Survived a fishing trip on a boat without SIDS

[Old Akro]

I went out on a fishing trip last weekend in a 1948 built commercial fishing vessel. There was no talk about ageing hulls. There was no SIDS programme. It had a whole range of new GPS devices, depth finders and autopilots. None required engineering orders to fit. It had new hydraulic winching gear & a freezer. No STC's, no regulator approval, no engineering orders. The fisherman didn't have an AOC. We didn't need an ASIC to get to the boat. Yet miraculously we survived. We even had a good time.

Compare that with what an equivalent aeroplane would have to go through to mirror our trip flying 1000 ft above us.

Aircraft are often compared with cars, but it seems to me that a better comparison is boats. Both can keep being refitted if the hull is sound.

Why is it that AMSA seem to be able to differentiate different classes of marine use, but CASA seems to want to use an airline cookie cutter on the rest of aviation?

[Fred Gassit]

Sounds like the Armidale boats need a SIDS

[Hempy]

The difference of course being that if a boat hull fails you are already at sea level...

[VH-XXX]

Old Akro, did the owner of the boat tell you that it was limited to use in the area for only which it is surveyed for and as a result if the owner and his family want to take it on a trip further afield for a weekend that they need to write to the governing authority and have the vessel removed from survey and then have it put back in again at the end of the weekend?

Eg, a mate has a Seawind 1000xl out of Melborne running charters and the boat is surveyed and approved for Port Phillip bay, however if he wants to take it to Hastings (out the heads) or to Wilson's Promontory for a family long weekend or beer trip, then he must do as above.


The grass is not always greener and that's just one example.

What about the fact that the captain of your vessel needs more hours experience at sea than an FO of a 737 requires. 1,500 hours at least and that's even the case for a 4 metre tinny under survey with an 8hp motor!

[T28D]

I sailed from Fremantle to Bali, broke the record, prepared the boat ourselves, fitted new plotter/GPS, new compasses ( whisky type ) did our compass swing, surveyed our rigging ourselves PBO, and had a pleasant 5 day 23 hour sail.


No interference from anyone, safety inspection done by independent volunteer to Yachting Australia standards, no input from AMSA, no requirement to fit AIS although we had it, only external stipulation for Code 0 offshore ( open ocean ) sailing was all the life saving gear had to be SOLAS.


Aviation is ridiculously over regulated, we managed Fremantle/Bali and return, then the boat went to Hong Kong and is now in Vietnam.

[Jabawocky]

AMSA vs CASA :}

That there is funny :E

[VH-XXX]

AMSA is not a good example. Individual states have their own authorities such as MSV, Marine Safety Victoria, plus there is the department of transport that once inspected my boat for example and the Victorian Water Police in Victoria, oh and Vicroads that issue my boat Licence and registration (state based regos only).

By comparison CASA should be your one stop shop !

[T28D]

Jaba you are right AMSA vs CASA we just had to tell AMSA we were going and crew number