Boat Chat’s mission is to ‘Help people understand boats better’. It is published bi-monthly with a mixture of maritime news, maintenance advice, surveying tips, product reviews and other boat related stuff.

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Maritime News

Iconic Thames party boat sinks during torrential downpour

A floating nightclub sank in central London as Storm Henk culminated in a final deluge of rain across southern England.  The Bar & Co boat, which opens as a restaurant and bar during the day, was moored at Temple Pier, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge.  Coastguards said they were alerted to the sinking at around 12.30pm and that everyone who had been on board was ‘accounted for’.  A spokesperson for Bar & Co said: ‘Likely it sunk because of weather conditions.’

Story credit: Sam Courtney-Guy at Metro.co.uk 25^th Jan 2024

Carbon monoxide poisoning leads to loss of 2 lives

In January 2022, two men were found unconscious in the cockpit of a privately owned sports cruiser moored in Port Hamble Marina. The men had left the boat’s petrol engine running during the previous evening, likely to maintain power to some of the boat’s systems. Exhaust gas had built up in the covered cockpit area, causing them to pass out and die due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.  With no CO alarm fitted on board the men were not alerted to the presence of carbon monoxide before they succumbed.

Story credit: MAIB Accident Report 01/2023

Links to both of these stories are in Further Reading.

Boat Chat Focus - Good Design Matters

In a world where consumerism is such a major driving force behind marketing new products, why does design often seem to take the back seat?  This year I have been ‘lucky’ to drive a couple of hire cars from marques I would not normally consider.  I wrote about my experience with the Kia Proceed and Fiat Tipo in my LinkedIn posts. 

‘Competent but uninspiring’ might be a good summary of these cars with so much technology built into them, intended to ‘assist’ me on my journey.  Trouble was, it didn’t deliver any joy, often got in the way and failed to get across the line.  It was all very well intentioned for sure, but it just fell short of the mark.

For example; the Tipo has a GPS sensor and the dashboard informs you of the speed limit on the road you are on.  Driving in France, this was a most useful feature until I realised it was wrong over half of the time, indicating the speed limit to be 90kph whilst driving through a village with a limit of 50kph.  Google Maps was running on my phone alongside and stayed in perfect sync with the changing speed limits.  To add insult to injury the Tipo didn’t even have Sat Nav fitted…

Or the 2022 Kia Proceed that came with so many bells and whistles in the cockpit that reading the instruction manual was essential!  The trouble was, a lot of the technology in the car was either distracting or at times downright intrusive when driving.  For example, it had a ‘Lane Assist’ function, common on many cars these days, but this one struggled to cope with the typical grassy / stone wall edge of my local Dartmoor roads in Devon as there is no white line to follow.  As a result it got confused and kept resisting perfectly valid driver input mid-corner and tried to force the car into the middle of the road.  Not dangerously, but tediously and repetitively.

All of which prompted Boat Chat to consider good and bad design in boats from a marine surveyor’s perspective.  All too often the need to fit all of the infrastructure for a typical boat inside the space envelope of the typical boat results in serious compromises being made.  It would be unfair to say that many manufacturers don’t worry too much about how their boats perform beyond 5 years, but…

Moody yachts chose to install the fresh water tanks on the 29 and 31 models under the starboard saloon seating.  No problem there, unless you bought the bilge keel version and can no longer access the keel bolt heads and nuts for the starboard bilge keel.  It will probably be fine for 5 years, but…

Or consider a sleek Sunseeker Super Hawk 40, perfect for cruising sedately up your local river or cutting a dash offshore across the Channel.  Fitted with a 700 litre aluminium diesel fuel tank fitted midships beneath the cockpit floor sandwiched between two bulkheads.  Access to the surfaces and welds of the tank was not possible and the small circular lifting hatch fitted within the cockpit only allowed for access to the fuel hose and other connections on the tank top.  With the limited ventilation within the fuel tank, condensation build up and corrosion would be inevitable, unlikely to be a problem in the first 5 years, but…

Oftentimes it isn’t the design per se that is rubbish, but the poor execution in fitting out the boat that compromises the overall design.  How often does one find inadequate backing pads or washers behind moderately stressed components?  Or perhaps none at all?  This was the backstay transom plate viewed inside the rudder space of a Dehler 39SQ.  Amazingly it had survived for 14 years, but…

As a final example consider the 2023 European yacht of the year, the Beneteau First 36.  During Yachting World’s excellent sea trial and walkabout video you can see there are no meaningful hand holds within the main cabin.  It is beautifully light and spacious with lovely clean lines, but when heeled at 20^o and beating to wind, there is virtually nothing to grab and hold whilst passing through the cabin.

As the late Sir Terence Conran said: “Good design is there to improve your life”.

This past fortnight has seen two new videos uploaded to the White Hat Marine Surveying YouTube channel.  This first looking at how outdated and dangerous the typical gas locker design was in the 1980s.  The second looking at using percussion testing techniques to find the bulkheads on the topsides of a yacht.

Every marine survey is a compromise.  Sometimes you only get to see the boat in the water or out of it, occasionally both.  Sometimes you can run the engines, sometimes not.  And you can never access and assess everything, unless of course you dismantle the vessel entirely!  Understanding what cannot be seen, assessed and tested during a survey and why that is important is a critical skill.  It has often been said that it is as important to write about what you could not see as it is about what you could.

With that in mind, a good survey form containing all the relevant data fields laid out in a logical template is really important.  Not only does it act as an efficient means of recording your findings and observations but also prompts you to check key items as you proceed through the survey.  That way you should be sure not to miss a key item as there is nothing worse than sitting down in the office to write the report and finding you forgot to take a look at the bilge pumps.

When I started surveying in 2008 my survey check list was 12 pages long.  It currently stands at 19 pages long and keeps growing every year as I learn my trade in this fascinating profession.

Here is a typical paragraph covering poor access to key infrastructure from a survey report. The recommendation is rated ‘Negligible’ as it is a low priority recommendation which does not affect the insurability of the vessel, present a danger to the crew or have any mandatory requirements.

Great Kit Ideas

With the sailing season just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about new gear for the boat owners or marine surveyors in your life or as a treat for your boat. I have put together several collections on Kit.Co which are all personally recommended items and most of which I own.

From boat safety equipment to books about sailing and the tools and books a marine surveyor needs; there really is something for everyone!

And now for something completely different…

Cooking for a family on a small yacht takes the right attitude, preparation and equipment.  Not to mention an ability to plan big within a small space. Sarah Powell writes about living a sustainable, healthy plant-based life as she sails around the world with her family on their 41ft yacht KAHU.  You can find her blog, newsletter and recipes such as Kale and Peanut Butter Stew (African Inspired) here:

https://www.smallvegankitchen.com

Links To Further Reading

How To Support Boat Chat

Boat Chat’s mission is to ‘Help People Understand Boats Better’ by looking at what is going on in the world of boating. Helping people make sense of current maritime events, offering suggestions on how to make the best / minimise the worst boating outcomes and reviewing books and products of interest to boaters.

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And Finally…. 👍🏻

Please don’t forget to share this newsletter with your friends, colleagues and contacts who have an interest in boats. If you have any great ideas for future content you think would be good or want to discuss collaboration opportunities, please throw Boat Chat a line at:

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And Finally, Finally…

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