You are not permitted to operate a water vessel in South Africa without a valid Certificate of Fitness (COF) in respect of that vessel. This means your boat or jet ski has to comply with certain regulations and inspections.

Your vessel must be surveyed (inspected) annually and issued a Certificate of Fitness (COF) by either a SAMSA surveyor or a safety officer appointed by an authorised agency. To pass the inspection, you must have the correct safety equipment and a valid buoyancy certificate (expires every five years). Safety equipment requirements are divided into categories (B, C, D, E and R) depending on where you will be using your vessel. We can help you apply for your COF – just call us on +27 (042) 294 1500 or visit www.samsa.org.za for more information.

In order to use the canals or river in St Francis Bay, you are required to purchase a license. The price of these licenses varies depending on if you will be using the river and/or the canals.

For example:

• If you will be using a jet ski or boat on the canals, you will need a canal license.
• If you will be using your boat on the river and the canals, then you will need a canal and river license.
• Jet skis are not permitted on the river.

These licenses are only valid for one year (from 1 July to 30 June); however, temporary licenses are also available. A valid Certificate of Fitness is required to purchase these licenses.

Most definitely! We can collect your boat (or jet ski) from your home and launch it on your behalf. Once your holiday is over, we can take your boat out of the water, wash it and safely return it to your home storage. Click here to make an enquiry.

We are certified to service all Mercury Marine motors. However, we can also service any other make of outboard, inboard, diesel or jet motors (as long as the motor being serviced is out of warranty). We prefer not to work on motors that are still under warranty as we are not certified to do so.

It is recommended that you service your motor once a year or every 100 hours (whichever comes first). In order to keep your motor in tip-top shape between services, make sure to flush the engine after each trip, run the motor dry (if it’s a two-stroke motor) and use efficient fuels such as Quicksilver’s FuelSaver.

You can use unleaded and leaded fuel due to the fact that inboard, outboard and most jet motors do not have catalytic converters. We do, however, recommend you always first consult your motor’s specific manufacturing schedule just to be safe.

Of course, we can! Anti-fouling is a great way to protect your hull and keep it fouling free. Give us a call on +27 (042) 294 1500 and we can talk you through the process.