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Joined: Mar 2003
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Why should our Tourists be penalised and unable to swim in the sea. Almost all of the water up to the end of a dock is too shallow to swim. Why dig out areas when we already have naturally deeper areas. Move the boats further out. A lot further out to give more swimming room..... and I am a Captain.


Phil #416556 09/18/11 09:41 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
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I truly apologize if I came off as "I told you so." This is just an issue that I have worried about for a long time. We have always told all our guests at Coral Bay to swim and snorkel shoreside of the docks. I am looking into some diver down bouys right now. Truly hope that the honeymoon couple can overcome this tragedy.

Phil #416558 09/18/11 11:48 PM
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Then have all the water taxis come in on the Lagoon side same as water jets international. Problem solved.

Joined: Mar 2001
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You are assuming it is only the water taxis that are a problem.
Problem not solved.

Phil: great common sense response. Changing human behavior should be the first consideration before changing anything else. Boat captains acting responsibly like adhering to a no wake limit when in proximity to land whould go a long way to making it safer. Of course I find that to be easier said than done, example is the no wake zone in Boca del Rio that almost no one adheres to. Having said that, if the people providing services to the tourists cannot do so in a safe manner, then it does not speak well for the future of tourism.
The "bad apple" principle comes to mind. If you have some bad apples, changing to basket won't solve the problem.

Joined: May 2011
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There is no quick easy solution...Boat Captains have the first point of responsibility. Just like car drivers have to slow down and watch for children around a school zone, the same principals should apply around the cayes.

But you are right bywarren at the theater we always see boats speeding through the cut. Often people are fishing and kids are swimming in the cut and boats pass at higher than safe speeds.

I realize that water taxis are not the only problem,but they are commercial traffic and between them make close to two dozen back and forth passes daily.

Joined: Oct 2001
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There is a specific issue with the commercial scheduled-run water taxis - they are bigger (and frequently faster) than most of the other boats running up and down the coast. It is harder to see things close up to a large boat, and when you are going fast you come up on things with less time to correct your course. . Ergo - this kind of boat needs to cut a wider berth from others and stay in a more predictable "shipping lane".

The river by the park is a disaster waiting to happen for sure. Lots of kids are swimming there, and some of them find it really fun to swim under the water across the river. Even going slowly in a boat it is scary - kids come towards the boat yelling "give me a ride, give mea ride". This absolutely should not happen. WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS AND WHAT ARE THEY THINKING ?

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