CARVER
OWNERS CLUB
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January 2009Headlines - Click on a Headline to see the Story |
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I'm in the process of making some extensive changes to the website. I've tried to make the website easier to use, especially with boat sales listings. I'd appreciate your comments and, especially, your suggestions as I move ahead. Unfortunately, some of the older newsletters were lost when I moved the website. It doesn't look like any of these can be recovered.
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We heard about a friend's boat catching on fire while in the Bahamas. It seems that an electrical plug was wired incorrectly, resulting in a flash fire on board. The boat was damaged but not lost. Here's the note:
The cause of the fire was a mis-manufactured <named> 50 amp end.
When we were in Florida I had a Marine Electrician replace all the
ends on my 50 amp cords, both dock and boat ends. One of the new
ends was mis-manufactured in that the 50 amp ground was mis- color
coded and reflected that the hot should be connected there.
The electrician put all of the colored wires in the correct colored
hole.
The lesson I have learned from this is to let the professionals handle really dangerous stuff---which I used to do. Even though the color coding looked idiot proof and I am sure that was the intent, it took a professional to find <their> mistake--something I could not have done as I would have assumed that <they> did it correctly and that I was wrong. I've contacted the manufacturer for their response. So far, the manufacturer has been responsive and helpful, while not admitting anything.
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Digital TV's I received a suggestion that flat screen TV's be unplugged (or otherwise removed from an electrical source) when leaving the boat. It seems that the HDTV's never actually turn off and, under certain conditions, can cause a fire. If you have not purchased convertor boxes for your analog TV's, it may not be too late to get discount coupons. Since we use the TV a lot at anchor and DirecTV doesn't always offer local channels where ever we may be, we need the convertor box on at least one TV. The box is a bit inconvenient and I have the wires, but it works pretty well. Maybe someone will send me a new 9" HDTV w/DVD for the galley.
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Tax Law Changes South Carolina just changed its tax laws to more closely reflect surrounding states. You can now leave your boat in the state for up to 180 days per calendar year before having to pay a personal property tax. For awhile, South Carolina would tax any boat as personal property if it was in the state for more than 60 days continuously or 90 days in a calendar year. The actual enforcement was spotty, but we did get reports of tax bills of several thousand dollars being received and collected. South Carolina marina owners lobbied hard to get this change. We strongly encourage you to contact a local attorney to get specific legal advice about your tax obligation before leaving your boat in a strange jurisdiction for an extended time.
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Events The Club has several events scheduled or in the planning stages. Here's what we have so far: Saturday Night Out, February 28, hosted by Scott Gundaker, Peppercorn's, Oxford, PA. This is an excellent BYOB restaurant. Contact scottgundaker@hotmail.com to make reservations before February 21. Saturday Night Out, April 18, 2009, Harbour House Restaurant, Chestertown, MD 21690. This is one of the favorite events of the year. Chef Bob promises a wonderful menu, even though the restaurant doesn't officially open until May. Tea promises to be with us. This is always a great time. Chesapeake Bay Rendezvous, June 5, 6, and 7, TBD. The boutique rendezvous provide a much more intimate experience and the ability to explore new places without overwhelming them. We are still looking for an interesting place to hold the rendezvous, possibly somewhere near Annapolis. Send your suggestions to events@carverownersclub.com
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A Winter Trip on the ICW Patsy and I left the Baltimore area on November 17, 2008 for someplace warmer. The trip ended up being a real struggle with mechanical issues. If you would like to read our blog of our travels, go to http://www.virtual-assoc.com/MVIbis.
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