AS the sun set on Friday, NSW Maritime boating safety crews ensured there were lights on the water, as they launched Operation Well Lit.
The operation's focus was boats' navigation lights, with the weekend blitz including the Hunter's waterways.
Five Maritime boats were on Lake Macquarie on Friday night, and four vessels on Saturday. On the waters around Port Stephens, two Maritime boats were on patrol after dusk and into the early hours.
Sonia McKay, NSW Maritime's Principal Manager North, said there was a "reasonable amount" of activity on local waterways at night, and not all boaters were complying with safety requirements, with risks increasing during the dark hours.
"There were definitely some concerning examples of people having no lights on at all, or just using headlamps," Sonia McKay said.
On Friday night, the Newcastle Herald accompanied boating safety officer Chris Austen and area coordinator Greg Wiseman, who was assisting, on a 7.5-metre boat, as they patrolled around the Wangi Wangi area and beyond the north-western end of Swansea Channel, near the Sand Islands.
Chris Austen said since the COVID pandemic had taken hold, with restrictions to many everyday activities, more people had gone on the water, including new boaters and those who didn't go out very often.
"There's more people on the water, and there does seem to be a lower percentage of people who know the rules exactly," he said, including the regulations about "how to light their boats properly".
The boating safety officer said he sometimes heard boaters argue that having lights on affected their night vision, but "if you've got two people doing that, that can be really dangerous pretty quickly".
Chris Austen said it wasn't just power boat owners and sailors he was looking out for, but also paddlers, to ensure their vessels were properly lit - and could be seen.
"Anyone who is unlit is in danger basically," he said.
The Maritime vessel approached a couple of men fishing in a small open boat. They were drifting and had their red and green sidelights on, but no all-round white light. Many call it an "anchor light" and believe that is the only time it is needed. But as Mr Austen explained to the fishermen, "When you're underway, you have to have your all-round light on as well".
Near the Sand Islands, the Maritime vessel approached three men in a small, 4.5-metre long boat. They had no all-round light, the boat's registration had recently expired, and none of them was wearing a lifejacket. As Mr Austen explained, in a boat of that size at night, they had to wear a lifejacket.
The officer gave a warning for the first two issues, but the boat's owner from Edgeworth copped a $250 fine for the lifejacket infringement.
By Sunday evening, 334 safety inspections had been carried out in the Hunter, according to Sonia McKay, resulting in 41 penalty notices, or fines, and 29 official cautions. The main offences were for not displaying the correct navigation lights, not carrying the correct safety equipment, and not wearing a lifejacket, Ms McKay said.
Operation Well Lit had been "worthwhile", she said, raising the boating community's awareness of safety.
