July 14.
I have been paddling my kayak on Loch Lomond and around the Western
Isles for the past 40 years. It seems to me that a very significant fact
has been overlooked in the recent report on the loch.
About 150 years ago the Admiralty produced a survey of the navigable
waters of the west coast of Scotland. Charts of these waters were made
available to all seamen as required. Part of the survey included a chart
of Loch Lomond which was treated simply as an arm of the sea.
This chart is still available. It would seem that the waters of Loch
Lomond are subject to the Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea.
I submit that legally all of these rules apply on Loch Lomond as they do
on the sea.
Throughout all reports I have read on the possible solution of the
Loch Lomond problem one word emerges on every page, that is the magic
word zoning.
Zoning, known to seamen as the zoo solution, is more administratively
attractive than practical. The fact is that it is not possible to draw
lines on water. Zoning on open water such as Loch Lomond does not work.
Had a system of zoning been in force the recent fatal accident would
still have happened. Had the Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at
Sea been applied, the regulation about navigation lights would have
ensured that both vessels would have been seen and would have passed
port to port as required.
The sailing vessel, the rowing boat, the canoe, the kayak, the clinker
built boat with the low powered outboard engine used by anglers are not
a danger to anyone. The danger is created by the planing high-powered
boat, whether a speed boat, a water ski boat, or a water scooter.
May I suggest that the powers that be take a close look at the legal
situation regarding navigation on the Loch and simply insist on the
application of the rules of the road at sea that apply all over the
world.
H. A. Y. Stevenson,
2 Largs Road,
Kilbirnie.
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