Originally sent by: Grant
                        

                        I have seen the comments on Smartgroups about Orewa Beach and the comment about the Harbourmaster chasing people off and confiscating blokarts. While I wouldn't intentionally antagonise other beach users and stay clear of surf club people (who think they own the beaches – but do an admirable job) I am personally going to put some of these anti-blokart "laws" to the test.

As I will be north this weekend, I checked out the Rodney District Council Bylaws in respect of Orewa and Omaha Beaches. I also rang RDC. The ARC has bylaws relating to the Maritime area which the Harbourmaster administers, but no one could direct me to any bylaw relating to blokarts or land yachts.

I also spoke to a local "Beach Inspector" (the ones that administer the 5 knots within 200m of the shore and dogs on the beach), and the only bylaw he was aware of is the one about vehicles on beaches. This says something like "vehicles are permitted on public beaches for the sole purpose of launching and retrieving watercraft, and should travel by the most direct path". He conceded where that path included a soft patch that would swallow up the vehicle, that the "most practical path" applied. Also that a vehicle would normally be motor powered, which a blokart (generally) isn't.

We assume that a Blokart is not a watercraft (except at the hands of Mike or me, and we always obey the 5 knot limit being in the FB class and especially when in the water), so it must be a vehicle. So dive into your cornflakes and grab a small plastic boat and chuck it in your kart as insurance, you can be launching or retrieving that.

But seriously, this is a really muddy area, and perhaps it is best left that way, unlike Kapiti who wrote it into a bylaw.

I'm going to check out Omaha if there is an Easterly and not too many people on the beach – as is the case anyway at low tide – so short of a sign that tells me blokarts are banned, I'll give it a go. I'll tell any Harbourmaster that tries to chuck me off that I couldn't find a bylaw and to please show it to me. (Oh where is my rubber duckie). Or perhaps a tow ball on the blokart might help.