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PFD access SOL/Ellis island tour

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Bamboo, Aug 5, 2012.

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  1. Bamboo

    Bamboo Senior Member

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    Dec 19, 2008
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    I took the Statue of Liberty tour and the vessels which take the passengers over had no one with a clicker to count people aboard that I could find or see. I do not believe they keep a head count but instead repeatedly ask people to "move up and get right next to those in front of you" while in line; which leads me to believe they estimate people aboard by the space they take up prior to boarding. However more interesting and disturbing was the life jacket stowage. On the main deck they are stowed above your head with one by one wooden slats which stop them from falling down. The ends of the slats are secured with self tapping screws. If you want to get one you have to reach up and break the wooden slat or pull the screw out in order to access the PDF's. The child life jackets were stowed in the same manner. Shorter folks and anyone who cannot reach up and have the strength to break a wooden slat will have problems getting a PDF. You cannot maneuver the PDF's to slide them in between the slats. I asked a crew member how I could access the PDFs and he said to break the slats and pull one down. Crew members do not mix with passengers and clearly do not wish to do so and thus my time to ask this was limited. What do you think?

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  2. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    I think you are probably not the first one to see this and ask the question.

    What comes next could be you complain to someone who will listen and take action, you could complain to someone who listens to your issues and does nothing or you could just do nothing and take your own next time you are on it.

    What would you like to do to resolve this?

    You can be pretty comfortable that if there is a disaster and the access to PFD's is called into question something will be done after the fact.
  3. Bamboo

    Bamboo Senior Member

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    Palm Beach, FL
    I think to clarify that I'm asking what people think of the PDF storage- not what I should do about it. Would you store your PDF's this way or say something if you were crew or captain? I personally think that storage this way inhibits shorter folks, children and those without the ability to reach up from access to PDFs and creates a danger when the slats are removed; both of which are not good things.
  4. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    those slats look pretty thick, i wonder how the average person would be able to break them...

    but being an inspected vessel, the USCG has probably approved the system. dont' you know government knows best?