Sticker scheme reminder for owners of kayaks etc.
OWNERS of kayaks, surfboards, diving equipment and other water-based leisure equipment are being reminded that a sticker scheme exists to help reunite them with their gear should it be lost.
Guernsey Coastguard introduced the scheme in 2020 to help identify owners of items found at sea unattended or washed up on the shore.
Assistant harbour master Mike Harris said that registrations had been steady and more than 550 stickers had been issued since the scheme started.
Lost equipment had been returned to owners on several occasions since, but he said that this was not always due to the stickers.
‘On several occasions, we have found equipment that did not have stickers, resulting in prolonged investigations/social media enquiries and on occasion, if the equipment was found at sea, lifeboat launches,’ he said.
‘The more awareness we can generate to promote registration of items to existing and new owners of equipment, the safer islanders will be.’
Previously stickers were available at outlets that sold boards and kayaks but now they must be collected from the Guernsey Ports customer service centre on the Albert Pier.
‘Directing islanders to our office on Albert Pier, ensures we are able to refine our messaging and signpost clearly where islanders can register their equipment,’ said Mr Harris.
This also reduced the workload generated at the outlets who were issuing the stickers and enabled Ports to control the registration process better.
‘Having someone to call when equipment is found could mean the difference between a celebration or a tragedy.’
A spokesman for GonePaddling, which sells kayaks and paddle boards and other similar equipment, said that the scheme was a good idea.
Pete Norman, of Freedom Surf Shop, said it gave out a few stickers when it was one of the distributors, but there was not a huge uptake.
‘It’s a good idea in principle but in reality how many stray boards and kayaks are there out there?’ he said.
‘I definitely think having to go to the harbour to get one will put most people off, rather than at point of sale.’
Outdoor Guernsey provides kayaks for people to hire and Alfie Ford-Parker said he was just about to ensure that all of them were ‘stickered-up’ for the coming season.
‘We’ve had new ones arrive so this is a job I have to do,’ he said.
The company had been marking its kayaks since the scheme was introduced.
