Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Fellow Boaters!

Some of us have put our boats away for winter while some in the south and in the islands enjoy boating year around. Whether you are using your boat or have winterized it, it is a good time to come up with a to do list for your boat for the upcoming season. Some examples of things to add to your list:

• Is your safety gear up to date and does it meet federal and your state requirements? Here is a link for the USCG requirements: http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/workflow_staging/Publications/420.PDF
• All boats with living space should have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, do you? If so, then this is a good time to change batteries if you have not done so.
• Do you have an EPIRB? If so is the registration and battery in date?
• Remove your hand held fire extinguishers and turn upside down and hit the bottom with your hand, can you hear the dry powder settle? If not your fire extinguisher might be compacted and need replacement. If any doubts you can have inspected professionally. When was the last time the fire extinguisher in the engine room last inspected?
• Check you thru-hull vales, are the handles easy to turn, how do they look, corrosion, when was the last time they were serviced? 
• Check all of the hoses and hose clamps, replace if needed.
• Inspect your fuel lines and condition of your fuel system. Does your fuel system meet USCG requirements?
• If you have lead acid batteries, check the electrolyte, are you batteries secure? Are the wire terminals tight?
• If you have an inboard engine, how is the condition of your stuffing box, cutlass bearing? Is your engine aligned properly.
• How is the condition of your lifelines? I often find lifelines that need replacement because of corrosion and cracks in the swage fittings.
• If you own a sailboat, when was the last time the rigging inspected? 
• On sailboats chain plates are often neglected. Inspect for water intrusion, pitting and cracks. I have found Thermal Imaging to be useful in finding signs of trapped moisture in chain plates embedded in fiberglass.
• If laying your sailboat up for the season, this is a good time to remove your sails and have them inspected at a sail loft. Also it is a good time to order a new sail, some lofts offer discounts over the winter.
• Make a list of improvements you want for your boat and get estimates and see if any yards are offering discounts for work completed over the winter.
• For us with metal boats this is a good time to inspect our bilges, sail lockers, lazarettes, and engine rooms for corrosion. Insure these areas are clean. 

I am sure I could keep going, but you get the idea. I am wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable 2014!
Happy Boating!

Applying Thermal Imaging To Metal Boats

Applying Thermal Imaging To Metal Boats

This was a topic that fellow marine surveyor Jack Allinson and I presented at the 2013 IBEX ( International Boatbuilders Exhibition & Conference). I am new to thermal imaging, but over the past year Jack Allinson has proven its worth when it comes to metal boats. Mr. Allinson has been applying thermal imaging to marine surveying since 2003. Here at DBYS I am working on my Level 1 certification and have acquired a Flir Thermal Imager to add to my tool box for my metal boat inspections. Thermal imaging or also known as Infared Thermography, has been used in factory inspections, home inspections and marine surveying of composite boats for years.
When we apply it to metal boats it gives us  "better set of eyes" along with visual inspection and audio gauging. We have found that often where thermal anomalies are found there is trapped moisture and/or corrosion, and paint voids. One of the benefits is the ability to see the structure of the boat and location of the tanks. I find this very helpful to speed up my layout for UT/audio gauge inspection 

  From our presentation:
Infrared thermal imaging and correct interpretations of surface thermal patterns can be a real boon to cost-conscious clients keen on the price point required to find metal wastage, trapped and hidden moisture, and to document the water routes (trails) created when dewatering a vessel. On most UTM jobs, as much as 60% of the work effort goes into planning and implementing where to take the random spot checks for plating thickness. With the right environmental conditions this work can be easily reduced by half by scanning the shell plate with an infrared thermal imager.

 

In the images below the transverse framing and longitudinal stringers are visible.  I will post other photos at a later date that I have been able to locate corrosion.

Steel Brewer Schooner

Steel Dix 47

Steel Dix 47

Aluminum Utility Boat

 

The Metal Boat Festival

The Metal Boat Festival Anacortes, Washington 2013.

August 9-11, 2013

For the past three years I have been going out to the Metal Boat Fest put on by the Metal Boat Society. I have been a member for many years, a commercial member for the past three years, and in 2012 I had the honer to be voted to the advisory board. In 2012 & 2013 I was asked to present at the fest, the topics covered paint repair and refits. If you are interested in metal boats this is the place to go for friendship and good advice. At the fest you will meet owners, builders, and designers such as Dudley Dix, Ted Brewer, John Simpson, George Buehler and others. The 2014 fest will be August 8,9, & 10, 2014, for more information go to:  http://www.metalboatsociety.com/festivalInfo.htm

Listening to sea stories with Ted & Betty Brewer and John Simpson.

Welcome

Metal Boat Surveys

Join me as I share findings from metal boat surveys and give information on the upkeep and care of a metal boat.