‘Justice’ arrives in Muskoka

MUSKOKA — The summer is finally on its way.
That means crackling bonfires, golden sunsets over the lakes and flocks of cottagers coming to enjoy everything that makes Muskoka so special.
Unfortunately, as inevitable as the blackfly, the summer will also attract your occasional rowdy boater who doesn’t seem to know that drinking and boating is a serious crime. To respond to that and other problems on the waterways, the marine unit of the OPP has a brand new tool.
Unveiled this year and ready for summer patrols, the Bracebridge OPP will now be enforcing the waters using the new “Justice” series vessels from the Brunswick Boat Group. Specially designed for law enforcement, there will be two of the new vessels in use at the Bracebridge detachment — a 21- and 24-foot model.
This is the first OPP vessel in use that was designed from the ground up with policing in mind.
Sgt. Todd Selvage, of the Bracebridge detachment of the OPP, said the new boats represent a significant upgrade over the Sea Swirl model vessels they used in the past.
“Those boats were pleasure craft converted for a policing application,” said Selvage. “The boats we have now, that replaced those Sea Swirls, are Boston Whalers. They’re specifically designed for policing applications. Everything about their design is meant for enforcement on the waterways.”
If previous years are any indication, the new boats should be kept very busy this summer. In 2011 the Bracebridge OPP checked over 1,800 vessels during 730 hours of patrol time. The detachment is responsible for a massive stretch of water that includes Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau, Lake Joseph and about 60 other smaller lakes.
While the marine unit is already out on patrol, the main summer enforcement will begin on the Victoria Day long weekend. Police will be on the look out for a wide range of offences from littering to having open alcohol on a ship to not having a Pleasure Craft Operators Card.
According to Selvage the vast majority of boaters they stop these days do have a valid operator’s card.
“Now a lot of people have it but don’t carry it with them which is also an offence that carries the same amount of fine,” said Selvage. “For the most part, people know that they have to have proof of competency and most people have it because it’s so easy to get at your local Canadian Tire or online.”
Despite significant work to educate, deaths on the water seem to be inevitable. Last year in Ontario, 22 people were killed as a result of boating accidents. Out of that, 18 were not wearing life-jackets.
In order to bring that number down, OPP marine officers spend a significant amount of time ensuring that boaters meet the legal equipment requirements for a boat. Required equipment for pleasure craft include a flashlight or flares, a manual propelling device like an oar, a sound signaling device and a life-jacket or personal flotation device for everyone on board.
“Not having a life-jacket is one of the main reasons we see fatalities on the water,” said Selvage.
The good news is that most boaters these days are aware of the equipment requirements and tend to follow them. However, in 2011 the Bracebridge OPP still laid 113 charges for things like equipment violations and breaches of navigation laws.
Sgt. Karen Harrington, the marine programs co-ordinator with the highway safety division of the OPP, said a more common problem is boaters not ensuring their equipment is in good condition.
“One of the things we see quite frequently is people won’t check the equipment they have. It will be on the boat since they bought it and then in the spring they don’t do a good job of taking a look and seeing if everything is still there,” said Harrington.
Problems can arise when people with multiple boats move equipment from one vessel to another or allow the batteries in a flashlight to die.
One easy tip for staying safe while boating is to buy a life-jacket that’s comfortable and to wear it while on the water. It’s not strictly required in Ontario for people over the age of 11 to wear a life-jacket while boating but it is encouraged.
In the event of an accident, wearing a life-jacket as opposed to just having one on board could mean the difference between life and death.
“People say, ‘Well I have it right here’ or, ‘It’s close at hand.’ I don’t think people appreciate how quickly something can go wrong,” said Harrington. “You in the water outside of the boat while the life-jacket is in the boat is not something that’s going to come together quickly — particularly as we get older.”

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