S/V Deep Playa - Pearson 424

Just watched a pretty decent physics of sailing video which would be great for kids or novice sailors\visitors to watch. It was produced by KQED and you can watch the video on their site.

I’m beginning my search for how I want to approach my radar and navigation system. I mention them together because RADAR is proprietary and it only works with THAT vendors chart plotters and computer navigation software. The only exceptions to that would be companied like Si-Tex\Koden who make RADAR for other companies like Rosepoint Navigation Systems. There are a couple other cross breeders like that in the mix but for now I’m just going to look at these as single vendor solution. I’ve been having a lot of trouble keeping the software packages and vendors and who has “HD” or “Broadband” claims. I call them claims because there is no standard usage of those terms across vendors.

The main decision I need to make is to go all PC based or to have a PC \ Chartplotter mix. I was 100% for Chartplotters, but the more I think about it, they are WAY expensive compared even to a hardened tablet or laptop. $6000 for a 17” screen is pretty high for a dedicated device, you can also push video to displays on the high end as well, but for the most part that’s it. So now I’m leaning more towards not having chartplotter and going with a hardened laptop or tablet (on a swing arm ?) in addition to regular laptops we’d keep inside the the boat.

For the most part, I think all the other potential instruments will play nicely on the NEMA 2000 network, the only exception to that is I’m considering upgrade from a purely depth sonar to fish finder or something equivalently more high-res and meaningful than just a simple depth ping.

There is a lot to think about there but for now here’s a screenshot of my comparison thus far and I’ll keep the complete Marine Navigation Comparison online. I’ll update this over time and probably add some twists to it as I start to look at NEMA 2K displays, cabling and other components as well.

I keep getting a lot of “fog” from people who claim to know all that all dinghies are required to have state registration. This usually amounts to people saying “oh yeah well so and so just got a ticket the other day in their dinghy!”

I’m going to outline what I know and I’m going to outline some steps to get greater clarification on the issue. Here’s what I know and how I know it:

I bought a used 8.5” RIB which is USCG certified up to an 8hp outboard. I contacted the WA Department of licensing in June of 2008 explaining that and asking if I had to have state registration. They said no and this is their reply:

From: DOL INT Titles [mailto:TITLES@DOL.WA.GOV]
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 18:28
To: Patrick Walters
Subject: RE: Tender\Dinghy Vessel registration

Hello Patrick,

As long as the outboard is less than 10 horse power, you do not need to register the tender if it is used exclusively to furnish transportation from a larger vessel to shore and return.

WAC 308-03-010 (18) Definitions

RCW 88.02.030 (6) Exceptions from vessel registration

Thank you,

Vehicle Services

I can’t actually find the link to that WAC code, but RCW 88.02.030 (6) reads as follows:

(6) Vessels equipped with propulsion machinery of less than ten horsepower that:
     (a) Are owned by the owner of a vessel for which a valid vessel number has been issued;
     (b) Display the number of that numbered vessel followed by the suffix "1" in the manner prescribed by the department; and
     (c) Are used as a tender for direct transportation between that vessel and the shore and for no other purpose;

Based on that I see no need to register my dinghy. My vessel; is USCG documented. That means, I do have to pay for WA registration and I have to display a current registration tag, but not the state registration numbers. I am also required buy the USCG to indicate that my dinghy is a tender to my vessel (t\t Deep Playa) . I would assume I do not have show any additional stickers on my dinghy, but maybe I am required to display the state sticker or the registration with a “-1” on my dinghy.

There also seems to be some wiggle room with the “and for no other purpose”. Someone commented “if you have a fishing pole on that dinghy they’ll write you a ticket". I am sure some people who enforce these laws find them as confusing as I do.

So that leaves two more things to look into, here’s how I’m going to go about that. I am going to write the same letter  (email more likely) and send it to the following agencies who I feel should have the answer about the law:

• Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna
• Senator Ed Murray
• Representative Jamie Pedersen
• Representative Frank Chop

I thought about contacting the Police and Coast Guard, but I see them more as enforcement and not the “source” of what the law should be.

This should be a fun exercise, I’m expecting that its going to take a lot longer than I do right now (a month) to get an answer. I also think I’ll probably get differing answers, so my expectations are low, but I’m still thinking this will be somewhat fun. I’ll let you know about it as I go along.

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Corrected WAC form Allan : The WAC they gave you is wrong.  The 03 should be 93, and the WAC should be WAC 308-93-010 (31), not WAC 308-03-010 (18) —  #18 is for lifeboat, while #31 is for tenders.

