Human powered river boaters beware!

Last Friday I was ensnared in an MRC boat inspection operation by the MRC police. This felt like a “Just for Laughs Gag” because I was going out to see the police to complain about a large and fast motor boat that had just swamped my canoe beside my dock. That boat breezed by the police boat without being stopped. Before I could get their attention, they nabbed me and held onto me for over an hour as I was grilled and pulled downstream for over a kilometer. When I asked them to tow me back to where they picked me up because I was worried about heat stroke, they just laughed and handed me a whopping ticket.

The MRC police website indicates that on Friday they intercepted 13 boaters. 12 warnings were issued and only two tickets were issued – apart from their bad math, I was one of two who received a maximum fine of $267 for failing to have all the safety equipment on board.  The same press release urges boaters to check out a Transport Canada website which I could not find the relevant laws for human powered water craft. Believe me I tried, the only people who seem to know are motor boaters who pass a test and are given a pamphlet that states this information. This is why a warning from police is reasonable and fair. I have since spoken with other canoeists and kayakers who were pulled over the police and they told me they were issued a warning, despite missing more equipment than I was. Currently being underemployed, I couldn’t afford to pay this fine even if I had the money.

After 25 years of living on the river, I have never had an encounter with the MRC boat police and never seen anything to suggest I was breaking the law. There is no test for human powered water craft, no information on the MRC website, how is one to know? All is required is to miss out on one of the five stickler requirements that does not differ much between a 40 foot monster motor boat and a flat board. For example I had my life jacket in the canoe, I have a tied on floatation device, I had rope on both ends of the canoe (they did not measure what I had but simply said it was not the minimum 50 feet), I even had an extra paddle. I had a waterproof Tilley hat to use as a baler and I demonstrated my loud whistle with my mouth, these were not allowable. Where is their sense of humor! The last thing really blew my mind was that I needed to have a flashlight in the middle of the day to alert people on the shore if I was in trouble. I was told by Mr. Fournel that the full list of mandatory safety equipment is available on the MRC FaceBook site (which I don’t subscribe to), so I would encourage all recreational river users to become familiar with this list to avoid the cash-grab situation I fell into last Friday with the MRC police.

I would appreciate any readers sharing their stories with me if they have had a similar experience. This might help me to beat this ticket in court. In the meantime, at the very least, I hope this message helps other soft recreational boaters to avoid this water trap.

Happy safe boating!