouldnt do jack s%#$ on tourisim.or any other place along both coasts of our beautiful island just something to think about.
Good luck Wolf
 
Hey Wolf tell us about what happened at the Bank this summer when dfo came back to the dock with 38 hali rods and all the gear. Heard they where mostly guide rods fishing in the closed area !! All the weekend warriors were in the right area.

Tournament Proven !
 
Well thats news to me I know of 1 guide that got pinched and lost his rods and one guy that was written up but there wasnt 38 rods taken just 3 and his halibut maybe it was 3 rods and 8 hali that were taken?????dont know?????
All i can tell you is i got up there after all that stuff went down and i made sure i was on the outside of them the whole time far away from the boundries but did notice people in the closed area on radar that werent guide boats as we were all bunched up together off the dink and the hump mostly and i can tell you DFO had a big hard on for certain guides in renny this year and NO i wont name names LOL LOL
some things are better left unsaid.

Wolf
 
No Fin's the self bailing 542 isn't out until November 15th. It looks nice though. Way deeper and wider than the old 542 and c/w 150 extra long Yami 4s. Its might go on the wish list! Galleon marine richmond has a pic of them. Enough boat for me!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

IronNoggin
New Socially Engineered Hunting Regulations Announced by Province
Replies
0
Views
507
IronNoggin
IronNoggin
A
Help with buying my first boat
Replies
237
Views
14K
1marko
1
U
Help for a place to start ?
Replies
9
Views
1K
seahorse
seahorse
Hot-Streak
Aluminum boat owners - What are you going to use for Antifouling bottom paint?
Replies
18
Views
2K
Hot-Streak
Hot-Streak
kaelc
Insurance or regs violation for accepting gas money
Replies
10
Views
1K
ab1752
ab1752
Back
Top