T&T: Looking for some suggestions

[Gary Bell]

Gary first notes:
I am in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, but have not yet completed the Vessel
Inspection coarse, nor do I work in the Documentation Center, so these are
opinions based on my experience and not official doctrine. Likewise I have
little training in import/export issues between Turkey and the US.

<snip>, Lee wrote about needing USCG approved safety equipment for his new
boat:
I am building a ~50' steel RPH trawler here in Turkey to be US Flagged.

Our initial plans is to see the Med. That will take a few years.
Maybe, years from now, will cross the Atlantic. Can "cross that
bridge" when I get there.

I am ordering a generator from the US and the company is willing to
throw in a few things when he ships.

Response:
I don't think his shipping company will like sending pressure vessels like
charged fire extinguishers and self-inflating PFD's.
I would be thinking about equipment and appliances that run on 120volts
myself...

Lee:
Stuff I am finding next to impossible to find over here include USCG
approved fire extinguishers, life jackets, and life ring.

I will need these on board because it will be awhile before I can get
to the states to buy this stuff.

Reply:
No, actually not.  By the time you arrive on our sunny shores your Med. area
stuff will be old enough to replace with fresh USCG stuff anyway.

When you commission your boat you will need a documentation broker to process
your USCG documentation, and he/she will process documents from your boat
builder etc. at that time.  They will tell you if you should do the entire
documentation process when you reach the US or do it right at commissioning,
and confirm your equipment needs as well.  Our Canadian boatbuilder contracted
with their regular USCG Documentation broker, and I believe we had our USCG
Number assigned before we left Toronto.  Customs and Immigration folks in
Buffalo met us at the dock, handled the final paperwork in a pleasant hour or
so, and turned us loose on the world.  No muss, no fuss.  I recall a fee of a
couple hundred bucks for the broker.  Don't even consider running it through
without a specialist at your side!  I suspect that the only thing you need to
actually prove to the CG Documentation Center may be your HIN (hull
identification number -- your boatbuilder is going to assign a legit one,
right?).  You will not be inspected in the Med. for fire extinguisher
certifications by US officials.  Terrorists, drugs, etc. perhaps...

Since your boat is foreign built you cannot use it for commercial purposes
(charter, commercial or charter fishing, ferry service, etc.) in US waters
(Jones Act), so it can never be a "Coast Guard Inspected Vessel," and will
never held to those much more strict requirements -- including, but certainly
not limited to approval labels.

On my documented US flagged non-commercial power boat, I have all the minimum
USCG stuff, plus a generous amount of even finer stuff I would always use
first.  My experience indicates that US Power Squadron, US Coast Guard
Auxiliary, and regular Coast Guard inspections rarely pay any attention to the
label, so my numerous Canadian lifejackets and numerous oversized Canadian
fire extinguishers for example have never been challenged.

Lee:
So, what say the list? Should I not worry about the USCG seal and
just get the stuff I need locally?

Reply:
Yep.  Absolutely!  Wait and buy the USCG required gear when you reach the US.
Meantime pay attention to what is required by various jurisdictions in the
Med. and more importantly what you -- in your most paranoid moment -- think
would be adequate for your personal safety.  SOLAS gear far exceeds the USCG
domestic requirements, go with that!  You may well be challenged by
authorities in the Med. about safety equipment and such, much better for you
if you have stuff that pleases them.

<snip> Lee continues:
My thoughts are to buy some "cheap" type 1 jackets to pass
inspection, and use more comfortable vests that may or may not be
SOLAS approved for our daily needs.

Reply:
"There you go again,"  using the words cheap and SOLAS in the same sentence.

Lee again:
 I expect to have overnight no more than 6 people, with one of them being a
child under 12, maybe
even one under 5.

Reply:
I would be double darn sure I had lifejackets I would trust my own life to --
for everyone on board.  Note that there are special lifejackets for various
sizes of kids, and that there are critical differences.  Also remember when
you select lifejackets, ones that are not comfortable to wear may well not be
worn when needed.

Lee again:
Now, initially, i thought that a SOLAS approved jacket would be good
enough to meet the USCG rules, but not 100% sure. If SOLAS approved
stuff is good enough, then life is MUCH easier!

Reply:
Good news, life is easier.  Go the SOLAS way, for now.  The Coast Guard
certifies stuff to their own particular requirements, based on their charge to
concern themselves with coastal and inland boating.  SOLAS is a different,
international agency that has different and often much more stringent
requirements for their certification -- based on ocean racing.  If the
manufacturer obtained a SOLAS certification they would not automatically earn
the CG one without submitting their gear directly to the CG, so although SOLAS
requirements far exceed USCG's, one does not automatically include the other.

Do your best to far exceed the standards anyway.  The cost of this stuff is
such a tiny fraction of the cost of the whole boating enterprise, it begs the
question:  "What sort of person would comfortably risk his own and other folks
lives to death by burning, drowning or hypothermia by providing the cheapest
equipment that barely met the lowest standard?"  My advice, get the finest
stuff you can almost afford, and then double your order.  Nobody who ever used
a fire extinguisher ever thought they wished they didn't have so many of them!
Don't bother with the puny CG pyrotechnics either.  Those expensive SOLAS
flares and such are the ONLY way to go.

Your choice Lee, but as to your frustration and exhaustion with the process of
building your boat, always remember:  Years from now you will look back
fondly, reminiscing on all the triumphs you achieved and the barriers you
surmounted in building your beloved boat...and plow into a parked car.

Cheers!

Gary Bell
MY "Stray Cat", a PDQ 34 power catamaran
docked at Scappoose Oregon