STOOPID BOAT TRICKS BY OWNERS Many used boats have been modified, re-wired and generally mucked around with by less than expert technicans. One of the last things a surveyor wants to hear is " My buddy is an electrician, he wired it for me". Take a look at the shots below and then decide if your need a SAMS® Accredited Marine Surveyor for your next purchase. Would you want one of these boats in the slip next to you !
With the exception of these first two shots all are from actual surveys I performed. I took this first one at Toronto Outer Harbour Marina. I don't think this one requires any further comment .
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Criminal Negligence ? I took this one at Port Credit Yacht Club where I see this negligence on a daily basis. By the time I got my camera I missed a shot of a little girl trying to entice ducks with bits of bread. The ducks were too smart to approach with 120volts and 30amps in the water. DO NOT leave live power cords on the dock or in the water !
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By far the most common threats to life and vessel are electrical issues. Darwin must be wrong , cause' none of these people descended from the same gene pool as me.
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A picture is worth a thousand words. oops, sorry, I forgot we are talking boat bucks. Its only worth 600 words.
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This 8D, 165lb. battery mounted on its side (its an AGM) was held in place (sort of) by the broken plastic strap. The terminals are not protected, it's not in a tray to capture electrolyte and it's in an unvented compartment with a non-ignition protected inverter. When the unprotected battery terminals bump against the inverter what do you think is going to happen ? I wonder if the insurance company will pay up when this one goes off.
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Take a close look...... Several of these conductors are already melted and some are lying on the fuel supply line. Another example of boaters working hard to control over population.
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Tell ya what...... Lets put a charger/inverter that generates a lot of heat in an unventilated compartment and then cover it with a bunch of flammable stuff !
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Oh ! where to begin ? In this gasoline engine compartment we have a non-ignition protected battery charger from an auto parts store, solid core copper AC conductors and a non-ignition protected fuse panel from Home Hardware and in the lower right corner there are fuel lines entangled with AC and DC conductors. PS. Fuses are illegal on AC systems in boats.
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See the little louver that vents gas fumes into the saloon ? See the non-ignition protected charger ? See the AC connections made with electrical tape ? See the AC wire lying on the engine ? See the AC outlet ? See the cracked and weeping exhaust hose ? See Wallace run !
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This battery is not secured, it has wing nuts securing the conductors, no tray to catch electrolyte and has no protection on the positive terminal. When this boat hits a wave and the positive terminal touches the generator casing 2" above it there will be one hell of a light show.
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Every time someone inserts or removes a plug in this outlet there is a spark. If you have an AC outlet in your gasoline engine compartment, remove it or it will remove you.
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Believe it or not this is an uncovered shore power junction box without any circuit protection or polarity indicator. And surprise its in the same compartment as the fuel tank.
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I see this so often I had to show you two pictures. Once again we have AC outlets in the engine compartment, wing nuts on the conductors, No positive terminal protection and a couple of auto store battery chargers. These chargers are not ignition proteced ie. they spark ! and you get sparks every time you connect or disconnect from the battery terminals with those alligator clips. These type of chargers do not typically have isolated AC and DC sides and will likely cause serious corrosion to outdrives through stray current.
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A Non-ignition protected, domestic water heater jammed in beside a gasoline engine. Every time that thermostat cycles is a spark potential . Sparks and gasoline do not mix well on boats.
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This non-ignition protected, domestic type wall heater has its back exposed to the gasoline engine compartment. C'mon, it's not rocket science.
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That big white box is a non-ignition protected stereo amplifier not only in a gasoline engine compartment but directy under multiple fuel manifold connections. Did I mention this is illegal. Don't think its a big deal ? Ask your insurance broker.
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Let's jam a couple of hydrogen producing batteries into a tight unventilated compartment with a non-ignition protected stereo. Not only is this dangerous but over heating batteries like this will greatly shorten their life span.
