Dealing with Idiots

Since South Africa suddenly woke up to the fact that they do not have any authority on our waters other than the navy, it seems they are about to throw the baby out with the bath water.

To name only a few issues -

I had my boat surveyed today by a book trained er... person. I have 2 cubic meters of the best foam there is - Sondor's XPS33 - in my 800kg boat for floatation. She's not sure if it will work. I have to get an independant surveyor to evaluate this

Their co. sells life jackets, suddenly only their life jackets are the only PFD's accepted. Bloody hell, I have good life jackets, with a complete rating stitched on the inside - I had to take a loan out to buy them when I did. They are imported so just so you US and Europe guys know your life jackets doesn't cut it here

The fire extinguisher is also no good. It's almost brand new and larger than the prescribed although I doubt it can be big enough. I have two other extinguishers also suitable for the boat. Now I have to take them in for a refill

The anchors I have is also no good, I have two on my boat. The first is a SS one with hooks that works extremely well in rocks and weeds, the second is a SS sand anchor that looks like the Rockna. The problem is I made these myself and is not considered good enough although they have worked better than most for me and for may years. Now they want me to buy a crappy anchor because it is the one they were told about

I have a heavy duty push-pull steering on my boat. In 25 years of being involved with boating I have never even once seen one of these steerings fail. Now they want me to buy a tiller arm pipe complete with a little flimzy bracket to be fitted to the 115. I wonder how you're going to start and throttle this setup since the motor controls cannot be reached with this setup

Also, if you have a motor 15hp and smaller you don't need to go through any of this crap. It seems they target the people that can afford bigger motors and not considering such a small motor on a boat as unsafe. If the wind picks up you're going to get into trouble using such a small motor, and I've seen it happen. You cannot even turn a boat in wind with such a small motor

They do not survey sail boats. Probably too complicated For that I have to find some other organization to do this

I was one of the persons that requested some form of compentency for our water users because there are far too many idiots that endanger themselves as well as others on the water. The problem is however like everything else in SA is the resposible guy that tries to do everything right again gets screwed left right and centre, and this by eveyone in it for making a quick buck out of it

This person that surveyed my boat today had only some book experience, has no technical knowledge but has heard... or were told... can only acknowledge from a list... and this is pathetic

We have a very difficult coastline, launching from it is dangerous in any skiboat. Now to qualify for beach launching you have to do a competancy course test with 15 launches. All great and well. The problem is the sea can be very different from day to day and from place to place, so even if you do 50 launches today, you will be in trouble tomorrow or on another launch site.

Anyway... I'm so PO by this I can breast feed a crockodile

There is nothing that comes close to experience. One of my friends have a pal I met recently, boat declared sea worthy, skippers licences, equipment, all the bellls and whistles and verything that opens and closes. Cost the guy a small forune. What happened ? First outing trouble with people falling in the boat, fishing rods broken, angry people. Second outing topped the first. Typical 1m side wave, guy loses head, floors the motors - and nothing happened, motors just cavitated. Boat flipped, the people aboard were saved by other boats, but the boat got smashed to pieces in the rocks. No time to shoot flares, or radio, or nothing. It was over before it began.

So, we were told all this idioting and recklessness is going to change with all this new regulations and by policing our waters. It seems in the future it is going to be easy since there is going to be less and less people on the water that can comply. Besides it's only going to be the rich that can buy their way on the water. Not sure why they are complaining about not enough people interested in recreational sport

He he... some idiot phoned me the other day, told me I have some tax money they owe me and what is my account number ? I told him I'll read it to him... it's fcuk off He didn't phone me again

Hey, there's a much easier way. You take all your stuff and go fish and holiday in Moz. Cheaper, nearer, less crap with idiots and much more fish. Spend your money elsewhere. Screw South Africa like all the monopolies here does

 

Looks like it's time to add a little mast and sail??

 

Oh yes I for got to mention. I tried to phone SAMSA in Pretoria a while back. The phone was answered by an illiterate person that does not understand English, Afikaans and probably not her own lanuage either.

Needless to say I wasted my time. It is also an indication of the way they are heading. If you phone our city council you get the same. It's impossible to find anyone that knows anything... so why bother. Wait till they sue you for non payment or something... It's the only way you make contact.

 

Hi BHOFM,

Ab so friggin lutely. I'm designing mine on the moment It won't surprize me one bit if sailboats isn't going to turn into this same redicule.

The guys - and there are many - and I know some of them - are now selling their boats left right and centre. What was supposed to be a control mechanism to filter the idiots out has now turned into a money grabbing frenzy.

Things are too easy in SA it seems. People are still parting too easily with their money and no service.

I may well pack the boat one day and just bugger off. So don't be surprized if you wake up one morning and there I am, waiting for you guys to wake up

 

Call in for a beer or many Fanie - - Plenty of Saffa refugees here..... (this place is almost as stupid - - - trying to protect the brain dead - - they all seem to wear baseball caps so they know which way their head is facing...... Latest generation must be regressing????

 

He he... you have a point there Mas. According to Wikipedia 'IQ and the wealth of nations' SA have an average IQ of 72...

