An amusing marine inspection...

Sure- why not.

Pulled the cover off the engine and promptly told me that the "backfire arrestor cover" wasn't correct.

Er...what?

So he launches into a whole deal about how the backfire arrestor has to be a different design and how the carburetors blah, blah, blah.

I let him go on, nodding my head in agreement, then he says "I'd get that changed as soon as I can".

To which I replied "I'm very sorry - I honestly don't understand - there aren't any carburetors on that engine".

I swear this is true - he says - "let me show you" and took off the air baffle for the air intake manifold. He points to the intake bells and says - "There - those are your carburetors".

So, being the natural wise ass, I said "Could you show me where the fuel lines attach to the ~carburetors~"?

So, being a nice guy, he traced out the fuel lines and when they led to the injectors, he said - absolutely true - "I've never seen a four stroke like this before".

To which I replied "Neither have I. And I suspect that's because it's not a four stroke - it's a two stroke direct injected engine - no carburetors."

~~ continued in Part Deaux ~~

Good Lord, how self-centered do you have to be to do something like that, and believe people are interested?

Is that the part where he cuffs you and reads you your rights? ;-)

Killed any dogs lately?

Tick Tock, Tick Tock.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK....

Sounds a bit like a USCG boarding I endured a couple of years ago. I was also written up for an insufficient horn, but everything else was OK. (He thought he had me when he asked to see Chart #1- but I had it aboard as required).

When the boarding officer was filling out his inspection form and giving me a warning about the horn, he asked "I forget- what's the name of the body of water we're on?" To be fair, he was very young and probably just transfered in from some other part of the country- but he really ought to know the name of the area he is patrolling. (It was Port Madison. I have to assume that he could have declared the general location; Puget Sound).

Huh?

Eisboch

http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/fedreqs/equ_refchart.htm

I beleive that's the authority upon which the USCG relies when they ask for Chart #1 in inland waters. Trailer boats are generally not included in the requirement. The law reads 39 feet and up, (my boat is 39 LOA) and the check list reads 26 feet and up.

Sec. 164.30 Charts, publications, and equipment: General.

No person may operate or cause the operation of a vessel unless the vessel has the marine charts, publications, and equipment as required by Sec. Sec. 164.33 through 164.41 of this part.

[CGD 82-055, 48 FR 44535, Sept. 29, 1983]

Sec. 164.33 Charts and publications.

(a) Each vessel must have the following: (1) Marine charts of the area to be transited, published by the National Ocean Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or a river authority that-- (i) Are of a large enough scale and have enough detail to make safe navigation of the area possible; and (ii) Are currently corrected. (2) For the area to be transited, a currently corrected copy of, or applicable currently corrected extract from, each of the following publications: (i) U.S. Coast Pilot. (ii) Coast Guard Light List. (3) For the area to be transited, the current edition of, or applicable current extract from: (i) Tide tables published by private entities using data provided by the National Ocean Service. (ii) Tidal current tables published by private entities using data provided by the National Ocean Service, or river current publication issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or a river authority. (b) As an alternative to the requirements for paragraph (a) of this section, a marine chart or publication, or applicable extract, published by a foreign government may be substituted for a U.S. chart and publication required by this section. The chart must be of large enough scale and have enough detail to make safe navigation of the area possible, and must be currently corrected. The publication, or applicable extract, must singly or in combination contain similar information to the U.S. Government publication to make safe navigation of the area possible. The publication, or applicable extract must be currently corrected, with the exceptions of tide and tidal current tables, which must be the current editions. (c) As used in this section, ``currently corrected'' means corrected with changes contained in all Notices to Mariners published by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, or an equivalent foreign government publication, reasonably available to the vessel, and that is applicable to the vessel's transit.

That section applies only to pleasure boats larger than those that most people will own, but not in all cases. 1600 tons, (with ton used in this sense as a unit of volume, not displacement). Angelina and Brad will definitely have to comply. :-)

See what a pain in the butt it would be to own a monster boat?

http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/fedreqs/equ_refchart.htm

I beleive that's the authority upon which the USCG relies when they ask for Chart #1 in inland waters. Trailer boats are generally not included in the requirement. The law reads 39 feet and up, (my boat is 39 LOA) and the check list reads 26 feet and up.

Ah .... I didn't recognize the reference to "Chart 1". You are referring to the booklet called "Navigation Rules" and yes, it is required to have the current edition on board on boats 39' or larger. I know several people with boats in this size who were unaware of the requirement for this publication. Which reminds me ... the one I have is outdated.

http://www.starpath.com/catalog/books/1832.htm

Eisboch

I didn't know it was "required" for an inspection.

Hey, learn something new everyday.

Eisboch