Dreaded return of nuisance Jet Skis

AS THE Covid lockdown is eased [personal water crafts] will no doubt return in force to the Menai Strait.

These machines are a problem for the following reasons:

1) They are noisy. The selfishness of one or two enjoying [personal water crafts], especially when “wave jumping”, can spoil the day for hundreds if not thousands of inhabitants living along the strait. A [personal water craft] can reach noise levels of almost one hundred decibels when ridden at top speed – only 20 decibels below the sound of a jet plane on the runway.

2) [Personal water crafts] are dangerous to people – deaths in the UK involving [the crafts] last year included one in the Menai Strait and one in Pwllheli. The number of injuries is not known, but include whiplash, broken wrists and concussion.

3) [Personal water crafts] are bad for nature: they disturb, injure or kill seabirds, seals, dolphins and porpoises.

4) [Personal water crafts] pollute the water and the air. When the government is thinking of stopping the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 to reduce harmful emissions, it is hard to understand why [personal water crafts] are allowed to spew out noxious emissions for no useful reason. The manufacture of [personal water crafts] is also highly polluting – they have a life span of only 300 hours, so need to be frequently replaced.

5) All this is made worse by the inconsiderate nature of the riders who often weave around kayaks, canoes and sailing boats, creating dangerous waves; many riders appear to be drunk (it is not, incidentally, a crime to be drunk in charge of a [personal water craft]), while they and their passengers add to the noise by whooping and screeching. Any attempt to ask them to behave appropriately is met with a torrent of abuse.

My experience of living on the Menai Strait suggests this is not, as their supporters claim, the usual “small minority”, but a very substantial number.

There is, of course, money to be made from the [personal water crafts] business.

One advertisement tells us that “The thrill of speeding through the water on a [personal water craft], bouncing over the waves with droplets of sea spray tickling your face can’t be beaten”.

Really? Is there nothing to beat sitting on your backside and twisting a couple of handgrips?

I’m more inclined to the view of campaigner Alek Simmons: “If I was king for the day, I would order the collection and destruction of every last one of those [personal water crafts]. They’re nothing but egregiously noisy toys for overpaid narcissists and serve no-one but the pr*ts that ride them.”

Eddie Williams

Caernarfon