Website design By BotEap.comMany things can go wrong, when you take a long ocean voyage, in Hong Kong usually people buy motor yachts and sail them from Hong Kong to the Philippines which is about 600 nautical miles. Be in this business for 21 years. I have seen many things go wrong with this procedure, including people I know who lost their lives. So here are some tips, I really just wish that I can help someone and possibly save their life.

Website design By BotEap.comHere are some tips or things to understand before thinking about taking a long trip that could be life-threatening.

Website design By BotEap.com1) Know what happens when shit hits the fan.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you get stuck for whatever reason and drift, you’ve called the Coast Guard and you’re lucky they took your call and understood your accent. You think a helicopter will show up and a Chuck Norris guy will come and save you in a few minutes? If you think so, you’ve been watching too much Hollywood. Give yourself a pat and find that any sensitive help will arrive within 24 hours of making a successful contact. There are hundreds of human or mechanical errors that can occur. In your life, have you ever had a quiet day where everything worked as it was supposed to? So why do you think it’s going to be a priority for the rescue team or whoever is trying to save you? Even if you are their priority, what makes you think that they are perfectly capable of carrying it out or not facing their own problems at that moment? So again, the point is, prepare for the worst case scenario. And let me tell you what’s going to happen when shit hits the fan. When you are in the open sea and you cross that point of no return, something is going to happen to your engine. It can be anything from an injector problem to a clogged system, overheating, and shutdown.

Website design By BotEap.comNow you’re going to need a guy who really knows how to fix things, but the open sea is not like your marina club, entering the engine room to take things apart and repair or replace is a near impossible task. And many times even a repair you know how to do can’t be done in the open sea.

Website design By BotEap.comEverything will be ruined, especially when you encounter a problem that cannot be repaired on the spot, and you really can’t continue. Your only lifeline during that time will be a satellite phone that could somehow rescue you. But guess that! You will most likely have to kiss your boat goodbye. Because if some coast guard or navy is going to try to rescue you. They are there to rescue people, not your property. They are not going to drag your boat. But let’s say you are not in a life-threatening situation, you are trapped there. You will still need someone to come rescue you, and you will still need the Coast Guard. In this case, they will not dispatch their emergency vessels, but will contact an ongoing container ship or any other commercial vessel that is close to their location and arrange for that vessel to pick you up. Even if the big boat decides to tow its boat, towing a boat in open water will simply break the boat or sink it. In a moment, you will have to let it go and let it drift.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you want to have any chance of getting the boat back, you will need a satellite tracker on the boat, there are some cheap ones that can run on batteries for up to six weeks. Which should be enough time for you to have a tugboat or salvage boat come and take you to port.

Website design By BotEap.comBut guess how much they charge. A salvage boat that will travel to open water to locate and bring your boat will cost more than $ 12,000 per day. And they won’t be in a hurry, I can tell you.

Website design By BotEap.com2) Have the right emergency kit

Website design By BotEap.comIt goes without saying that you need proper and up-to-date navigation equipment and AIS (automatic identification system). But you also need the best emergency equipment, because now your life depends on the equipment you have on board. So if you’re still close to civilization, say 10 miles, you can use your marine VHF and get some help. That will be your lucky day. But if it is 300 miles from the port, in the open sea where the nearest port is another 300 miles. You better have a high quality satellite phone with you. They are handy, but you will wish you had a better satellite phone with an antenna on top of your boat in a situation like this. The handheld GPS is also very important, because remember that you will have to abandon ship. The weather on a rescue boat or life raft depends on your lucky stars. So you will still need your handheld satellite phone. I know I sound pessimistic, but if you’ve been in business as long as I have and you know people who have never been found, you will know what I mean. Also get an EPIRB system and register it. Make emergency calls yourself. But don’t just depend on one system. Remember that when the weather is bad and things go bad, no one else will come to save you. A good life raft placed in the correct position and easy to deploy will be your lifeline.

Website design By BotEap.com3) Don’t think you know everything!

Website design By BotEap.comOnly if you could earn a dollar every time you hear things like, “We owned boats, we know everything about them.” “We have done tougher boat trips than this one.” “My captain is a professional, he will handle it.” Many of these guys have disappeared into the abyss. You need to remind yourself that no matter how big your boat is, you are still a speck of dust in the vast ocean and when Mother Nature gets mad, it doesn’t take time for a situation to go from beautiful sight to just deadly. So the point is. Listen to the professionals, do not depend only on your captain, because a captain is not going to tell you about his weakness. You need your payday. Listen to an experienced surveyor, a company that has made the trip many times, or an experienced broker point you in the right direction. Don’t depend on just one part, get multiple suggestions from experienced people.

Website design By BotEap.com4) Don’t do it if you are on a tight budget

Website design By BotEap.comYes, buying boats is an expensive business, when a customer buys a boat, plans his cross-country trip to take it back to his country, he is exhausted with paying bills. If you are in a foreign country, especially as expensive as Hong Kong, you will be angry every time you see an invoice. Everything costs a lot of money here. From a few extra days in moorings, water supply, to spare parts, fuel, food and above all labor. It is a mentally exhausting process if the owner of the boat is involved in the day-to-day operation. In the midst of it all, you will find that if you just shipped the ship, the cost would not be too different, and when you think about that, you will start to reduce the cost on something that is important, such as quality. life raft, Epirb system, GPS perhaps, or some job recommended by your surveyor. Again, nothing is cheap when it comes to taking a long boat trip.

Website design By BotEap.com5) Hire a professional to control the weather and stay away

Website design By BotEap.comIt’s easy to Google weather trends and get a general idea. But please ask your surveyor (who inspected your boat) to double check things, you can contact a government department and also ask for help in understanding weather trends. Modern weather systems can fairly accurately check conditions for 72 hours, but if your trip is 2 days in open water, there is even a small chance of bad weather after 5 days. Know that this is a close call, and this patch of bad weather is likely your killer. So wait until there is a good clear weather forecast. And of course, have a weather receiver installed that can be added to the ship’s current navigation system. Of course, it is a must to have a navigation system on the boat, including a decent sized display screen with a plotter, a radar, a GPS. Adding a weather receiver to that system could cost less than $ 100, with a small subscription fee you can receive weather updates throughout your trip.

Website design By BotEap.com6) Avoid the most common problems

Website design By BotEap.comLast but not least. Keep in mind that the most common engine breakdown problem is clogged systems. It could be dirty fuel. But more than that. It is just when people buy old boats. They don’t understand that after many years, there is diesel-made sludge that collects at the bottom of the tank. When the ship sails in national waters for a few hours a week, it is not a problem. But when you take the boat into deep water and it gets hit by the waves, eventually after hours of hard travel, the dirt in the fuel tank is going to get into the pipes and start clogging it. So if you bought a used boat and took it across the ocean, make sure the tanks are clean. It is not cheap to do so and can be labor intensive. But it’s necessary. Another problem is dirty fuel, too. Some countries or some fuel companies may sell you dirty fuel at cheaper prices. There are some places in Asia where water is mixed with diesel. In many places, diesel is completely dirty. This must be checked very carefully.

Website design By BotEap.comSometimes the drums that hold the diesel. They are also dirty, they are reused industrial drums that must be carefully cleaned and dried before fuel can be stored inside.

Website design By BotEap.comI hope these tips can be helpful for those planning a boating adventure.

Website design By BotEap.comHappy boating