I am chartering a Moorings 4800 (8th charter) in the BVI in June. As a pilot, I learned early that it is better to prepare for surprises before they happen. I would like to review an L48 / M4800 Operations Manual before arriving in the BVI. However, I can't find one in electronic format. Tried Leopard, Robertson & Caine, Moorings, Yahoo Leopard Owners' Forum and general Google search. Does anyone have a pdf of some or all of the manual they could forward to me? Or a line on a source? Thanks.

should be one on the boat, you think?

There will be one on the boat. You could try calling the base to see if they could send you a digital copy somehow.

But to be honest, there's not a whole lot you'd get out of reading it ahead of time - unless you can read something once and have it memorized. For starters, the boat briefing will go over all the common stuff. If there's any issue that came up during the trip you could review the manual for tips, but often its easiest to call tech support and have them walk you through it or send someone out. Given that it is your 8th charter, if you've been on the other model cats (4600..etc) many things are very similar, just in slightly different places.

Personally, on my boat I'd rather someone call tech support than try to fix something they may not be familiar with.

I totally understand the thoroughness of pilots and, as a frequent passenger, encourage their dedication. With sailboats, however, you can usually stop or anchor it to figure out a problem, which makes sailing much more forgiving than flying. There are no worries about falling out of the sky. Relax a little and use your superior piloting skills to keep from getting into situations where you need you demonstrate your superior piloting skills. You will learn everything you need to know during the briefing. If anything comes up that troubles you, use the VHF or cell phone to contact the base.

Yes, there will be one on the boat. However, as I stated, I want to review it before I get to the boat, and once there, I don't plan on reading anythiing but a chart when necessary. My airplanes all had manuals too, but they didn't get read at 16,000 feet. I'm probably a little crazy, but I like to know as much about how things work on a boat I "own for a week" as cruisers know (or should know) about the boat they live on. And while there are certainly model to model similarities, its the differences that get you.

Believe it or not Moorings really does not want you working on their boats, unless it something very minor. This is obvious by the tools they have on the boat. They prefer you call a chase boat or phone support as Matt stated. Your comparison of being in trouble at 16,000 feet is not very a very good analogy, compared to floating a mile from land. The times I had to refer to my Beneteau manual, I was looking for water lines or wiring schemes. P.S. you do not own the boat, you're renting it for a week.

What would probably be more useful is the manuals for the instruments as you will definitely be using those.

Jeez, here is a guy who is trying to do his homework on a boat he is chartering. As a fellow pilot, I get it. I like to have as much info in advance as possible. He asked a simple question, anyone have a operating manual for the boat he is chartering.



We are chartering a Grand Banks 47 in a couple of weeks. Our charter company sent us the PDF of the operating manual as part of the charter packet. Very nice to know what to expect and what questions to ask at the briefing.

Maybe the charter companies in the BVI should do the same.

Thanks Rita, that was a wonderful appropriate response.

Thanks, Rita. I appreciate your comments! Yes, Matt, I have all the chart plotter manuals, as they are easy to find on-line.

And The Moorings is a great company, with fine boats and competent staff, but ... the last time I was in the Tobago Cays out of the old base in Canouan, I was the one who repaired the Beneteau mono's jammed rudder cable, using tools supplied by The Moorings chase boat, because their guy wasn't sure how to do it.

However, with the itinerary pretty well set, the provisions ordered, the grandkids' "pirate crew manual" distributed, the reservations for dinner ashore made and no apparent source for a manual, I guess I will just have to be satisfied looking at pictures and videos of the boat that will be ours for a week! :-)

+1 to Rita, spot on.

If you are a "little crazy", there are some certifiably crazy people on this board.
And if more people treated charter boats as if they owned them for their week, charter prices would probably be lower.

Ok dude, it's great that you want to be prepared about the boat systems but now you are just rubbing your preparation skills in our faces --Just kidding by the way <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

I can imagine that the grandkids are *really* looking forward to their pirate adventure and good on you for setting it up.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

An Operations Manual shows you how to operate a particular system, not necessary how to fix it. Seems like to OP was just wanting to read through how things work, not how to fix things.

Update: Tanya at the Moorings base came through! They are working on a basic 4800 Operations Manual for pre-charter distribution, for the reasons described by several persons in previous posts. Tanya sent me a pdf of the working draft for review and input, which I am close to completing. It is a very good start, with location pictures and step-by-step instructions for operating the major mechanical and electrical items.

Glad to hear it.

If it makes someone feel more comfortable to read it ahead of time, there's no reason not to. Having read it a number of times on the boat, I'm not sure I'd bother reading it ahead of time - it's really great reference when there though.

As an example, we just got back from the BVI. We chartered a Moorings 50.5. This was my 6th charter but this boat had some systems I had not had before including a genset and air conditioning. The ac packed up the last night. No big deal as the weather was nice. When we returned the boat the next day, I reported the problem to the checkout person. She said that happened regularly and there was a simple procedure to reset it. She said they had talked many charterers through it. Unfortunately, we were in the Bight and there was no cell service with base. It would have been nice to know ahead of time. Before anyone says it, yes, there was a manual on the boat but I did not read it. If I had had a copy before leaving home, I probably would have looked through it. BTW, I am a retired pilot so I can relate to some of the previous posters.
Lew

possibly. my A/C unit is not included in my Beneteau manual. The Artic Air A/C unit has it's own manualy

Fixing the A/C is easy- anytime you take a boat out with A/C, ask how to bleed the system. We have found that necessary on most trips we've had A/C.

Agree,it took us 2 trouble calls before the mechanic told me how to bleed the lines myself, eazy peazy <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

We had a load of sea grass in our water intakes, also easy peasy

Would have been nice to know ahead of time, in the manual or not.
Lew

What are the chances you can share that draft, or a final version? Looking for something to help me fight my DIF!!