BOATING TIPS -- APRIL 1994
A Potpourri of Information

This month, a potpourri of bits and pieces of information from here and there:

FCC FEES: In a move that will set back boating safety because of its costs, the FCC has changed license fees from $35 for five years to $110 for ten years for vessel radio licenses effective April 1. Remember, if you have any transmitters (including VHF radio or Radar) aboard your boat (except for CB radios), you must have a license, and the Coast Guard and FCC both enforce this. (Though CB is great for chit-chat, it won't get you the Coast Guard or most marinas, and you'll still get fined for using VHF in an emergency if you don't get a license! Shouldn't your radio be licensed?)

INSURANCE: In the aftermath of the EVANGELINE III fire, I was reminded that the owner of a boat that accidentally catches fire is not responsible for the damage to the boats nearby, any more than a house which catches fire first in a California fire storm is responsible for all that subsequently burn. Instead, each boat's own insurance provides coverage.

In the case of the EVANGELINE fire, there was at least another $150,000 in damage to other boats, and sadly one of the owners involved had just elected not to have coverage, a decision that, in hindsight, turned out to be a BIG mistake. . .

FIX-UP: During this spring season, a lot of us are working on our boats, and I'm certainly no exception! I've been relocating batteries, adding water capacity, and remodelling some interior areas, while Padden Creek has been repairing some design flaws in the boat's construction, and helping me with some of the major work. Local shipwright and Club member Peter Lamb has helped, too.

In the process, as always happens, I've noted some overlooked projects. Certainly painting exposed metal surfaces is one of them, and I'm reminded of two painting rules: (1) Surface preparation is everything; (2) The new paints are better than ever.

Several years ago the head of the family and I worked hard to carefully sand and then paint with polyurethane paint some hatches that had cracking and chipping paint. At the same time we rather hastily touched up the radar mast and dinghy davit. Now, just two years later, the hatches look wonderful, and the hastily-painted mast and davit need work again. I guess I'll just have to do it right...and that means following the manufacturer's recommendations. (This time, I'm going to try a new epoxy paint because of its easier application to aluminum. Perhaps in two years I'll remember to let you know how it turns out!)

By the way, my work around my batteries reminds me that you might make sure that the "hot" bilge pump wires directly from your batteries are fused with the in-line fuseholders that you can get anywhere. It's an omission that I've noted surveyors often note when a boat is inspected. That little $2 fuse will keep a shorted, unattended bilge pump from burning up in, and with, your boat!

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