I went to the Shilshole Bay Marina Dock Captains meeting tonight, this is part of the Washington Liveaboard Association. Amongst the dock captains there were also non-liveaboards in attendance such as myself. In attendance at the meeting (I’m going to butcher some name here) were the Marina Manager (Sharon), her boss Darlene from the Port, Joseppi to report on marina security (not sure on that) and Cathy Glees (?) to report on emergency preparedness also from the Port (but just the wet part, not the flying part she noted).

Security

We kicked off with Joseppi on security at the Marina. He reported no major incidences have made it to his desk. The attendees indicated one car break-in recently and a report of transients roaming C Dock with a FOB for entry who were ushered away by Port Security. Main takeaways from this are that if you loose your key FOB report it to the Marina ASAP, they can turn them off within minutes. Also, if you have any break-ins or car damage I would also report those to the marina as well.

Joseppi also indicated there is a functioning notification list for doc captains, and that one for the general public is in the works as well.

Emergency Preparedness

Cathy Glees(?) spoke next on emergency preparedness. Aside form the general “be prepared” message, she spoke specifically about two things I felt were worth repeating. The Port is looking to work with HAM Radio Operators who want to be involved in emergency communication efforts. She mentions ARES and RACES, so I assume the port is working with ARES\RACES of King County. There are soo many radios down here I’m sure some of you would love to help out. I may look into it myself even!

Secondly, the port is working with King County’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) effort and is looking for volunteers (liveaboards I assume to) to attend training sessions. The basic idea behind this is that if a large natural disaster occurred and emergency services were overwhelmed it would be useful to have people out in the community who were comfortable with using fire extinguishers, could search a building, help out their neighbors, etc. The training sounded pretty cool and it involved putting out real fires and doing simulated searches. As with everything contact the marina office for more information.

Liability Insurance Requirements

The big topic of the night was the coming mandatory liability insurance requirements for all of the water properties in the Port of Seattle (i.e., all the marinas recreational and commercial). The exact specifics will be coming in the mail in July, but at a high level it works like this:

• Policy goes into effect 1 October 2009
• Boats over 16’ moored in the water with engines have to carry $300,000 of liability
• Boats on the dry moorage regardless of size which use the hoist, also have to have $300,000 of liability
• Proof of insurance must be provided by making adding the Port of Seattle as a certificate holder. This will mean they get notified if you change, renew, let your policy lapse, etc.

That summary covers 99% of us, if you have a 100’ canoe with no motor call the marina or wait for the mailing in July for all the corner cases.

The Port seemed to be prepared more for people to be upset about the requirement, but most people were complaining about the wait till October, they’d rather see it go in effect immediately. I was kind of shocked by that. I agree in that I’m surprised they don’t require it already, but I completely understand that the Port can’t make things required over night.

They also said several times ”This is where we’re starting.” so you can expect that over time the requirements will go up and at a minimum I’d expect them to add wreck recovery and pollution in the not so distance future.

This weekend I finished installing the starter. Along the way I decided to replace the bonding wire on the starter to the v-drive with tinned wire because the existing wire was corroded. As I was doing this, I also decided to replace the bonding wire from the v-drive to the raw water strainer because it had broken a few months back. Removing the nut on the raw water strainer lead to the strainer breaking.  The strainer (bronze) was bolted to an aluminum bracket with stainless steel screws and it had started to bend at the hanger points. I was planning to replace this fall when I haul out, but turns out I needed to do it today. I put a board on that aluminum bracket and put in a new raw water strainer. All in all it was pretty simple, the new fittings lined up a bit differently, but the new strainer looks great and will provide years of reliable service! I have one more bonding wire to put in, just need a 8 AWG to #10 screw ring terminal to check that one off the list.

I also finished installing the starter this weekend after I painted it and let it dry. It pretty much popped right in, I fastened in all the bolts to the block, put the new bonding wires on and then hooked up the battery cables and starter switch. She started up on the first try and water ran well through the exhaust. Everything is look good!

Finally, I finished our plumbing upgrade as well by putting in a new shower mixer valve and handheld \ wall mount sprayer. The original faucet was a 4” on center individual knobs for hot and cold and had a fitting for the shower nozzle right on the faucet. When I pulled this off the wall I was left with two holes in the whole. I put a Shurflo mixer \ volume control in the bottom hole and a wall mount for the shower nozzle in the top hole. This completes a project I started last summer!