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The owner proudly displayed 2800 amps of unsecured, unventilated explosive power. It takes a huge charger or alternator to charge a bank of batteries this size and they will produce a significant amount of hydrogen while charging. Static discharge alone could blow this sky high. He needs a huge "No Smoking" sign. He might also consider reading up on the zeppelin, Hindenburg.
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Unfortunately I put my finger down to see what the leak stain was before I uncovered the batteries. It was electrolyte, otherwise known as sulfuric acid. One very badly burned finger later I found ..... Battery compartment vented into galley, wing nuts securing conductors, no means of securing batteries and need I say, no tray or box to catch electrolyte.
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Ok, so are you getting the hang of this now ? There are four things wrong in this picture. Can you pick them out ?
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This 24' Doral had a significant list to starboard, probably due to the totally saturated balsa cored bottom. The owner corrected the problem by putting a 300lb. piece of plate steel in the port side engine compartment. The steel crushed the already rotting plywood deck that helped support the engine. Oh yeah, the transom was rotten too. Wanna buy a boat cheap ?
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The lower unit of the drive at left has been removed for repair due to serious corrosion problems. These problems were caused by an auto type battery charger and improperly applied bottom paint with a high metals content. The non-corroded drive at right shows how bottom paint should be applied with an unpainted 1 1/2" border. All I/O manufacturers require that bottom paint not come in contact with the drive. Some will even void corrosion warranties. Why ? many bottom paints contain metals which can set up a significant galvanic cell at the drive. In short the aluminum case becomes the sacrificial anode.
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It had obviously been many years since anyone looked at this fuel line. One gentle squeeeze and my thumb penetrated it. There is no excuse for not checking this stuff occasionally. Do you take your kids out on this thing ?
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Do you really need a surveyor to tell you these gasoline fuel lines are dangerous ?
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Someone added a diesel furnace, a great idea to extend the boating season up here in the Great White. Unfortunately they used disimilar metals (galvanic corrosion) in the fuel pickup line and then sealed the new pickup with some kind of caulking that is being dissolved by the diesel. If this stuff gets into the engine it's going to be a very expensive rebuild.
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The bolts on the coverplate of this raw water impeller still had the original unmarked paint on them. The impeller had not been removed for inspection for the seven years since the boat was new. The disintegrated impeller at right is what caused a $6k repair bill. The intact but badly worn impeller is from another boat and was minutes away from failure when pulled for inspection.
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Before you put your boat up for sale at least check your engine fluids. Photo at right shows sludge found in coolant reservoir and at left, rusty sludge in the heat exchanger. The deal fell through.
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Another astonishing show of ............ " insert your own adjective". NFPA 302 requires that insulation in an engine or fuel compartment have a flame spread index of 75 or less and be marked as such. Whadaya think, we ok here ?
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A tale of three motor mounts on the same engine. .................... and the result. I would have taken a shot of the fourth motor mount but my client (the un-buyer) said " Enough is enough".
One bolt missed the stringer, the other bolt ...?	This bolt's a little loose
At least he got one of these bolts in.	Everytime this thing was throttled it would hammer the shaft log. In reverse it hammered the cotter pin. Somethin's gotta give !
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Not only is the can of "Quickstart" a clue that this diesel is not up to snuff, it's also a clue that someone is going away (with the engine). No one with even the most rudimentary understanding of diesels would dare use this stuff. This is one of several reasons at survey I require that the engine not be started without telling me first. I want a chance to get off the boat !
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A few highlights of propane system installations - NFPA-302 and ABYC " Marine Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Systems" Standard A-1 require in part that propane fuel bottles be stored securely in a dedicated, top loading locker with gasketed lid and direct overboard drainage with a minimum ½" inside diameter from the bottom of that locker and that the system be fitted with a pressure gauge and a remotely controlled shut-off switch located at the appliance that may be reached without reaching over the appliance. These same standards require a carbon monoxide detector be installed when such appliances are fitted and that appliances be fitted with a thermocouple.
