Have you checked your flares etc. for expiration lately.?

[Crocodile]

Hello All,
I just checked my flares for expiration, Ooops!
Inflatable lifejacket Ooops!
EPIRB still good.

[Cape Crusader]

G'day
I bought a dymo tape machine and use black on white tape which looks ok on the gelcoat. I have expiry dates for flares, parachute flares, epirb rego, and when it's time to service the auto pfd's all close to helm. Also have info next to DCS radio on how to send distress and vhf channels to use, the radio stuff I know but in case wife or son needed it
Cheers
Rod

[shaungonemad]

Hello All,
I just checked my flares for expiration, Ooops!
Inflatable lifejacket Ooops!
EPIRB still good.
Dont forget your fire extinguisher.

[chocolatemoose]

Depending on the position of saturn and whether or not the moon is rising. you can be done for having illegal explosives in your boat if you have out of date flares onboard "havnt seen anyone experience this yet. but.....food for thought"

Make sure you have a lanyard attached to your bailing bucket that is "fit for purpose" length...... a few meters should be alright.

Make sure you have a working torch, with a spare battery... test it before they ask you to test it, if its not working "and if the gods hate you" they will ping you for not having a working torch

Get yourself a whistle

Sit the VHF license test (its a few hours out of a weekend for less than 200 bucks)

Anyone in Melbourne is welcome to come into Moose Marine with their old flares and get $5 off a packet of new flares :)

[Cape Crusader]

It's good to also pull out your extinguisher (check size required depending on fuel carried to make sure you have the correct size) anyway, pull it out, check the pressure gauge, hold the extinguisher horizontally with 2 hands and move it back and forth, you should be able to feel the powder moving. If you can't give the extinguisher a hit with a rubber mallet or similar to de compact the powder
Probably getting a bit off topic but ...............
Cheers
Rod

[shakey55]

I’ve put all expiry dates in the calendar of my iPhone with a reminder


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[Moonlighter]

Maritime Safety Qld used to have neat stickers for this purpose that you could write flare epirb etc expiry dates and stick to your dash.

More than once when I got stopped for safety gear inspections, the officer would see the sticker, then note the dates were all fine, and commented that its all good, no need to show the individual items.

Of course this sticker was so useful and popular, they stopped making it.


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[Marchy001]

Depending on the position of saturn and whether or not the moon is rising. you can be done for having illegal explosives in your boat if you have out of date flares onboard "havnt seen anyone experience this yet. but.....food for thought"

Couple of years back I was checked at the ramp prior to launching around 2am for safety gear. Old mate was far from impressed I had 3 expired sets.
He said “unofficially” that he would carry a recently expired set as well as in date flares but 3 was stretching it.
Saturn,moon ratio must have been in my favour that night.

P.s. don’t then remove expired flares from boat and leave in visible location when that one drunken pest of a friend is around drinking. That smoke takes hours to clear on a still summer evening! Apparently.....

[chocolatemoose]

lol .
One must never reply to a police officers request to see their current flares as " UHH Yeah sure, they are around here somewhere. hang on on.. ummm.. oh here they are. oh n o these are the old ones.. oh here they are! "
The CHI has to be super strong for them to not want to pistol whip you for that behavior.

[Crunchy]

I'm not 100% certain but I think the only govt department who can fine you for outdated flares is Department of naural resources, mines and energy (I'm talking Qld) and not too many of their blokes getting around inspecting boats....its not legal but highly unlikley you will ever get pinged.

[Crunchy]

P.s. don’t then remove expired flares from boat and leave in visible location when that one drunken pest of a friend is around drinking. That smoke takes hours to clear on a still summer evening! Apparently.....

Something you only try once living in the suburbs! Damn things don't stop just becasue you put them in a bucket of water either :-X

[SUPERDAFF]

Not so - the water wallopers pinged me for being three weeks out of date. It's also classed as a "life endangering offence" and I think the fine was around $300. I told them I would buy a new set that afternoon and text them a copy of the purchase receipt. If they didn't have text by 5pm, mail me an offence notice. No dice. I asked whether they honestly believed those flares would not go off. Still no dice. That was despite me having a back up bilge pump system, back up navigation, a horn and a stack of other things not required as well as even having the designer of the boat on board and a crew that collectively has probably 2 or 3 thousand South Passage Bar Crossings between them. Still no dice. After they gave me the ticket, I said - "You would be happy for me to be out here, in a 13 foot bondwood with a Seagull on the back as long as I had flares in service. " They said: "Well, you wouldn't be breaking the law." I told them to think about that a little more and the intelligence of their assessment. The most galling thing was some weeks later when one of those same water rats was talking to my wife, a Master IV skipper. The copper recognised the surname and then went on to admit ... wait for it: "I gave him the ticket because he looked like he could afford it." The great thing about this world is karma ... Yes, I can bide my time and wait to see a flipped copper boat on the bar. And I'm sure it will be in a place "Far too dangerous for me to risk my boat and the lives of my crew trying to tow them to safety, Your Worship." A ticket is one thing - being a socialist rat is entirely another.

[Crunchy]

You got ticketed for not having current flares, not for carrying out of date flares, subtle difference.