General Info: Survey complete: Now the questions

[HighTemp]

We completed the survey on the Lipari yesterday and now the questions concerning the findings start .

The Surveyor had two issues that he was most concerned about.
1. EU spec safety gear in the US.
and
2. Navigation lighting

This is a one owner boat that was delivered on her bottom from France 3 years ago. Therefore, all of the safety equipment on board is EU spec. PFD's, life raft, fire extinguishers, etc. The Surveyor indicated that the USCG may take issue with this and this all may need to be replaced. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

With regard to the Nav lights. The boat came with a tri-color, and a red/green nav light where the steaming light would normally be located on the mast, just above the deck light. No red / green running lights at deck level, no white steaming light on the mast and no stern light.

The regs appear to be pretty clear about what is and is not required, but there are so many FP Cats in US waters that appear to have this nav light configuration I find it hard to believe that they can all be improperly lit. Heck, we even took a look at a brand new Lucia 40 that was delivered last week, and the nav light set up is exactly the same.

Other than that the boat was extremely clean and well cared for. One issue with the LPG setup that will be addressed and two small water leaks that have to be chased down. One drip in the master cabin just below the helm station and one in the salon just to the portside of the mast pocket that drips on the lighting panel trim.
I know these are the exit points, so hopefully finding the entry points won't be too exasperating.....

[Paul L]

The total cost of required USCG safety equipment is minor compared to the vessel cost. Get new fire extinguishers, flares, signs. No big deal.

[HighTemp]

Originally Posted by Paul L

The total cost of required USCG safety equipment is minor compared to the vessel cost. Get new fire extinguishers, flares, signs. No big deal.

Oh, I do not disagree, but if they do the job, then why spend the extra money?

It would appear that new FP's come equipped with EU spec'd gear and apparently pass USCG inspections. Just curious as to why the surveyor was concerned, and if anyone else had similar issues. Good news is that I did find a local company who can inspect and do maintenance on the Euro Zodiac life raft.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by HighTemp

Oh, I do not disagree, but if they do the job, then why spend the extra money?

It would appear that new FP's come equipped with EU spec'd gear and apparently pass USCG inspections. Just curious as to why the surveyor was concerned, and if anyone else had similar issues. Good news is that I did find a local company who can inspect and do maintenance on the Euro Zodiac life raft.

Check the flairs, fire extinguisher and life jacket labels and see if they have USCG approvals. If you are going to use the boat primarily in US waters and it is US registered then it does not matter how effective the non approved gear is. You still need to pass a USCG boarding.
Your insurance will also require that you address survey deficiencies.

[Cheechako]

He's got to write something up to justify the survey cost!

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by HighTemp

With regard to the Nav lights. The boat came with a tri-color, and a red/green nav light where the steaming light would normally be located on the mast, just above the deck light. No red / green running lights at deck level, no white steaming light on the mast and no stern light.

I presume that the boat also has an all-round white (anchor) light at the top of the mast ... this is supposed to be used as a combined steaming/stern light while motoring.

Rule 23(d) (i) A power-driven vessel of less than 12 metres in length may in lieu of the lights prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule exhibit an all-round white light and sidelights

If your boat is under 12m then it is compliant ... if over 12m then it is not ...

41ft is over 12m ... but the Lipari 41 is 11.95m ... the designer did that deliberately.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

I presume that the boat also has an all-round white (anchor) light at the top of the mast ... this is supposed to be used as a combined steaming/stern light while motoring.

If your boat is under 12m then it is compliant ... if over 12m then it is not ...

41ft is over 12m ... but the Lipari 41 is 11.95m ... the designer did that deliberately.

Beat me to it, combined anchor light/stern light is what I’m going to set up on my boat.

12m is a skosh over 39’ 4-7/16”.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by HighTemp

We completed the survey on the Lipari yesterday and now the questions concerning the findings start .

The Surveyor had two issues that he was most concerned about.
1. EU spec safety gear in the US.
and
2. Navigation lighting

This is a one owner boat that was delivered on her bottom from France 3 years ago. Therefore, all of the safety equipment on board is EU spec. PFD's, life raft, fire extinguishers, etc. The Surveyor indicated that the USCG may take issue with this and this all may need to be replaced. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

With regard to the Nav lights. The boat came with a tri-color, and a red/green nav light where the steaming light would normally be located on the mast, just above the deck light. No red / green running lights at deck level, no white steaming light on the mast and no stern light.

