kimhollamby
Active member
Original text from leader MBM Dec 91:
Have you ever cast off with peace in your heart and a fair day ahead, only to have events take a rapid turn for the worse? The smell of bacon wafting up through the hatch is rudely replaced by the pungent odour of burnt rubber as the engine's exhaust hoses fry and impellers disintegrate. You forgot to turn the intake seacocks on, a simple procedure that will never ever be ignored again, until the next time.
Or perhaps you resemble the potential divorce case on the television advertisement, who scarcely scores a mile towards his holiday destination before returning to check something or other at home. Only in your case, you are naturally far more worried about the boat. By the time you have inspected at least seven times the item you thought you hadn't turned off, but had, your anxious shuffling between car and boat has taken a significant amount of tread off your deckies.
Recognise the symptoms? Well if you won't confess, I will, which is why you have Motorboats Monthly's uniue free gift with this month's issue: a safety checklist to hang on the throttle lever of your choice.
As a stand-alone item, this should serve as a useful enough jog to the sun-dulled memory, but there is more. The plastic finish of the checklist can be written on in a number of ways. Use a permanent marker if you want to cross out things that don't apply to you, or add to the list as appropriate. Chinagraph pencil or water-based marker will rub-off, so less worthy scribblings should be applied in such a way.
Best of all, the checklist has been cleverly designed with a blank rear, so that you now have an upmarket means of telling late joiners which pub or restaurant they should rescue you from. And if your marina really has it organised, why not leave a message for the milkman or the empties? But be careful he reads the right side.
So, there are no more excuses for gas systems left on or water intakes left off. We hope.
+++++
What a build-up eh but in reality for our major gizmo of the last decade we are talking a laminated card with a large hole at the top, the word 'Check' in very large red letters and the following entries:
Item...................................Leaving.......Joining
-------------------------------------------------------
Gas......................................Off..............On
12V electrical system.............Off..............On
Engine/bilge blowers..............Off..............On
240V electrical system...........Off..............On
Seacocks engine(s)/others.....Off..............On
Engine oil and water................................On
Alarm...................................On.............Off
I'm still looking for an original example and if I find one I'll publish an image somewhere.
No doubt you can add loads of other items and the great over-promoted MkI looks a bit shallow now. On the other hand, it focused in on some of the most important bits and certainly gave me peace of mind leaving it on the throttle of Andantino if someone else was due to start her up as I used to shut all seacocks off before leaving her every time.
Perhaps these days we would go more for the aviation style checklists with acronyms? Having just learnt B(cd) W(eight) R(eleases) A(ir) F(inal checks) for a PADI diving course (remembered in many ways but most effectively as Big Women Really Are Fun) I would have thought the way is open for an informal attempt by MBCers to produce an equivalent for arrival, pre-takeoff and departure.
ps - at least we insisted that the checklist be UV stable - a couple of years before we did a buoyage chart on material that let the reds fade to yellows... :-(
kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
Have you ever cast off with peace in your heart and a fair day ahead, only to have events take a rapid turn for the worse? The smell of bacon wafting up through the hatch is rudely replaced by the pungent odour of burnt rubber as the engine's exhaust hoses fry and impellers disintegrate. You forgot to turn the intake seacocks on, a simple procedure that will never ever be ignored again, until the next time.
Or perhaps you resemble the potential divorce case on the television advertisement, who scarcely scores a mile towards his holiday destination before returning to check something or other at home. Only in your case, you are naturally far more worried about the boat. By the time you have inspected at least seven times the item you thought you hadn't turned off, but had, your anxious shuffling between car and boat has taken a significant amount of tread off your deckies.
Recognise the symptoms? Well if you won't confess, I will, which is why you have Motorboats Monthly's uniue free gift with this month's issue: a safety checklist to hang on the throttle lever of your choice.
As a stand-alone item, this should serve as a useful enough jog to the sun-dulled memory, but there is more. The plastic finish of the checklist can be written on in a number of ways. Use a permanent marker if you want to cross out things that don't apply to you, or add to the list as appropriate. Chinagraph pencil or water-based marker will rub-off, so less worthy scribblings should be applied in such a way.
Best of all, the checklist has been cleverly designed with a blank rear, so that you now have an upmarket means of telling late joiners which pub or restaurant they should rescue you from. And if your marina really has it organised, why not leave a message for the milkman or the empties? But be careful he reads the right side.
So, there are no more excuses for gas systems left on or water intakes left off. We hope.
+++++
What a build-up eh but in reality for our major gizmo of the last decade we are talking a laminated card with a large hole at the top, the word 'Check' in very large red letters and the following entries:
Item...................................Leaving.......Joining
-------------------------------------------------------
Gas......................................Off..............On
12V electrical system.............Off..............On
Engine/bilge blowers..............Off..............On
240V electrical system...........Off..............On
Seacocks engine(s)/others.....Off..............On
Engine oil and water................................On
Alarm...................................On.............Off
I'm still looking for an original example and if I find one I'll publish an image somewhere.
No doubt you can add loads of other items and the great over-promoted MkI looks a bit shallow now. On the other hand, it focused in on some of the most important bits and certainly gave me peace of mind leaving it on the throttle of Andantino if someone else was due to start her up as I used to shut all seacocks off before leaving her every time.
Perhaps these days we would go more for the aviation style checklists with acronyms? Having just learnt B(cd) W(eight) R(eleases) A(ir) F(inal checks) for a PADI diving course (remembered in many ways but most effectively as Big Women Really Are Fun) I would have thought the way is open for an informal attempt by MBCers to produce an equivalent for arrival, pre-takeoff and departure.
ps - at least we insisted that the checklist be UV stable - a couple of years before we did a buoyage chart on material that let the reds fade to yellows... :-(
kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com
