The Department of Transport has published boating guides that have been developed for popular boating locations and contain local marine safety information including boating hazards, facilities, speed restricted areas, water-ski, PWC and closed water areas.
Going to an unfamiliar area? Need some local knowledge?
Regional Boating Guide
Coastal Data Charts
The Recreational Skipper’s Ticket (RST) is a nationally-recognised certificate of competency which shows that the holder has the minimum knowledge and practical skills needed to operate a powerboat safely.
It is the minimum qualification needed to operate a powerboat in Western Australia.
A person must have a Recreational Skipper’s Ticket (RST) if:
An RST vessel is any boat that is:
Only the person-in-charge of the boat (the ‘skipper’) needs to have an RST, but he or she must have it with them the entire time the boat is in operation. The skipper is responsible for what happens on the boat during the voyage, but this doesn’t mean that he or she must be at the wheel the whole time.
As part of its commitment to improving ensure greater marine safety NVMR group provides training and assessment for RST’s.
Skippers Ticket Theory assessments are conducted each Thursday after 4.30pm. The practical assessment is conducted as soon as possible after that, usually the following weekend, weather permitting.
Appointments are not necessary simply read the Workbook and turn up. Workbooks are available from Department of Transport offices, Regional Transport offices and the RST hotline on 92 168 966.
The cost is $140.
RST’s are also conducted by the other South West groups. A complete list of authorised assessment providers can be found below resources.
RST Workbook
How To Get RST
REMEMBER TO LOG ON AND LOG OFF
Volunteer Marine Rescue state-wide encourages all boat owners to log on and off when going to sea. Logging on could save a life.
NVMR does not monitor radios but ACRM (Australian Coast Radio Monitors) in Capel provide 24 hour a day monitoring with coverage on:
Procedure for logging on and off:
If an emergency arises whilst on the water, contact the police on 000, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this will initiate our call-out procedure.
Alternatively you can contact ACRM or any nearby vessel for assistance on VHF Channel 16 or Channel 88 on a 27Mhz radio.
The following information will need to be given:
Use Pan Pan (spoken three times) before your broadcast if you are in trouble but at the present, is not life threatening. An example would be if you are taking on water but you are taking steps to set up manual bilge pumps to get rid of the water faster. Instead of calling one rescue organisation, you may wish to use `All Stations, All Stations, All Stations’ so that multiple marine rescue organisations pick up your call.
Use Mayday (spoken three times) before your broadcast if you are in trouble and you can not save your boat and your life, or your crews lives are at risk. An example would be if you are taking on water faster than you can pump. You have made the decision to put procedures in place to abandon ship. It is unnecessary to address `All Stations’ for a Mayday call s this could lead to confusion over which station is in distress.
Recreational Boat Users if you are involved in a Marine Incident involving death, injury or damage to a vessel including grounding, sinking, flooding capsizing or a close quarters situation, you are by law required to fill in the Marine Incident Report form within 48 hours.
Commercial Boat Users If you are involved in a Marine Incident involving death, injury or damage to a vessel including grounding, sinking, flooding capsizing or a close quarters situation, you are by law required to fill in the AMSA Incident Report form within 72 hours.