Your first steps towards a Pittwater picnic
You are 34 and want to take your family out on Pittwater in a registered runabout. You have never driven a boat. Your friend, aged 38, has a current NSW boat licence held for eight years and offers to help you learn. Later, you hope to drive at 18 knots where conditions and local limits allow.
Before you read the solution: what would you do?
True or false?
Decide each statement before you see the answer.
For an ordinary recreational powered boat, 10 knots or more needs a licence; PWC driving needs a PWC licence at any speed.
Any total of 44 out of 50 passes the knowledge test.
My ATP theory certificate replaces all practical experience and is my licence.
The NSW 10-knot trigger is not an Australia-wide licensing rule.
A general boat licence covers a jet ski if I go slowly.
Carry your current licence when driving at 10 knots or more, or when driving a PWC.
The hire company registered the boat, so I do not need a licence.
Ten knots is still below the licence threshold.
Registration covers the boat. An ordinary powered boat's driver needs a licence at 10 knots or more; PWC have their own licence requirement.
A licensed adult aboard does not remove the 20-knot maximum.
The skipper is in charge; the driver is at the controls.
An adult aboard removes all the restrictions on my under-16 licence.