Surge in boat numbers at Port Stephens keeps NSW Maritime officers busy on the water

But for Paul Hearfield, that boating boom means this time of year is anything but relaxing.

"Challenging," is the word he uses to describe his job over the holiday period. "It can be rewarding as well. It's nice to see people who are enjoying the water."

Paul Hearfield is a boating safety officer with NSW Maritime and has been based at Port Stephens for 10 years.

The Newcastle Herald joins Mr Hearfield and his colleagues, boating education officer Gavin Beck and senior boating safety officer Brett Boehm, on a patrol of some of Port Stephens' waterways. There is a lot of water to cover, about 168 square kilometres, which, as Mr Hearfield explains, is about three times the area of Sydney Harbour.

With the surge in the number of vessels in the port at this time of year comes a wide range of boats, from personal watercraft (or PWC, often called jet skis) to cruisers and yachts. And not everyone is thinking about the rules or is familiar with the surroundings. Over this holiday period, the officers estimate, about 70 per cent of the water users are visitors.

"We have to contend with the 'holiday brain'," says Paul Hearfield.

Gavin Beck explains the 'holiday brain' is where people switch off, so "it's not wilfully breaching the rules; it's unintended".

"It's interesting that people forget the most basic rules of navigation," adds Brett Boehm.

More than "holiday brain", this year the officers are also contending with people's desire to escape the cabin fever induced by COVID-19.

"We've seen a massive uptake in boating," says Gavin Beck. "It's a massive jump in new boats, as well as old boats being dragged out."

For weeks, recreational boaters have been arriving in the port, and those numbers have jumped around Christmas. Gavin Beck mentions that a few days earlier there had been a 300-metre queue of vehicles and trailers at the Little Beach boat ramp: "I haven't seen that before".

With all those boats comes a range of experience and knowledge among their skippers, and the pandemic has added another layer for many of those heading out on the water.

"It's almost like the pressure release has been lifted," Paul Hearfield says.

"They've been allowed out of their bubble, and they've been allowed to come and have a bit of fun. That's probably been the biggest challenge, everyone's just out looking to get that release."

The Maritime officers are trying to ensure people find that release safely. Over the Christmas-New Year break, the patrols concentrate on the area east of Nelson Bay because that is where most of the boaters, and other holidaymakers, are.

Just off Little Beach, where the sand and shallows are studded with bathers, Paul Hearfield counts 21 personal watercraft. He tells one young jet skier to slow down, explaining it is a four knot limit. Later, on the northern side, as he cruises the Myall River, the officer stops a pair on a PWC.

"Hey guys, once you get to that pole it's four knots,' he says, pointing upstream. "And if you go through there, you'll run aground."

As the riders correct their course, Paul Hearfield says they don't seem to know the waterway: "They've just missed two critical navigation aids".

While jet ski riders are often accused of bad behaviour on the water, Mr Hearfield counters, "It's a small percentage of that PWC market that ruins it for the rest of them."

Nearby, Paul Hearfield observes an inflatable boat with four adults and four children on board on the wrong side of the channel.

"This RIB is not going to give way to his starboard side, and he's just cut right in front of that boat," he says, as he pulls over the driver, who is from Sydney.

"The whole idea of the rules of the waterway is you give way to your right hand side," Mr Hearfield explains to the driver. "Stay to the right hand side of the channel."

Paul Hearfield says during this peak period with so many visitors, "we get what we call 'change over' here in the bay". Most people, he explains, are on a week's holiday, so with the first two days on the water, the Maritime officers are "educating" those arrivals on the dos and don'ts. After that, "we get five days of goodness. Then we get change over again. Then two days of education...".

" You can really pick it," he says. "And that normally goes on until Easter."

Back over on the southern side, near Shoal Bay, Mr Hearfield notices two boys snorkelling off a boat, when another vessel passes close by. The officer tells the driver of the boat the boys have come from that he should be displaying a dive flag to keep other vessels away: "Human versus prop doesn't normally end well".

Then he warns the snorkellers how close the vessel was to them, "and the reason why is he didn't see you. I just don't want to pick bits of you up later".

From Boxing Day through to New Years Eve, NSW Maritime's boating safety officers conducted 346 safety checks and issued 15 penalty notices on Hunter waters.

In the couple of hours the Herald is on the water with Port Stephens' officers, no fines are issued, just "gentle reminders, here and there", as Paul Hearfield says.

"We're not here to stop people using the waterway, we're here to encourage it. But we just want people to do it in a safe way and get home at the end of the day."

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