Yes, latest generation is regressing, the slope being steep. I have trouble dealing with our young upcoming generation. Lazy, unwilling, wants everything for free, but knows everything.

 

Come to America and you can deal with the.....


PHONE COMPANY!

I tried to get them to take my payment from the bank
automatically each month for three months, We got a
bill saying do not pay, Bank draft, but they called almost
everyday wanting to know when we could send them some
money!

I told them when

HELL FREEZES OVER!

We changed to High Speed Cable Phone service!

Off topic, rant over!

 

Telstra, in this and other names was part owned by the government but little johnny Howard decided to sell it off to become a commercial phone carrier - trouble is, it owned ALL the cables to ALL the houses and businesses and was pretty much a monopoly in that business - is becoming more and more stupid - can't make a profit, and uses Indian call centres to promote their product - I have had 3 phonecalls where the other end did not speak (I wont till someone says hello or something) then I got pissed and said something like "Hello, you call this number again & will report this to the police" - was about to (in our system the link stays till the recipient puts the phone down) and about to call on my mobile, when the voice with an almost Peter Sellers type Indian accent says, "hello, I'm from TELSTRA", then I gave him the same message again and hung up.....

Bloody phone companies, got us hooked, then feed unwanted junk and rubbish down the line..... Constant/frequent use of cellphones causes ones brain to deteriorate faster than normal....

 

Fanie, could it be that somehow you antagonized these people with anything you said, wrote or did?
You call them idiots because you're agitated now, but I think the proper name is small bureaucrats. They are a nuisance in developed countries, a plague in the less developed ones.
Like flies, they are everywhere and spraying doesn't help a lot.

I was once refused a staying permit in this country because there was a "police investigation going on". This was a revenge case, where a nationalist police officer wrote me a ticket several years earlier for having the registration number to far from the bow.
One telephone call from a native friend with some influence solved it.

 

well how abt this
in Qld Au you need a license to drive a boat
i duly applied and was told you must use this guy and his 12 foot boat
i said no, I will do it in my 54 yacht
No he can not handle such a craft
******** I bloody hate rules

 

Lazy, I got mine at the Mooloobah Coastguard years ago as well as ROCPR (not keen on doing cw for an amateur radio ticket), and a few other things - free as a volunteer.... Heck, that must have been a good 15 plus rears ago.... Just to get legal in Aussy..... Must still hold a valid Australian drivers (car) licence as well or do a Yachting masters or cox'n or several other options.... else the thought police may get you..... - has an adverse impact if suspended from driving on roads and vice versa - Have a look at the special pages on the "The Coastal Passage" - - based mid coastal Qld - - website. . http://www.thecoastalpassage.com.au/index.html this is full of the exploits of ijits interfering with innocent cruising yachties

 

Fanie, did you try offering the inspector some bribe money to encourage him/her to sign off on your boat? Sad to say but that's how it works in some Asian countries, so maybe it will work for you in SA too.

 

reason #85638950 to leave that hell hole and find a small island,,hehe ,,when ya find the island,,,let me know where it is,,,ill be there in a couple days hehe

 

Here is a copy of the letter that was sent out by SAS. It is intended for the Category R(inland waters) sailors, but I think the coastal guys will have something similar. I hope it helps.

SAS COF

 

Hi CDK, do you have to be so bloody diplomatic You're right, There is a phone number and I was going to call someone, I may tomorrow... I actually forgot about it today... and yesterday.

He he Lazy... a bit of a letdown if you want to be tested on your tanker and they give you a row boat You should have insisted

Eh Kenneth, you don't pay bribe money here when you already get ripped of Just joking.

It's not about the money to have the survey done. Our guys have good equipment, keep their boats in good order and act responsible on the water (ok on land also at times ). These guys cannot just fail your equipment because they see an opportunity to sell you their stuff.

The PFD's for one they want to force me to buy is grey. It is difficult enough to find a boat in a storm, how the hell are you going to find a grey life jacket ? If it was yellow or another bright color I would have thought ok... but grey ?

Jim, SA actually have two islands besides Robin island. I can get you the GPS co-ords... but they don't deliver Coka Cola OR kentucky fried chicken there. The islands are also in a less desirable neighbourhood you don't want to associate with

Thanks Deepsix ! Maybe I should put a small sail on the powerboat and get rid of this power boat frenzy going on here He he... I'm now sorry I took the electronic steering off I had on a while ago. That would have dragged some response from them What ! No steering wheel

All the requirements is available of I think it's SAMSA's web site, hordes of marine notices from the dept of transport.. At least it is online.


There has to be some sense of reasonability wrt our boats. If something is not do-able or not practical then it must not be forced to 'comply'. Boats and layout's vary greatly, but there is some sense in why it is like it is.

These guys for one hasn't done their homework on the buoyancy for instance. A lot of guys now has already gone and used the pour foam that was said to be good enough... until someone said no no not good... so what happens now ? Who's going to fix it up this time ?

Three months from now they are going to announce these grey life jackets are obsolete you better buy thi-his one instead... sorry but it is the law now and untill it gets changed again maybe next month again.