The regs appear to be pretty clear about what is and is not required, but there are so many FP Cats in US waters that appear to have this nav light configuration I find it hard to believe that they can all be improperly lit. Heck, we even took a look at a brand new Lucia 40 that was delivered last week, and the nav light set up is exactly the same.

Other than that the boat was extremely clean and well cared for. One issue with the LPG setup that will be addressed and two small water leaks that have to be chased down. One drip in the master cabin just below the helm station and one in the salon just to the portside of the mast pocket that drips on the lighting panel trim.
I know these are the exit points, so hopefully finding the entry points won't be too exasperating.....

Leaks can travel quite a distance. Are the areas cored?
And if so with what?

[Flyingriki]

Any leaks may indicate things have not been rebidded in some time. I found mine after purchase and almost everything needs to be removed and rebidded. Don't discount that expense or hassle.
My surveyor missed a broken bow rail stanchion, both heads needed rebuilding, macerators needed replacement, shower pumps were shot, etc. etc. He was a good surveyor and kept very busy finding big things and sounding the hull but these little things are adding up pretty quick.....

[PamlicoTraveler]

Originally Posted by Flyingriki

Any leaks may indicate things have not been rebidded in some time. I found mine after purchase and almost everything needs to be removed and rebidded. Don't discount that expense or hassle.
My surveyor missed a broken bow rail stanchion, both heads needed rebuilding, macerators needed replacement, shower pumps were shot, etc. etc. He was a good surveyor and kept very busy finding big things and sounding the hull but these little things are adding up pretty quick.....

Those last items, toilets and water pumps, are routine maintenance items. It's like having a surveyor telling you whether the oil needs to be changed. That's not what they are after. Re-bedding hardware is also a normal maintenance item, and unless it was raining he wouldn't know about it unless he sprayed down the boat heavily, which no surveyor I have ever used has done. Any surveyor that checks that a macerator is working is asking for trouble unless it's a sea trial, 3 miles from shore.

The bow rail should have been caught perhaps. Boats are boats. They require constance maintenance - by either you, or the boat yard.

[Robert Tilbury]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

He's got to write something up to justify the survey cost!

Agree 100% ,, wonder he didnt put the water in the head was the wrong color !

[dfelsent]

The liferaft is not required for recreational vessels here in the states, so USCG approval is not an issue. Depending on the manufacturer it may be a challenge to find an authorized inspection center.
The EU lifejackets will count for nothing in the US. The USCG approval is required. The same applies to the fire extinguishers.
The fire extinguishers will also be hard to get inspected locally.

This does not mean you should throw them out, but that you should augment them with the appropriate number of USCG approved units.

Eventually you may decide to discard the non-USCG approved extinguishers and lifejackets if they are older and not inspectable.

Been there with an ex-UK boat. The liferaft was Plastimo and it was not hard to find a local approved service location.

[HighTemp]

Life jackets are cheap, fire extinguishers are a bit more. Funny, I never knew that euro fires burned differently than US fires...... LOL

The life raft is a Zodiac and as it happens we have a local company who can service it.

[dfelsent]

on the fire extinguishers ...
I recently attended fire extinguisher training for my office. The trainer mentioned that the metal valve extinguishers are serviceable an the plastic valve ones are not serviceable. I've been fortunate to find some nice ABC uscg metal valve extinguishers at the local Home Depot.
White one for the home, next to the fireplace, red for the kitchen and boat.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

I presume that the boat also has an all-round white (anchor) light at the top of the mast ... this is supposed to be used as a combined steaming/stern light while motoring.

If your boat is under 12m then it is compliant ... if over 12m then it is not ...

41ft is over 12m ... but the Lipari 41 is 11.95m ... the designer did that deliberately.

I owned a FP Mahe with the same setup. If the Lipari is similar to the Mahe there are three switches to activate the corresponding lights:
For sailing tricolor only
For running under engine the red/green at the mast plus anchor light at the top (for combined stern & steaming light)
For mooring the anchor light only

This is AFAIK perfectly legal, but when I took posession it just didn't work as expected:
Three switches and a simple diode was too complex for some professional marine engineer so he messed it up.