The IET has announced the release of the “On-Board Guide for Electrical Safety for Small Craft”, which was initiated by NABO and the production undertaken in consultation with representatives from many boating and related organisations.
Small craft have an ever-increasing amount of electrical equipment, systems, and associated power requirements. As a result, significantly more risks and safety concerns need to be considered in the design and testing of electrical installations on small recreational and commercial craft.
The IET’s new On-Board Guide provides practical advice on the design, installation, testing, commissioning, and maintenance of electrical installations on small recreational and commercial craft. It summarises the existing standards and directives relative to this sector and covers key areas such as electrical supplies (including batteries and AC power sources) as well as design guidance, cable requirements, electrical protection and testing.
To get your copy today email theiet.org/SmallCraft-NABO
After too many years as your Chair, and with an excellent Council team in place, I felt this was the time not to stand for re-election as your chair, although – if approved – I am happy to continue as a Council member, especially given the situation with EA and my role on the Boat Safety Scheme’s Technical Committee. The latter is especially relevant, given its work on the rapidly changing situation regarding the rapid increase in the introduction of AC on boats, as well as all the dangers related to the introduction of lithium batteries.
Without any shadow of doubt, it has been a great privilege to be NABO’s chair, not only because of the challenging issues that we have had to face, but also because of the wonderful folk who have been, and still are, members of the Council – who really do all the work, especially my Vice Chair, Anne Husar! We’ve never yet had to deal an issue where no-one has offered to take responsibility.
As we highlighted in the last edition of Nabo News, a major part of our Council’s work is currently dedicated to supporting the vital and ongoing “Fund Britain’s Waterways” campaign.
At NABO’s instigation, and with over 70 organisations now on board, this initiative is being led by a small steering group with membership from NABO, IWA, AWCC, British Marine and the RYA, under the chairmanship of the well-known Les Etheridge, National Chair of the Inland Waterways Association. The group meets every few weeks, and is actively planning an ambitious programme of events for the next six months or so. In this work, the support of the IWA is proving vital, as they have generously committed some of their paid staff to the programme, enabling us to undertake a far wider range of activities, reaching out much more widely, than would otherwise have been feasible. Whilst IWA are generously picking up their own staffing costs, contributions to FBW finances have already been made by the Royal Yachting Association, the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs, NABO, and the Inland Waterways Association.
Editorial
I have now finished my summer cruise and am pleased to say back at my home mooring.
It’s hard not to sink into a depression, Autumn on its way, lack of funds, increasing structural failures, lack of dredging, looming canal closures……
I started to think about the reasons behind the current canal network demise. The system started at Worsley, so that the Duke of Bridgewater could extract more coal from his mines and distribute it to a larger group of customers. A sound economic reason. The idea soon caught on as manufacturers saw the benefits of being able to consume larger amounts of fuel and safely deliver more produce. The birth of the industrial revolution. All went well until the birth of the railways as they offered faster and ultimately cheaper deliveries. So canal use began to decline along with the profits, further degraded by reliable road transport.
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