Use and Care of Deck Machinery — Command Perspective
An examiner at this level is not testing whether you can operate a windlass; they are testing whether you, as Master, have a system in place to ensure deck machinery is safe, maintained, and operated by competent people within a documented SMS framework.
Deck Machinery vs Lifting Appliances vs Mooring Equipment
These three categories overlap in practice but carry distinct regulatory burdens:
- Deck machinery (windlasses, capstans, winches, hydraulic systems): maintained under the SMS, inspected by crew, defects logged. No statutory certificate in the same way as lifting gear.
- Lifting appliances and loose gear (cranes, davits, blocks, shackles, wire strops): subject to periodic thorough examination and certification — typically a 12-monthly inspection by a competent person with a register of lifting gear maintained on board. This is separate from routine maintenance.
- Mooring equipment: ropes, bitts, fairleads, cleats. Condition monitored; synthetic lines retired by age or condition criteria defined in the SMS, not by a certificate.
The examiner will probe whether you conflate "serviced" with "certified". A windlass can be freshly serviced with no certification requirement; a crane hook must appear in the lifting gear register.
Master's Responsibility in Practice
Seaworthiness under the MCA Yacht Code and common law obliges the Master to ensure deck machinery is:
- Fit for its intended purpose — correct SWL/capacity for the operation planned (anchor weight, tender lift, mooring loads).
- Operated by competent persons — task allocation, supervision of less experienced crew, briefings before critical evolutions (anchoring in swell, alongside with strong current).
- Maintained to the SMS schedule — hydraulic fluid levels, brake linings, wire/rope condition, limit switches, emergency stops. Defects and corrective actions recorded.
- Reported and managed when defective — a defective winch must be logged, risk-assessed, and either repaired before the planned operation or the operation modified. Proceeding with known defective deck machinery with no mitigation is a seaworthiness failure.
Pre-Departure Checks vs Routine Maintenance
Distinguish these clearly in the oral:
- Pre-departure / pre-evolution check: visual inspection, test run (where safe), confirm hydraulics/electrics live, emergency stops functional. Logged as part of the departure checklist.
- Planned maintenance: lubrication schedules, wire/rope inspection, brake adjustment, hydraulic fluid analysis. Recorded in the SMS maintenance log with next-due dates.
- Defect management: defects opened as jobs in the SMS, tracked to close-out, not silently deferred.
Anchoring Evolution — Command Integration
The windlass is the piece of deck machinery most likely discussed in context: know your holding capacity, scope deployed, brake holding load, and emergency procedures if the windlass fails under load (veer to scope, use engine to take weight). Brief the foredeck team before anchoring; confirm communications.