Many things can go wrong, when you take a long ocean voyage, 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 you could help someone and possibly save someone’s life.
Here are some tips or things you should understand before thinking about taking a long trip that could put your life in danger.
1) Know what happens when shit hits the fan
If you get stuck for whatever reason and drift, you’ve called the Coast Guard and are lucky that they answer your call and understand your accent. Do 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. Hit yourself up and realize that any sensitive help will arrive within 24 hours after you’ve successfully made contact. There are hundreds of human or machine errors that can occur. In your life, when have you had a trouble-free day where everything worked the way it was supposed to? So why do you think you’re 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 it or that they are not facing any problems of their own at the moment? So again, the point is, prepare for the worst case scenario. And let me tell you what’s going to happen when the 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 could be anything from an injector problem to a clogged system, overheating, and shutdown.
Now you need a guy who really knows how to fix things, but the open sea is not like your marina club, going into the engine room to take things apart and repair or replace them is a near impossible task. And many times even a repair that you know how to do cannot be done in the open sea.
You will screw everything up, especially when you find a problem that cannot be fixed on the spot, and you really can’t go on. 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 won’t pull your boat. But let’s say you’re not in a life-threatening situation, you’re just stuck there. You’ll still need someone to come rescue you, and you’ll still need the Coast Guard. In this case, they will not dispatch their emergency ships, but will contact an ongoing container ship or any other commercial ship that is close to their location and arrange for that ship to pick you up. Even if the large vessel decides to tow your boat, towing a boat in open water will only break the boat or sink it. In a moment you will have to let it go and let it go.
If you want to have any chance of getting the ship back, you will need a satellite tracker on the ship, 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.
But guess how much they charge. A salvage boat that will travel to open water to locate and bring your boat back will cost more than $ 12,000 per day. And they won’t be in a hurry, I assure you.
2) Have the appropriate emergency equipment
It goes without saying that you need correct 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 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 are going to have to abandon ship. How long it is on a rescue boat or life raft depends on your lucky stars. So you’re still going to need your handheld satellite phone. I know I sound pessimistic, but if you’ve been in business for as long as I have and you know people who have never been found, you know what I mean. Also get an EPIRB system and register it. Makes emergency calls by himself. But don’t just depend on one system. Remember that when the weather is bad and things go bad, no one else is going to come save you. A good life raft that is positioned correctly and easy to deploy is going to be your lifeline.
3) Don’t think you know everything!
Only if I could get a dollar every time I hear things like “we had 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 have 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 being a beautiful sight to just being 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 his weakness. You need your payday. Hear from 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 one party, get multiple suggestions from experienced people.
4) Don’t do it if you are on a tight budget
Yes, buying boats is an expensive business, when a customer buys a boat, plans his trip across the country to take it back to his country, he is exhausted with paying the bills. If you are in a foreign country, especially as expensive as Hong Kong, you will get 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 boat owner is involved in the day-to-day operation. In the midst of all this, you will find that if you just shipped the ship, the cost would not be much different, and when you think about that, you will start to cut costs on something that is important, such as quality. life raft, Epirb system, GPS maybe, or some job recommended by your surveyor. Again, nothing is cheap when it comes to taking a long boat trip.
5) Hire a professional to check the weather and don’t make close calls
It’s easy to Google weather trends and get a general idea. But ask your surveyor (who had 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 bad weather patch is likely your killer. So wait until there is a good clear weather forecast. And of course, have a weather receiver that can be added to the ship’s current navigation system. Of course, it is essential to have a navigation system on the boat, which includes 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.
6) Avoid the most common problems
Last 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 do not understand that after many years, there is sludge produced by diesel that accumulates 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 ship out to sea and it is hit by the waves, eventually after hours of arduous travel, the dirt in the fuel tank will get into the pipes and start to clog it. So if you bought a used boat and took it to the other side of the ocean, be sure to clean the tanks. It is not cheap to do so and can be labor intensive. But it is 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 simply dirty. This should be checked very carefully.
Sometimes the drums that store the diesel. They are also dirty, they are reused industrial drums that must be carefully cleaned and dried before fuel can be stored inside.
I hope these tips can be helpful for those who are planning a boating adventure.
Happy browsing