caught my mechanic smoking a cigarette in the bilge

P

papertrail

New Member
May 5, 2009
155
jacksonville, FL
Boat Info
2000 290 AJ- SOLD
Engines
5.0 mercruiser BIII
So with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he proceeds to change a leaky genny waterpump.
230 gallons of gasoline are just 18 inches away.

What would you do?
 
I'd ask for a copy of his insurance policy for a start.
 
Who pays his family? You or his employer? Who pays for your new boat? What about the boat next to you? So many questions.
 
There was an incident up our way a few years ago. Mechanic was mounting something near the gas tank, it required drilling, he was smoking. He make it out but was burned badly. I'd ***** and if he didn't respond appropriately I'd boot him.

The secrete word is b!tch:grin:
 
He would be my former mechanic now. It is very presumptuous of him to smoke in your boat at all, much less in a possibly dangerous part of it. The guy lacks common sense.
 
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Maybe it was a left handed cigarette he was smoking? :smt101
 
For me, this is more about what the mechanic's employer and his customers are comfortable tolerating. If management/customers put up with smoking on a customer's boat, what other problems are you getting by using that service company/mechanic?

To give you a contrast, the mechanics at our marina wash their hands and put on latex gloves as well as Tyvek shoe protectors before getting on any boat. The policy is to leave the customer's boat cleaner than when they got on it and so the owner cannot tell the technician was even there. There are no cigarette butts or ash in the boats at our marina and I just don't worry about the care my boat gets when I have to ask the marina for help with something.
 
Gas or no I would ask him to put it out. No smoking on my boat. I made that mistake once letting a friend smoke and have the burn mark to prove it.
 
The mechanic really has no business doing that on anyone's boat.
You'd be doing the mechanic's employer & possibly other customers a favor by discussing this with the marina/shop's manager. It may well be that the shop does not tolerate that sort of "liberties" being taken on a customer's boat.
 
Clearly it's unprofessional and a serious safety issue. Putting aside the fact that it's presumptuous that smoking would be allowed on your boat. It wouldn't be on mine....

I would tell him to stop and never to smoke on your boat or the dock area. My mechanic would go to the parking lot if he wanted a smoke. If he works in a business and is not just an independent / single mechanic, I would contact his superior and explain my concern for his safety and dissatisfaction.

Keep us posted on how it goes.
 
That's easy, the cigarette can go overboard with or without you holding it........
 
follow up. I keep the boat in the backyard in the water. We have the only community on the east coast (queens harbour, jacksonville, FL) that has a freshwater basin. Through a lock, it opens directly to the intracoastal.
My mechanic didnt know i was home, so i surprised him when he looked up from the bilge and I was there. He threw his cig butt into the harbor.

i didnt mention anything at the time. I think what i will do now is call the owner of the business and inform him of the behavior of one of his techs. Not sure if he will care or not, but I will report back monday.
 
The very first trip on my brand new Four Winns, a friend was smoking a cigar on the dock NEXT to my boat. Of course a breeze came along and blew an ash onto my brand new vinyl leaving a hole. I was furious!! No smoking on my boat or near it. In my line of work, I always try to leave the equipment cleaner than when I started, so the customer knows I went over the entire unit and looked at everything! It leaves the impression that you went a bit further than what was required.
 
Unbelievable how stupid some people can be. Several years ago the (gas) travelift died with my boat in the slings. The hauling crew guys suspected a fuel pump problem and one pulled a fuel line while the other cranked the motor. The guy holding the loose fuel line was smoking!!!

I found a new marina and that yard went out of business 2 years later...
 
I had to have a boat treated for termites back in 2000. The fella from the pest control company was set on using the microwave transmitters for the deck in the salon. I carefully explained that immediately under that deck was a fuel tank with 150 gallons of gas.

Upon hearing that, I was stunned that he still was planning on microwaving my gas tanks. I replied, "Well, if you want to do that, let me make sure that I'm a safe distance away and that my insurance company will cover explosion damage. Is your life insurance up to date?"

And then it appeared that he finally understood that he was about to microwave 150 gallons of fuel. The pest remediation plan changed quickly.

Some folks can't draw a line from A to B without help.
 
Our three core values and at the company I do technical training for are Quality, Environment and Safety. These are the corner stones of our brand and driven into every technician who comes to training. We talk about professionalism on the job site too. How you perform your work has a huge impact on the customer and ultimately the perception of the dealership/marina.
The marina or dealer needs to be notified at once as this speaks to all the above.
 
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