Marettes and propane what a combination	Yes, Toto there is a propane bottle in that pail.
Ok, A builder installed this way but the owner continued to use it. Note the CE certification label on the steering pedestal, just forward of the factory fitted open propane locker. Hope no one smokes in this cockpit. Bet you didn't know that CE manufacturers certify themselves.	That mess on top of the tank is braided copper wire which is bonding the tank to the DC system. Some very shaky electrical theory here.
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The owner of this boat threw a fit when I condemned virtually everything on board. Quite possibly the worst boat I have ever surveyed. After the buyer walked, this guy cleaned the chainplates with a 3M scrubbie and another surveyor gave them a clean bill of health.	This guy had leaking chainplates with rust stains running down the bulkhead (stainless steel dosn't rust, right ?). Rather than pull the plates for inspection and re-bed them properly he threw on some fiberglass and hoped the purchaser hired a blind marine surveyor.
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Stainless (actually "stains less") steel corrodes in the absence of oxygen so why do so many sailors trap all that wet dirt under the tight vinyl tubes they put on their shrouds ?
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No surveyor that I know of in Canada will go up a mast. Here's a good example of why all marine surveyors should carry binoculars, I never would have spotted this without them. That clevis pin on the forestay is about 1/16" from letting go. The entire rig would have gone with it.
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Strange attempt to cure leaking keel bolts.	This kind of play in a rudder bushing is not healthy.
This boat was advertised as having a "newly re-bedded keel". The structural FRP liner with integral floor members had been cut out and the keel bolts re-installed without backing plates. The entire 5000lb. keel is now supported by one thin layer of glass and 10 nuts. Who ties this guys laces for him ?
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These next three photos describe another case another case where the IQ involved may rival that of a can of ravioli..........
Clue #1 The Liner has sunk approximately 1" from the bulkhead at the mast
Clue #2 With the sole panels removed you can see how much the liner grid has sunk, about 2". Just forward of the mast you can see a wooden block used to shim the sole panel. Now look at the bottom of the mast. Someone has welded on a 2" section to make up for the difference.
Clue #3 The keel and rudder do not line up. The keel on this boat could be waggled side to side by about 4". There was a complete bond failure between the structural grid liner and the hull skin. Very, very scary.
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Transport Canada, Small Craft Construction Standards TP1332E requires that " Means shall be provided for positively shutting off all underwater penetrations (except for wet exhaust systems) ".
I blame these two on Transport Canada for being so vague.
Have you squeezed your hose lately. This one almost disintegrated when I gave it a squeeze. Yes it was below the waterline. Notice I closed the seacock.
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This scupper hose is about to come off. This makes a good case for not double clamping. The second clamp was not over the nipple and was pulling the hose off as it was tightened.	Speaking of bilge pumps ..... This one and its electrical connections made with electrical tape are underwater. I wonder why it dosn't work. Can anyone tell me why my outdrive is rusting away ?
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This rapidly UV degrading plastic throughull which looks like it's installed backwards is only 4" above the waterline. The first piece of floating debris is going to peel it off. I hope he's not relying on that bilge pump with underwater electrical tape connections.
These two shots are just a reminder that if you want to sell your boat it's a good idea not to PO the surveyor by making him dig through messes like these. I don't think you'd like my report.
If you found this interesting check these out..... Stoopid Boat Tricks By Builders and Stoopid Boat Tricks By Surveyors Captain Wallace Gouk AMS® Marine Surveyor Port Credit Marine Surveys
Captain Wallace Gouk AMS®, Survey reports accepted world wide by all financial and insurance institutions for sail and power boats servicing Ontario east, west, south and beyond including Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Grimsby, 50 Point, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Bronte, Port Credit, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Pickering, Port Hope, Coburg, Newcastle, Kingston, Brockville, Penetanguishene, Midland, Barrie and Keswick. I have also worked in New York State, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia, Florida and the Bahamas.