Now I'm Scared...

[Hurleyburly]

Now I\'m Scared...

This is taken from a MoBo thread concerning seacocks:

'I might not be the most experieced, but I have twin 370HP Volvos on shafts in my Sealine F44. When i bought it at the begining of the year, used it is an 1999 boat, the dealer has never mentioned closing anything.

But am very intererested to learn if I should be doing something'.


Do YOU want compulsory certification ?!

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[sailorman]

Re: Now I\'m Scared...

when i bought my first boat a plywood silhoutte (17ft 6in o/all) in the early 70s it didnt have any seacocks. perhaps i should have bought a 44 footer instead ?.
only problem was that was all i could afford but at least it was all mine, loved & not just the next hobby thing to do.

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[tcm]

Re: self-certification maybe

ok, ok, bit worrying i must say!

But note that Yachtmaster can be done on any boat above 24 feet, and at that size many powerboats wil have no seacocks, drawing water in and out of a sternleg. So you could pass YM without seeing a seacock. Pleased don't imagine that professional mariners will invariably know where the seacocks are, or even if the ferry bow doors are shut, ahem.

For pleasure boats, compulsory certification should be "self-certification" and be as follows: everyone who buys a boat from a dealer/broker to complete a form saying their qualifications, and/or how they plan to become proficient. It should also compel the salespeeps to do a proper handover, and sign that they've shown them the important things. The forms would be generated by the RYA/MCA and held by each broker/dealer covering every boat sold. Private sales wouldn't be covered, but more experienced people would choose that route anyway.

imho.

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[AndrewB]

Err ... missing the point?

I don't think it's the seacocks that Hurlyburly is worried about!

 

[wooslehunter]

Re: Err ... missing the point?

The main point is that if you have any, know where they are and how to operate them. Make sure they do close and have a softwood plug tied to them just in case.

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[Hurleyburly]

Re: Err ... missing the point?

Quite right, this chap owns a quarter mil boat, capable of something in the region of 25knts and he doesn't even know what a seacock is, let alone where they might be situated.

I'd say the likelihood is he doesn't know where the gas and fuel cut-offs are as well.



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[qsiv]

Re: self-certification maybe

I'm not sure the broker could ever know enough to do such a handover in the case of secondhand boats. In the first place they dont have the experience (of that boat), nor is it their boat, so they dont have anything to 'handover'. The person with the knowledge and experience is the previous owner, surely?

I had all sorts of questions about galvanic isolators, electrical systems, how much backstay tension at what windspeeds, at what point does the first reef go in - none of which could a broker conceivably know. All I wanted (as the buyer) was for the broker to process the paperwork and ensure I had good title. As a seller all I want is a buyer!



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[charles_reed]

Amel

Won't release a new boat until the owner or his representative attends their works for a couple of days, are trained in all the boat's little ways and have signed a piece of paper saying they have been on a course.

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[AndrewB]

... right, and maybe b*gg*r all else.

The quarter mil is his worry, but those twin 370hp Volvos up his arse just might become mine!

 

[Aja]

Re: self-certification maybe

Is that not assuming that Brokers have any more knowledge?

Donald

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[pheran]

Re: self-certification maybe

<The person with the knowledge and experience is the previous owner, surely?>

You would have thought so, wouldn't you. But not in my experience. I bought in Holland earlier this year and a formal part of the purchase procedure was a sea-trial with the owner/seller present. He seemed to lack knowledge of even the most basic things I asked him - altho' he did know about sea-cocks he couldn't remember what make of antifouling he had applied two years earlier.

This has been my experience on previous purchases too. Mind you, I have

a)always bought second-hand
b)bought well below the market price
c) trusted to luck that I could fix the problems that ignorance and resultant neglect
might have caused.

So far I have been lucky!!


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