30 boats trapped in water hyacinths on Hartbeespoort Dam
An urgent warning has been issued to boaters about the safety risks posed by floating ‘islands’ of wind-driven water plants.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has urged boaters to steer clear of water hyacinth mats on the Hartbeespoort Dam after it took them five hours to rescue the occupants of 30 recreational boats on Saturday.
The Kormorant reported on Thursday that the NSRI Hartbeespoort had spent four hours rescuing people from a boat trapped in the free-floating aquatic plant on December 11. They had to leave the private vessel, as well as one of their boats, behind after they were damaged in the rescue.
The NSRI warns that water hyacinth can be dangerous to small boats and advises that crafts do not try to enter mats, currently covering 30% of the dam surface and expected to rapidly expand during the warm summer months.
“The water hyacinth mats float on the dam surface and are wind-driven,” says NSRI Hartbeespoort station commander Arthur Crewe.
“We are finding that some recreational boaters are entering the water hyacinth mats when they are blown between them and their launching site. They try to return to the same launch site by navigating through the water hyacinth and become trapped.”
Crewe advises that boaters should rather phone friends or family to pick them up from a different launch site, instead of trying to navigate through a water hyacinth mat.
“If boaters do try to navigate through the water hyacinth, our experience is that they become trapped as the hyacinth entangles their propeller. We have also responded to several boaters who have damaged their propellers after hitting submerged objects that could not be seen under the water hyacinth mats,” says Crewe.
He said that boaters who do enter water hyacinth mats are putting their lives at risk.
“Rescuing people in boats entrapped by water hyacinth is a complex operation and will not be necessary if people do not enter the floating mats.”
The NSRI advises boaters on the Hartbeespoort Dam to make sure they carry the standard emergency equipment, but also have additional drinking water, food, space blankets and warm clothing should they become entrapped in the drifting mats.
Boaters should also download the NSRI’s free emergency app NSRI Safetrx before they go on the water.
Read original story on kormorant.co.za