I am responding to the…

Commentaire

I am responding to the proposed amendment to Ontario Regulation 161/17 (O. Reg. 161/17) under the Public Lands Act.

I find this document, and the subsequent proposal, to be very confusing and seemingly restrictive or discriminatory against boating and safe navigation around the lakes of Ontario. My wife and I have a small sailboat and regularly sail on Lake Ontario and adjoining waters. Sometimes it becomes necessary to anchor for the night while travelling, due to distances between safe harbours, and sometimes this may be due to safety issues where there is a problem with the engine or the weather prohibiting movement of the boat. I completely understand people who own waterfront properties not wanting noise and other bad behaviour close to their land but these proposed restrictions appear to be ridiculously over protective.

The Federal Government clearly state that:

“An anchorage is a suitable area in which to anchor a vessel. The right to anchor a vessel is part of the common law right of navigation.
Vessels are free to anchor temporarily wherever it is safe.”

Vessels are required by law to carry 180 ft of anchor rode. In poor conditions, the scope of the rode for anchoring safely should be 7 to 10 times the depth of the water which means that the maximum depth that a vessel, carrying the required rode, can anchor in is only 18 feet. The depth in Lake Ontario at 300 metres from shore is usually much more than 18 feet.