Be sure boats are getting CO warning labels

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

The weather is going to be great for this weekend, as boaters set

their courses for the summer. Near the coast, we should see maybe up

to 3-foot seas on Saturday and Sunday, but if you stray out to San

Clemente Island, you will experience the swells doubling in size.

Sailors will find a 10- to 15-knot breeze to fill their sails in the

afternoon.

I have mentioned a lot about the teak-surfing bill (AB 2222) that

went into effect at the first of the year. However, another component

of the bill became active this month. All boats sold in California

must display two carbon monoxide warning labels, with one label on

the seaward side of the transom and the other label inside the boat.

This applies to every new vessel sold by boat dealers and every

used vessel sold by a dealer or owner. The requirement is for any

vessel that has a diesel or gasoline engine aboard, so that includes

sailboats, power boats, personal water craft, personal submarines --

yes, there are private submarines -- yachts, houseboats and tugs.

Boat owners will receive the labels when they renew a vessel’s

registration with the state. Keep in mind that if you sell your boat

prior to receiving your warning labels with your registration, or if

your vessel is documented with the Coast Guard, then you are required

to affix the labels on your vessel prior to the sale. The Department

of Boating and Waterways has more information on its website at

https://www.dbw.ca.gov/co danger.asp.

I am just apprehensive that two more warning labels are being

added to the laundry list of existing labels and placards on a

vessel. I see boaters and guests becoming desensitized to reading the

warnings from sheer overload.

I see one label all the time that warns skippers to maintain a

proper lookout at all times. Huh? You have to have a warning label to

remind skippers, so the boat manufacturer will not get sued for

telling the skipper this bit of information?

For the tip of week, I’m going to share a couple of e-mails with

you from my mailbag and hopefully increase your boating knowledge for

use at the yacht club.

I received an e-mail that asked about my voyages to Hawaii and

where we anchor at nighttime. At first, this might seem like a hoax,

but others have asked me what we do at night.

My first response is that every night we tie up to the fuel docks

stationed between the mainland and the Islands. Then I explain that

the ocean is a little deeper than the amount of anchor rope we have

in our anchor locker. We actually operate the vessel 24 hours a day

until we make port, usually in Honolulu, so there are no fuel stops

in the middle of the ocean, unless you happen to sweet talk the

captain of a tanker or a Navy supply ship.

Another e-mail asked why boaters do not see the international

border line in the ocean between the United States and Mexico that is

vividly displayed on their GPS chart plotter. Remember, these are

boaters who ventured that far from port all by themselves.

I cannot wait to hear their radio call to the Coast Guard if their

GPS unit ever shuts down.

“Mayday, Mayday!”

“This is the Coast Guard, what is your position and nature of

distress?”

“We need to know which direction to point our boat to get home

because our GPS is broken.”

I have actually heard similar types of radio calls to the Coast

Guard and Harbor Patrol, especially when a thick fog rolls in

unexpectedly on a weekend afternoon. I should start documenting this

stuff for my next book, in which I can expose the funny and sometimes

clueless side of boaters. Send me your funny anecdotes, and you might

make the paper.

Tune in to the No. 1 boating talk radio show in the nation, “Capt.

Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show.” It airs every Saturday from

noon to 1 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join me, Chandler Bell and

Eric Hovland by calling the listener line at (888) 344-1170.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to mikeboathousetv.com or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.