Greater Wellington — Boating safety

Respecting our local boating conditions

You’ll find lots of great local information on this page about boating, paddling and ocean swimming.

Local legends tell us some of their best tips and tricks for staying safe in the waters around this region. We’ve included some of the local bylaw information and a handy downloadable Cockpit Guide, to try and get everyone that goes out on the water, home to their whānau.

Take care out there and don’t ever underestimate the ocean. In the video below, Fred and Sid remind us why we should never do that. Please take the time to hear what happened to them so you can avoid ever being in the same position.

Fred and Sid talk about being rescued from the ocean

Know before you go

Know the safety basics before heading out on the water in any vessel - whether it's a powerboat, jetski, windsurfer, kayak or yacht.

Wear a lifejacket that fits - Take enough jackets and make sure they're worn.
Know the weather and tides - Check the latest marine forecasts and the tides before you go out.
Make sure you can stay in touch - Have at least two communication devices that will work when wet eg. a cell phone in a bag, VHR radio, distress flares or an EPIRB.

On the water

You need to comply with the regional boating rules when you are out on the water, including:

Keep a lookout - avoid collisions - Watch for other vessels and swimmers in the water.
Be seen after dark - Have the correct navigation lights showing and listen to VHF Ch 14. This will keep you informed of what large commercial vessels are moving around the Wellington harbour and should help you to keep clear of them.
Travel at a safe speed - Keep below 5 knots if you are within 200 metres of shore or 50 metres of a person in the water or another vessel.
Avoid alcohol while on board - Know the guidelines and understand the risks of alcohol on board.
Might is right - small gives way! - Any vessels under 500 Gross Tonnes must keep clear of vessel over 500 Gross Tonnes. A 50 metre commercial fishing boat, and most powerboats will be under 500 gross tonnes.
It takes three to ski - If you are towing a water skier, wake boarder or inflatable tow toy or similar you must have a person who is over 10 years old as a lookout. Their job is to that watching the person being towed, and letting the driver concentrate on driving the boat.

Wellington Skippers Cockpit Guide

Everything you need to know about safe boating in the Greater Wellington Region. The Harbourmaster’s team has created this booklet to help local Skippers’ navigate safety in the Wellington region. We’ve… Read more here

Published 01 Oct 2023

Download now (PDF 3.9 MB)

See anything or anyone being unsafe on the water?

We all need to look out for each other on the water. Call us on (04) 388 1911 or (04) 473 4547.

Local legends tell us their best tips for respecting our local boating conditions

Find out more about safety on the water on the Maritime NZ website.

How to use an inflatable life jacket

Lie back in the water
Run both hands down the sides of your lifejacket to find the toggle
Pull the string

When the jacket doesn’t inflate

Pull the Velcro or zip apart to get to the inflator tube
Unwrap the inflator tube from within the air bladder of the jacket
Get the cap off the tube
Blow air into the bladder until inflated. You might need to pull more of the cover apart to do this.

It’s not always easy, so make sure you get your inflatable life jackets serviced regularly. It’s a good idea to practise manually blowing one up before you need to, so you know what to do in an emergency!

Top tip: Hanging your life jackets up can help avoid physical damage!

Navigation safety bylaws

Read a summary of the navigation safety bylaws or download the full document

Stay clear of big ships

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Wellington Harbour can be a busy area of water. People enjoy the harbour for recreation and sailing but it is also a busy commercial port. These activities usually happen in harmony but occasionally conflict and skirmishes can arise.

This normally happens when small boats get in the way of larger ships. Under bylaw 6.3 of the Navigation and Safety Bylaws, vessels under 500 tons must not impede vessels over 500 tons.

What does this mean? A 500 ton vessel is generally over 50 metres long. The smallest Cook Strait ferry is about 12,000 tons! “Not impede” means not getting in the way of, or not being close enough to, larger ships where the master thinks that you are in the way. Here can be a problem, as what could seem to be a long and adequate distance when viewed from a small boat can appear to be a very small and inadequate distance when viewed from the bridge of a ship.

To put things into a practical perspective, a ship travelling at 20 knots (37 km/h), which is typical for ferries and other large ships, will cover one nautical mile (1.85km) in just three minutes. If the ship has to alter course to avoid a small boat, there are limitations to where it can safely go due to the geographical constraints of the harbour, such as shallow areas. Typically ships can take anywhere up to half a mile (almost 1 km) to come to a complete stop.

A basic form of communication between ships is sound signals. It’s important and useful to know what these signals mean:

Five or more short blasts are used to attract another vessel’s attention and means “I am unsure of your intentions”. This should be viewed as a request for the smaller vessel to move well out of the way of the larger vessel, as those on board the larger vessel obviously consider that you are getting too close for safety
One short blast – I am turning to starboard
Two short blasts – I am turning to port
Three short blasts – My engines are going astern

When used clear of wharves, this last one usually means that the master is attempting to stop short to avoid running a boat over, and the skipper on the vessel doing “the impeding” is likely to soon receive a visit or communication from the Harbourmaster’s office (and quite probably an infringement notice fine).

So the next time that you are on Wellington Harbour and encounter a large ship or ferry, spare a thought for the master and bridge team, and keep well clear of it. Make your intentions clear by means of early and obvious course alterations, pass well astern of the ship if you are able, and remember the adage “Might is Right”!

Harbour risk assessment

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In 2004 Maritime New Zealand modified and adopted the Port and Harbour Safety Code from the United Kingdom, and recommended that ports in New Zealand adopt the Code on a voluntary basis. The Code is intended to assist port operators (Centreport) and regulators (Greater Wellington) identify real and potential risks to all users of the harbour and to manage these risks.

GWRC and Centreport engaged Marico Marine as a consultant, to undertake the initial comprehensive risk assessment in 2005. Following on from that risk assessment a Wellington port and harbour safety management system (PHSMS) was jointly developed by Greater Wellington and Centreport.

This was audited by Maritime NZ in late 2014 and found to meet the requirements of the Port and Harbour Safety Code.

This initial risk assessment was reviewed, again assisted by Marico Marine and delivered in September 2018. This work was delayed due to the earthquake which did result in significant updates to the information in the report.

Wellington Harbour Navigational Risk Assessment 2005

This document reports the findings of a navigational risk assessment for Wellington Harbour in accordance with the requirements of the New Zealand Port and Harbour Marine Safety Code. It is… Read more here

Published 18 Oct 2021

Download now (PDF 6.7 MB)

Wellington Harbour Navigational Risk Assessment 2018

A Navigational Risk Assessment (NRA) for Wellington Harbour was first undertaken in 2006. This 2017 NRA represents a fundamental review and update of this record. Much has changed to harbour… Read more here

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Boating safety