Railings for small commercial Vessels

[Captain PartyMarty]

Hi All

Just wanted get some input. I am working on upgrading my boats this winter to make sure they are fully TC compliant. According to my research a passenger deck needs to have gunnel plus railing height of no less than 36in. On my boats that means I need to add 9in of railing. My question here is for the guys that have 36in railings do you find that it gets in the way of reeling in fish or netting fish?

Also am I missing something in terms of this requirement? Seems like I see a lot of Charter boats without back deck railings. Surely there gunnels are not 36in high.

CPM

 

[Rain City]

Hi All

Just wanted get some input. I am working on upgrading my boats this winter to make sure they are fully TC compliant. According to my research a passenger deck needs to have gunnel plus railing height of no less than 36in. On my boats that means I need to add 9in of railing. My question here is for the guys that have 36in railings do you find that it gets in the way of reeling in fish or netting fish?

Also am I missing something in terms of this requirement? Seems like I see a lot of Charter boats without back deck railings. Surely there gunnels are not 36in high.

CPM

There are probably more non compliant, under insured and unregistered guides in Vancouver than legit ones. To answer your question, yes I've had friends that needed to build up their rails to comply. They operated as a crew boat though. Not sure if that changes anything. And also yes, the rails do suck.

 

[zurk]

you can always add wire rails. unless there is a specific requirement for them to be solid. wire rails can be unclipped when not needed i.e. for fishing.

 

[Derby]

Depending on your rigger placement with the boom extended perhaps your hand rails ?

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

Depending on your rigger placement with the boom extended perhaps your hand rails ?

I think people use this as justification for not having railings but the purpose is to stop people from falling overboard. I don't think the rigger base is strong enough and would likely break if somebody grabbed on to prevent falling overboard.

Its tough I don't like it because it feels like it will make fishing harder, but at the same time liability insurance will likely not cover you if something happens and your boat was not conforming to TC rules. I did some research last night and it seems the popular Grady Guide boats all have around 27" gunnels so they should all have railings but it seems most do not. Seems pretty risky if something where to happen.

 

[Sailfish25]

Doesn’t Transport Canada actually Certify the vessel? If they sign off, I would suspect that sufficiently mitigates the liability concerns.

In the case of a charter fishing vessel there is a bona fide rationale as to why that specific regulation would not be adhered to.

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

In the case of a charter fishing vessel there is a bona fide rationale as to why that specific regulation would not be adhered to.

Can you explain what that rationale is?

Most boats are certified by TC but as pleasure vessels which don't have the same requirements as a commercial vessel, as far as I know there is no requirement to have the vessel inspected before it gets registered as a commercial vessel but I would assume if you where to be stopped on the water by the coast guard they could do the inspection but I think its unlikely based on the number of potentially non-compliant boats out there. I think the only time it comes into play is if something where to happen onboard and it goes to court, at that point you might up the creek without a paddle.

 

[Sailfish25]

If the vessel is greater than 15 gross tonnage (about a 30 foot boat) I think a physical inspection is required

https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-tran...-150-gross-tonnage-vessel-inspected-certified

 

[Sailfish25]

Can you explain what that rationale is?

It interferes with the purpose of the vessel.

Surely not every commercial vessel can adhere to every regulation and discretion is applied. As an extreme example consider a Harbour Pilot boat - obviously those vessels are properly certified - no one is breaking the rules there. In many cases Pilot boats do not have railings at all as they would interfere.

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

It interferes with the purpose of the vessel.

Surely not every commercial vessel can adhere to every regulation and discretion is applied. As an extreme example consider a Harbour Pilot boat - obviously those vessels are properly certified - no one is breaking the rules there. In many cases Pilot boats do not have railings at all as they would interfere.

You need to be looking at small passenger regulations, less than 12 passengers.
As far as tonnage is concerned, it is a measurement of the cargo capacity (historically it was a tax/fee measurement for cargo/vessel size) or the voids, not weight. A 30 foot vessel may be only 2 to 4 tonnes
Pilot boats and many others fall into different classes, and have their own regulations. For example

https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/tc/T29-17-2006.pdf

 

[zurk]

my 15 ton cat (technically 14.99 tons as per the regs) has wire rails which can be clipped off and passed their inspection for whatever thats worth.