Orcas Island Marine Surveyors

03/11/2025

Whoa! My bet this is AI generated. If not, again , WHOA!

01/30/2023

Look at the diagram. You are the skipper of the red boat. It's a 40ft modern cruiser/racer with minimal prop walk and handles easily in reverse.

The wind is forecast to veer 90° and build to a gale with heavy rain imminently. You and your crew plan to stay in the marina for the next 48 hours until the unfavourable conditions have passed.

There are four berths available. Which is the easiest to get into? A, B, C or D?
Which way, shore side or entrance, would you make your final approach into your chosen berth from?

Finally, which way, forward or reverse, would you prefer to go in?

11/01/2022

Not something I see everyday when inspecting an electrical system.

https://www.facebook.com/159884350729709/posts/5966911776693575/

GUARDING OF ENERGIZED PARTS (AC)

According to ABYC E-11 energized parts of AC electrical equipment must be guarded against accidental contact by the use of :

• ENCLOSURES or
• other protective means.

Another important requirement is that access to energized parts of the electrical system MUST REQUIRE THE USE OF HAND TOOLS.

Also, we need to remember that an electrical enclosure is not to be used for any other purpose.

10/04/2022

Think you’re getting too old to go cruising?

https://maineboats.com/print/issue-178/still-boating-after-all-these-years?fbclid=IwAR1jhLkjotD7MnukZW5iFV8Cu4nX0MywfFkBvAJI73PcfqpUVP9WhPsOQi0

Photographs by Robert F. BukatyOn a perfect early summer morning with barely a ripple in the water and a bluebird sky overhead, Herb Weiss deftly backed the 36-foot trawler Ancient Mariners dockside at the Dolphin Marina in Harpswell, Maine.

08/05/2022

Saw this photo on Facebook. Looks like nothing is going to stop this person from going sailing.

06/04/2022

Not sure how many of you have had the chance to go sailing this Spring, given the what feels like constant rain and cool weather. Here in the San Juan’s it’s been day after day of light winds with the occasional small craft warning.
Anyhow this is a helpful article on tuning your rig.

How to set up the traditional masthead rig with a single set of in-line spreaders, single-spreader swept fractional rigs, and fractional rigs with two sets of swept spreaders

03/29/2022

https://www.facebook.com/159884350729709/posts/5343977642320328/

CHECK YOUR CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS

Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed on ALL boats with enclosed accommodation compartments.

When getting your boat ready for the summer it is a good idea to check your carbon monoxide detector. It should have a “replace by” date clearly visible so check your detectors and make sure that they are still functional. This information can be provided by the use of “replace by MM/YYYY” or “replace by XX months after the retail sale”. Also, follow the manufacturer’s recommendation for operational testing and frequency for such a test.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a COLORLESS, ODORLESS, and TASTELESS toxic gas. It is formed as a product of the incomplete combustion of carbon or a carbon compound and is slightly less dense than air. All equipment using fossil fuels (e.g., engines, generators, cooking appliances, etc.) will produce CO as a natural byproduct. The only way to know that you have been exposed to this deadly gas is to have a proper CO detector installed. It should be a device that is designed and built to operate in the marine environment and not a detector that is designed for residential applications.

For more details, please see ABYC A-24 Installation of Carbon Monoxide Detectors and Alarms.

03/26/2022

This is one of two batteries that were a ticking time bomb on the boat I surveyed today. Whether or not they will eventually explode is anybody’s guess. I did not want to find out. When I saw the condition of the the batteries I left the boat.
This is a really good reason to always check on your boat and it’s systems. This particular boat was in the 200k range but didn’t appear to have received any maintenance in quite a while.

Tom Averna has been a marine surveyor since 1985.

03/15/2022

This is a very important item that should be on your boat if you have shore power.

https://www.facebook.com/159884350729709/posts/5306782466039846/

IS YOUR GALVANIC ISOLATOR FAIL SAFE?

Galvanic Isolator is a device installed in series with the shore power AC grounding conductor to block low voltage DC galvanic current flow, but permit the passage of alternating current in case of an AC fault.

ABYC standard A-28, Galvanic Isolators requires that it is a fail safe device. “Fail safe” simply means that the device will continue to provide grounding continuity for the effective AC ground-fault path even if it can no longer provide galvanic isolation. In other words, even if you lose galvanic protection, you will still have the AC safety ground.

How do we know if the device installed on the boat is fail safe?
Galvanic isolator components are tested to the fail safe criteria found in the A-28 standard, and they must be marked “Fail-Safe per ABYC A-28”, and indicate the independent laboratory that tested the device. So simply look for that “FAIL SAFE” mark on your device.

For additional details please refer to ABYC A-28, Galvanic Isolators that is available in the ABYC Standards Library.

03/04/2022

New regulations coming you all should be aware of.

https://www.facebook.com/734093633401127/posts/2737766553033815/

We know we need them on board, but how many do we need and how do they work?

12/21/2021

The weather forecast for the Salish Sea next week has freezing temps all week with lows in to the teens. You might want to think about winterizing your engine(s).

ENGINE(S)
Fill fuel tanks and add stabilizer to gasoline.
Change oil and filter.
Change fuel filters/separators in engine(s).
Check coolant level in freshwater-cooling system and add coolant if necessary.
Fog cylinders in gasoline engines
Top up battery electrolyte level and put batteries on marine charger.
Run environmentally friendly antifreeze through raw-water-cooling system.
Make sure water strainers are filled with environmentally friendly antifreeze.