Australia’s first boating usage study reveals new statistics

by NMSC on 24 Aug 2010 The National Marine Safety Committee (NMSC) has released two final reports on the first study of its kind in Australia – the 18-month-long National Boating Usage Study (NBUS) – at their national Marine Safety Conference 2010 in Perth.

NMSC CEO Ms Margie O’Tarpey explained that the NBUS statistics will better inform marine agencies when delivering policy and education programs for recreational boating.

'We now have concrete information on how boaters use their boats, how long they are on the water and the types of waterways that are most popular,' she said.

'With almost 1 million recreational craft being used throughout Australia, and 12,816 boating incidents in the last nine years, it is vital that we develop informed policy and educational programs to ensure that the potential for boating accidents is minimised.'

The NBUS Trip Analysis Report analyses the data from trip diaries that 2,035 volunteers from across Australia filled in during the study, from October 2008 to 31 March 2010. These boaters logged 32,100 trips and 300,000 hours on the water.

The Executive Summary Report summarises the Trip Analysis Report and the NBUS Preliminary Survey Report, which was released last year and asked volunteers about their boating usage habits in the 12 months prior to the study.

Whilst the NBUS Preliminary Survey Report indicated that approximately 1 in 10 participants use their boats for 100 days a year, the statistics from the trip diaries concluded that 3 out of 5 boaters use their boats only between 12 and 36 times each year.

The reports’ research manager, Dr John Bentley estimated that employed Australians have the opportunity to use their boats for 124 days per year but the average boater only uses their boat for between 10 and 30 per cent of this time.

'Issues related to under utilisation of boats from a safety perspective include not inadequately maintaining their boats, safety equipment and boating skill and this may have an impact on marine safety,' Dr Bentley said.

The NBUS Trip Analysis Report found that:

Boating Usage
* Weekends were the most popular time for boating with Saturday recording 25% of trips and Sunday accounting for 22% of trips.
* Boat ramps were the most common access point for boat trips (59%) followed by private jetty or marinas (23%).
* The most popular time for boating was between 6am–10am which accounted for 47% of boating trips. This was followed by the 10am–2pm time period which accounted for 26% of trips.
* Boaters most commonly used their craft for between 3 and 5 hours (43% of trips) followed by 0 – 2 hours (16% of trips).
* The majority of trips occurred in inlets, estuaries, bays and sheltered waters which accounted for 43% of trips. More than a third of trips (35%) occurred in open waters.
Boats
* The most common boat used was the cuddy/half cabin cruiser which accounted for 24% of trips. This was followed by open runabouts which accounted for 22% of trips.
* The most popular size of boat used on trips was between 5 and 9.9 metres in length (55%). This was followed by boats less than 5 metres in length (29%).
* Fishing was the primary activity on 54% of trips with cruising the primary activity on 24% of trips.

Incidents
* During the 18 months of data collection 343 incidents occurred, representing 1% of boating trips.
* Almost two-thirds (61%) of incidents had occurred within the first two hours.

The Trip Analysis Report found that ‘under reporting’ of boating incidents may need to be addressed by marine agencies. The study found that only 14% of the 343 incidents that occurred during the study were reported, despite the fact that 45% of incidents were reportable.

Boat ramps accounted for almost two-thirds of boating access and the report found that if boat ramp demand continues to grow, this may lead to further problems with congestion, pollution, parking, amenities and access.

Another trend was the high usage of canoes and kayaks, houseboats, party pontoons, and converted commercial craft. Even though these craft represented only 2% of the survey sample, they were used in 11% of trips logged in the boating diaries.

Ms O’Tarpey said the NBUS study results indicate that there is also more to be done in the area of boating education. For example, the responses in the Preliminary Survey Report indicated that 98% of participants carry personal flotation devices (PFDs) on board their boats – however, only 16% of those surveyed wore them on a regular basis.

'This is cause for concern because drowning is the cause of death in approximately 80 per cent of boating fatalities and the wearing of PFDs could significantly reduce this figure,' she said.

'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the thousands of volunteers who gave up their time to fill in the preliminary survey and the trip diaries, because without them we would not have been able to gain such a valuable insight into boating behaviour'.

All reports will be available later this week for download from NMSC’s website: www.nmsc.gov.au . Click on ‘research and policy/manual and reports’.

To order hard copies, e: secretariat@nmsc.gov.au or phone 02 9247 2124.

The NMSC aims to achieve nationally uniform marine safety practices and is made up of an Independent Chair and the CEOs of Australia’s marine safety agencies.