Southern California Sailing Charters

from Captain Dan’s Southern California sailing blog

 

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Safety inspection pays off

Coast Guard Auxiliary officer Rafael Francke gave all of the Sailtime and Sail Channel Islands boats a thorough going over this week. As you probably know, we take great pride in the condition of our boats and pay particular attention to all things linked to safety. Nevertheless, Rafael found we were missing a fire extinguisher on one of the boats. We were red-faced, but a run to West Marine while he inspected the next boat solved the problem.

Rafael brings great experience to this volunteer work. He’s been a yachtsmen for years, holds a captain’s ticket and has designed, built (and is currently looking for backers to manufacture and market) a folding catamaran.

Hours after our inspection, I was (once again) approached by a Coast Guard inflatable. They offered me a boarding, but when I said I’d just been inspected, they saluted, wished us a pleasant sail and roared off to find someone more interesting.

We highly recommend that you get your boat inspected. Clickto learn what the inspection entails and to find a local contact.

BTW - they’re very interested in how you handle your holding tanks. They want to ensure that no one can accidentally empties the tanks inside of three miles and want either a cover on the macerator switch, a lock down for the through-hull or a head that is locked when inside of three miles.

 

VE's (vessel examiner) and VSC's (vessel saftey checks)

 

The key to becoming a great VE is all in the training. Becoming a Vessel Examiner can be done by classroom instruction along with hands on training, or by self study along with some hands on training.

On this page you will find links to training tools and the open book on-line Vessel Examiner examination. These tools can be used by your FSO-MT (Member Training Officer) or your FSO-VE (Vessel Examiner Officer) as well as by you to self study the course.

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