MUST HAVE ACCESSORIES So you have a few dollars in your pockets and the chandlery is open. Maybe you can buy a new barbeque, spiffy drink holders with integral foldout palm tree shades, wireless bracelet fish finder or a couple of bottles of the latest miracle fender cleaner. There is lots of fun stuff to buy but let me suggest a few additional items for your list that will help ensure your enjoyment of the former. Fire extinguishers - Has anyone ever inspected your automatic Halon system since the day it was installed ? For those of you fortunate enough to take part in a hands on fire extinguisher demonstration you will quickly learn of the inadequacy of these typical 2 or 5lb units you are required to have on board. A 10lb. extinguisher will give you about 25 seconds of use, a 5lb. about 8 seconds. If you have no experience with these units it's highly unlikely that you will put out much of a fire. Buy the biggest extinguishers you can fit on your boat and learn how to use it. ABYC "Fire fighting Equipment" Standards and NFPA 302 requires that fire extinguishers and fixed fire fighting systems be inspected annually and carry a tag indicating date of inspection. When was the last time you had your extinguishers inspected ? I survey over 200 boats a year and have never seen a fixed engine compartment system with an up to date inspection tag ! Replace your extinguishers or have them inspected. Fire ports - ABYC "Fire fighting Equipment" Standard A-4 and NFPA 302 "Fire Protection Standard for Pleasure and Commercial Motor Craft" in part recommends the installation of a fire port where no automatic fire fighting system is installed in the engine compartment. Fire ports are currently mandatory in Canada on Non-pleasure craft only and a mandatory requirement of CE and ISO Standards on all pleasure craft in Europe. A "fire port" is a small (approx. 2"diameter), easily accessible hatch or deck plate opening into the engine compartment that allows a fire extinguisher to be discharged into the compartment without opening the main cover or hatch. This is because the last thing you want to do is open a main hatch to fight a fire, this would expose crew to flames and the sudden rush of oxygen will feed the fire The fire extinguisher should have a hose long enough to discharge into the port and vertical port placement is required. Install one if you do not have fixed system. Exhaust blowers -ABYC Standards call for each gasoline engine to have an exhaust duct to lead from the lower 1/3 of the engine room or 12'' from the bottom (yet be above the normal accumulation of bilge water) and be directly under each engine. It's not unusual to find intake ducts at this low level and the exhaust ducts up high or exhaust and intake sharing the same plenum or one blower servicing two engines and a generator. Make sure you know which is intake, which is exhaust and place them accordingly. "but they built it that way" I hear that all the time, it's not much of an argument. Buy a few feet of air duct and perhaps a second blower, this is cheap protection ! Fume Detectors - CARBON MONOXIDE - The United States Coast Guard has issued a press release stating carbon monoxide poisoning on boats has reached "epidemic proportions". Many deaths have not previously been reported as "boating related" but as drowning or poisonings. Some of these deaths occurred off the vessel or in vessels next to the one creating the gas. In one fatality a sailor had a portable gasoline generator to power a drill while working in his cockpit. the portable generator was on the dock ! Other fatalities have included children sitting on swim platforms. Propane - Propane fumes are heavier than air so that a leaking tank in the cockpit or an improperly drained locker may overflow and eventually work their way below. Gasoline and propane fumes are heavier than air and may collect in the bilge. A gasoline/propane vapour detector while strongly recommended is no competition for the human nose or a dose of common sense however, CO fumes are clear, odourless and buoyancy neutral, that is they can drift and collect anywhere the breeze blows. CO is produced when a carbon-based fuel such as gasoline, propane, charcoal, or diesel is burned. Purchase 12VDC individual sensors or combination units but do not install household units as they disconnect along with the shore power cord, or battery powered units as we all know how often we will check the batteries. Raw Water Flow Detector - I installed one of these in "Isle of Skye" and it paid for itself the very next day when a water hose broke.. This detector goes in your raw water intake line immediately after your strainer. The instant cooling water flow is interrupted an alarm sounds. Many boats have no overheat alarm and those that do are not well protected because by the time your overheat alarm goes off......your impeller is already fried and maybe even your raw water pump. This $80.00 unit takes only minutes to install and is worth its weight in gold. I bought mine from www.stright-mackay.com Few things can ruin your day on the water like an overheated engine. 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.