I’m just home from a week at the boat show in Seattle. I saw a small fleet of boats, including some new ones, at the floating show on Lake Union and in the Quest Field Event Center, home of the Seahawks.
More than new boats and new products and seeing old friends again, the thing that I’ll probably remember is that this show suggested that this is the year of labels.
Many boats, but not all, were plastered with labels from bow to stern. They warned of all kinds of dangers, from carbon monoxide poisoning to being struck by turning propellers.
Christine Alhambra, PassageMaker Magazine’s editorial assistant, joined me in touring many of the boats. She’s new to boating, but learns quickly. (We also went flying together, in a venerable Beaver float plane, but that’s another story.)
We boarded a 55-footer on blocks at Quest Field and instantly sensed it would be a dock queen because of the huge emphasis on a luxurious and richly fitted saloon. The impression was enforced a few steps forward, where it quickly was obvious that visibility from the pilothouse was poor. Christine found a seat in the helm chair and had little view forward. And then we saw the label of all labels.
Pasted in good view just ahead of the wheel, it warned that visibility from the helm was limited. “Avoid serious injury or death from collisions,” the label said. “Maintain a lookout as required by the Rules of the Road.”
It’s hard to imagine a boat builder being forced to admit that visibility ahead was so limited as to be dangerous. Not a good thing for sales. The label was there, however, because it was required by a new visibility standard issued by the American Boat and Yacht Council. It became effective July 31, 2007 – just in time for boats bound for winter boat shows.
ABYC standards are voluntary, but increasingly builders recognize that boats may sell better if they design and build to meet the standards. Eventually, I suspect, that builder will redesign its pilothouse so that embarrassing label no longer will be needed.
I met another builder representative and we talked about visibility. That builder’s 54 has a good view forward, but sight lines aft are limited. The solution: install a TV camera in the cockpit. A wide angle lens produces a good image that can be viewed on any nav station monitor.
Another builder shook his head after I recited my tour through the labels. “I’m not going to do that,” he said.
There were two other labels at the helm on the dock queen. One, required by government agencies, warned about the dangers of carbon monoxide. Boaters have died from exposure to CO, including children playing in the water near engine exhausts.
The second label noted the fixed helm seat and warned that an “unexpected” rotation could eject the seated person, perhaps causing injury or death. It said the seat should be locked at speeds above 5mph.
The boating organizations requires labels in other areas, too, including fuel, electrical and propane systems.
ABYC is so concerned about the danger of carbon monoxide that it now recommends changes in the way sinks and basins drain on boats. Usually, builders simply install a straight pipe that will carry gray water to a through-hull discharge just above the water line.
The advisory group fears that carbon monoxide may migrate upward into a boat via the through-hull fitting, causing serious illness or death. The CO could come from the boat’s own engine or generator exhaust, or from a boat nearby in a moorage or anchorage.
The fix is simple – install a P trap, just like the trap found beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks in our homes. They work to keep sewer gases out of the house and they will block the flow of CO, too. On boats, however, there is an alternative: if the drain hose is flexible enough and space allows, a double loop will provide the same protection as a P trap by creating a water block. Retrofitting on old boats may be difficult, but makes sense.
ABYC also recommends the installation of several CO monitors on recreational boats powered both by gasoline and diesel fuel.
I spent four days during the show in a class on marine systems offered by ABYC and the Northwest Marine Trade Association. I learned a lot about how boat systems should be installed, but I was most impressed by ABYC’s focus on boating safety.
Maybe some of us will read the labels and boating will become less dangerous as we heed dangers from things that can’t be changed - such as spinning props and engine exhaust gases. And maybe boaters will make changes for safety’s sake, too.