Xsbank
Guru
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Messages
- 3,791
- Location
- Canada
- Vessel Name
- Gwaii Haanas
- Vessel Make
- Custom Aluminum 52
I am going to cut the tops off both my water tanks (they are part of the hull and deck) so I needed to get the thickness of the deck plating before I actually started to cut, so that I could order the correct fasteners and have some plate standing by in case of a hack job. I took a friend along to help measure things and make notes for me, I also wanted to make sure Old Shiny was weathering the winter well.
One of my winter procedures is to open cupboards and access points, as well as a hatch in the middle of the galley floor which accesses "the basement" and in its previous life, the pantry. When you stand on the floor (the hull) in the hatch, your mid-chest-and-above stick out of the opening. I always put a heater in the engine room and one in the head, the air circulates and stays nice and dry.
I go to the engine room to get my tape and my vernier caliper in order to start measuring. My friend puts on his reading glasses and starts looking for my logbook or some useful paper to write things on.
I hear a loud cry and drop my tape and run up to the galley. There is my friend with one leg on the floor and the rest of him in the hatch-hole. I calm him down and we do an inventory and he has pain in his ribs and his knee (the one he left behind on the floor) so I put my arms around his chest from the back and help him climb out of the hole.
He can walk and it's clear nothing is actually broken but he's pretty sore. I feel like an idiot and am thoroughly disgusted with myself as we abandon the project and head for home to minister to his wounds.
Whenever I or my wife open the hatch to get some goodies from the basement, we tell the other and anybody else onboard that it's open and put a chair in the way until its closed. It's worked for three years without incident. This time, the hatch was open, the fridge was open and there was winter crap all over the galley. I took it for granted that my friend could see it was open and it never crossed my mind that he hadn't seen it. Wearing his reading glasses only, his peripheral vision was blocked and the reading focal length made the floor blurry (you other glasses wearers will understand) so he never saw the yawning hole in the floor until he backed into it.
We always gave a boarding-point safety briefing for any one who stepped foot on our boat for a cruise, but our new procedure is to brief each other and all guests and hand them an inflatable life jacket which becomes theirs for the visit, (and we encourage to wear) even if the boat is firmly tied up and even if we only plan a quick visit or an evening on the back deck. I can see a checklist in our future.
The moral of this story is that boats are terrific toys and excellent pastimes and we spend a lot of time living on them. They are, however, incredibly dangerous things that can kill or maim you very quickly. Everything from drowning to spinning shafts to fuel, chemicals, extreme heat and (cough) open hatches. Or you can get run down by a ferry while sitting on the bog!
I still feel like an idiot but I and my friend are both healing. I don't know which of us will heal faster, but this was a learning experience for the both of us. Christmas Cheer helps.
Stay safe out there! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
One of my winter procedures is to open cupboards and access points, as well as a hatch in the middle of the galley floor which accesses "the basement" and in its previous life, the pantry. When you stand on the floor (the hull) in the hatch, your mid-chest-and-above stick out of the opening. I always put a heater in the engine room and one in the head, the air circulates and stays nice and dry.
I go to the engine room to get my tape and my vernier caliper in order to start measuring. My friend puts on his reading glasses and starts looking for my logbook or some useful paper to write things on.
I hear a loud cry and drop my tape and run up to the galley. There is my friend with one leg on the floor and the rest of him in the hatch-hole. I calm him down and we do an inventory and he has pain in his ribs and his knee (the one he left behind on the floor) so I put my arms around his chest from the back and help him climb out of the hole.
He can walk and it's clear nothing is actually broken but he's pretty sore. I feel like an idiot and am thoroughly disgusted with myself as we abandon the project and head for home to minister to his wounds.
Whenever I or my wife open the hatch to get some goodies from the basement, we tell the other and anybody else onboard that it's open and put a chair in the way until its closed. It's worked for three years without incident. This time, the hatch was open, the fridge was open and there was winter crap all over the galley. I took it for granted that my friend could see it was open and it never crossed my mind that he hadn't seen it. Wearing his reading glasses only, his peripheral vision was blocked and the reading focal length made the floor blurry (you other glasses wearers will understand) so he never saw the yawning hole in the floor until he backed into it.
We always gave a boarding-point safety briefing for any one who stepped foot on our boat for a cruise, but our new procedure is to brief each other and all guests and hand them an inflatable life jacket which becomes theirs for the visit, (and we encourage to wear) even if the boat is firmly tied up and even if we only plan a quick visit or an evening on the back deck. I can see a checklist in our future.
The moral of this story is that boats are terrific toys and excellent pastimes and we spend a lot of time living on them. They are, however, incredibly dangerous things that can kill or maim you very quickly. Everything from drowning to spinning shafts to fuel, chemicals, extreme heat and (cough) open hatches. Or you can get run down by a ferry while sitting on the bog!
I still feel like an idiot but I and my friend are both healing. I don't know which of us will heal faster, but this was a learning experience for the both of us. Christmas Cheer helps.
Stay safe out there! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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