Safety & Seamanship

Sometimes, it seems that safety is a dirty word in the boat-building industry. A favorite marketing catchword is “blue water cruiser.” We assume this means a boat capable of going to sea, rather than a boat designed to tiptoe along the shore.

Due to the litigious environment in today’s society, I feel compelled to advise that fuel tanks used in boats-especially those used to store gasoline or alcohol-based fuels-be built by persons or firms specializing in the manufacture of marine tanks.

Of course, everything on a boat is a compromise, and so it is with propane. It has two nasty traits that must be dealt with: Propane is heavier than air, which allows the gas to collect in the bilge in the event of a leak; and propane is explosive when it collects in such places.

Every year, a surprising number of boats are struck by lightning. Almost invariably, there is some damage to the boat or its equipment. The damage can range from minor electrical problems to serious hull damage.

For the boat owner customizing his boat, the choice of wood to use in a project can be as interesting as the design or execution of the job. Because of the overwhelming use of teak and mahogany in boatbuilding today, this opportunity to select a different wood is often overlooked.

Installing a lightning protection system is not a particularly simple task, however. ABYC standard E-4 gives four pages of instructions on the installation of lightning protection. Even with the Dynarod kit, you have to provide all the connections to create a short, direct path to ground. You must also, by the ABYC standard, tie all major metal masses in the boat - engine, tanks, stoves, for example - to the lightning protection system.

Avon is offering a new 10-year warranty on their line of inflatable boats. “We’ve had less than 1% return on our former warranty for defects and deterioration of material” states Avon West’s General Manager, Dave Geoffrey, “that’s why we feel confident in extending the warranty to 10 years.”

This year, Practical Sailor’s Winter Reading List offers a roundup of books to boost your navigation, weather, and knot-tying know-how as you while away the winter hours hearthside. We’ve also reviewed a few picks for the young adults in your crew; these reads will surely stoke their sailing daydreams as they too long for spring’s return. Featured titles include “The AMS Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather” by Jack Williams, “Emergency Navigation” by David Burch, “Oliver's Surprise” by former Olympic sailor Carol Newman Cronin, and “True Spirit” by 16-year-old solo circumnavigator Jessica Watson.

So begins one of my favorite bedtime-at-sea stories, Jack Londons "To the Man on the Trail," a tale brief enough that Id reach the end before my eyelids dropped and deep enough that Id have something to think about during the dog watch, when I was roused out of bed in three short hours. In those days, my "Portable Jack London" lay just above the side-berth where I could grab it from my bunk.

We made the embarrassing mistake of putting fuel in one of our water tanks (built-in fiberglass tanks). The silver lining is that we were trying to figure out how to expand our fuel capacity. Can you advise me on how to figure out if the tank can serve as our new fuel tank?