Maritime Carol

SOS – Save Our Surveyors The word about town is that our Surveyors need saving.., A MNZ certified marine surveyor is a rare creature.    He is the key to running a successful maritime operation.    These are the blokes that keep an eye on the state of a vessel and through their vast experience,  they see things before they are evident to us mere mortals. Surveyors rely on a vessel operator to present his/her vessel in the best possible  manner so he can complete his task with ease.     When operators are diligent about looking after their vessel, it’s an asset and not a liability. A surveyor will often work during the day and write his reports in the evenings to get the job completed.   With the new MOSS standards, survey reports are more detailed and the operator now gets an actual report that portrays their boat – good & bad. Prior to his visit an operator should have basic engine details, stab...

Are you a power driven vessel or a vessel under sail,   Making way or Under way; Constrained by your draft, or not under command?  Maybe you are engaged in fishing or restricted in your ability to manoeuvre; The power driven vessel is like a maritime transport operator who is going somewhere.  All the paperwork is under control and its happening - fast. The operator under sail is going at a slower pace, taking their time as the clock ticks on. An operator making way is ready to get going, knows they need to get it sorted but doesn't know how to...   The operator who is underway is moving along nicely, plenty of time, paperwork under control and knows whats next. If you are an operator constrained by your draught or not under command it could involve some serious thinking on your part. Well done if you are involved in fishing for advice and my condolences if you are restricted in your ability to manoeuvre. As a Give Way vessel it is ou...

Copied from Chamber's Navigation printed in 1911: 1. Adverse Weather. a) If sufficient command can be kept over a boat by the skill of those on board her, avoid or 'dodge' the sea if possible, so as not to meet it at the moment of its breaking and curling over. b) Against a head gale and heavy surf, get all possible speed on a boat on the approach of every sea which cannot be avoided. c) If more speed can be given to a boat than is sufficient to prevent her being carried back by a surf, her way may be checked on its approach, which will give her an easier passage over it. Fog - every vessel shall, in fog, mist, falling snow or heavy rainstorms, go at a moderate speed, having careful regard to the existing circumstances and conditions. 2. Anchoring/Mooring . If the port in which the vessel is berthed is tidal, attention must be paid to take in or slack out the mooring ropes to allow for rise and fall of the tide.  And so it goes on - Has much actually changed o...

Working in the Maritime industry is so much fun.   Yesterday I received a call from a vessel owner: "Can you come down to the boat and see what we need to do next? I think we have to do something in November"  "Ok, Do you know when your SSM certificate expires?"  "No idea - the SSM company will know tho."   So I took the vessels name and contacted the SSM company...   gulp...   yep a few things to get sorted. "Nobody told me anything" said the owner...  and therein lies the problem in the old SSM system. The Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS) is forcing vessel owners to take control of their own operation.  And THAT my friends is why I believe in MOSS.

Many people impact our lives and for me, Dad was the first. Here's ten things he did that had a lasting impact on me: 1.  Dad taught me how to row. 2.  He cheered when I learnt to swim. 3.  We went out in the boat rather than stay at home. 4.  When Avalon went on the rocks at night with us all on board, he was calm and stable. 5.  Dad joked about a boat being called Deodar & to this day I still say it wrong - whaaa.... 6.  He repaired the pipe that allowed steam to escape and burn my leg. 7.  He safely navigated Avalon for over fifty years using good old common sense. 8.  Dad had faith in me.  He let me use Avalon to practice berthing at Beach haven Wharf when I was sitting my RLL ticket so I could bring the TIO in without making a fool of myself. 9.  He laughed when I laughed and hurt when I cried. 10.  And twice he lead me down the isle. Thanks Dad... your legacy lives on. - LLo...

The biggest single enemy to a safe ship is an unsafe ship. The difference between a safe ship and an unsafe ship is the operator. Once a ship is safe the operator can move onwards knowing that he/she has done everything that needs to be done. This isn't about paperwork, its about lives and people. The Maritime Operator Safety System means the operator must take control & understand their ship. Many operators are doing just that and are proud to have a fully compliant vessel.  If you are one of them or are well on the way to becoming compliant - well done, you can now move onto to other things.

For over five years I was the Vessel & Volunteer Manager at Voyager NZ Maritime Museum located at Downtown Auckland, NZ.  Under my care were three very different vessels: a scow, a square rigged brigantine and NZ's oldest steam boat.     Crew were all volunteers aged from 16-80yrs old, some coming from long maritime careers, others totally new to the sea.   My role, amongst other things, was to create the training manuals from raw materials (crew verbals, notes etc)   Because of the huge variety of skill sets, the manuals needed to be comprehensive and full of pictures to explain our way of doing things safely.   These manuals seem to take forever to create and often just when you think it is right, somebody points out something that needs to be changed and so it goes on and on, and even then they are living documents, so always ready to be updated.  I must've got them right because this is what one of the Mates emailed me: "Carol, I'm reall...