Female Speaker: When it comes to safety regulations, the most important thing to remember is that you must have a coastguard approved life jacket for each person onboard. Everyone must know where the life jackets are stored and how to use them. Life jackets must be in good condition and easily accessible. Small children should wear life jacket at all times while on deck. You should always have the proper type of life jacket for the water sports that you are engaged in. Fast action sports such as Jet Ski require a different jacket from those used to float down a river. Inflatable life jackets are the most comfortable to wear and are now coastguard approved. They are also the most expensive and require more maintenance.
There are five types of coastguard approved life jackets. The best way to find out what type you need is to get advice from your local boating supplier. Boating in a lake and cursing across the Gulf Stream are two entirely different circumstances. A safety harness is usually worn by crew on sailboats and available for both adults and kids. You can even get one that's combined with an inflatable life jacket. The idea here is not only can a harness keep you onboard in the first place, but it also makes it easier to haul you up if you do fall overboard. Be sure to buy an approved ORC harness that meets the following requirements. It has a minimum breaking strength of 1500 pounds, has sowing that has been lock stitched, has hardware that is non-magnetic and has snaps that can withstand a load of 3,300 pounds and have a one-half inch opening.
The life sling is an excellent crew overboard rescue system and is found on most cursing yachts. It allows for a rapid and easy deployment to an overboard crew member. This system consists of a traditional 20 pound horseshoe flotation buoy connected to 150 feet of three-eighths inch polypropylene line that stored in a convenient bag attached to a rail. To retrieve a victim, deploy the life sling and circle the boat around the victim until contact is made. Stop the boat, shut down the engine and allow the victim to put the sling under the arms. Once you have the victim alongside the boat, attach the hoisting tackle and heave the person aboard.
With few exceptions, you require to carry approved visual distress signals. You should carry at least 3 handheld coastguard approved flares and check those expiration dates. Some available types of flares include parachute flares, handheld rocket propelled flares and orange smoke flares. It's a good idea to have an orange distress signal flag.
You must also have some sort of sound making device such as a horn or bell that's appropriate to the size of your vessel. A signaling mirror or a water dye can be used to attract aircraft from great distances. Even a metal container containing a burning oily rag will produce a lot of smoke.
Knowing CPR and first aid are essential skills for anyone that is contemplating an off-shore voyage. However, even weekend or short trips near shore can bring tragedy if someone is in need of CPR and no crew members knows what to do. If you venture off-share, a life raft and EPIRB are lifesaving items in an emergency situation such as a fire or sinking. Life rafts should be easily accessible and large enough to accommodate everyone onboard. Life raft inspections are required each year to make sure that your raft will operate properly when needed.
Learn how to launch and inflate your raft well before becomes necessary. Rafts are usually heavy items and any means that will allow them to be drowned overboard easily will help. Life rafts do not come with a lot of emergency rations. It's a good idea to keep an abandoned ship bag sucked full of survival gear and EPIRB or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon is indispensable for letting the world know where you are. The 406 megahertz models send a signal to satellites, which make your recovery much quicker. Be sure to check the battery condition on a regular basis and also register your EPIRB as required.
A fire aboard can ruin your whole day. It's one of the most feared emergencies in boating and inexpensive smoke detector can save your life. If your vessel has multiple cabins and a saloon, put a smoke detector in each area and be sure to replace the batteries on a yearly basis. CO or carbon monoxide is a deadly, odorless, tasteless gas that will kill sleeping occupants in a matter of minutes.
If you have a gas power generator and you sleep onboard, make sure it's in excellent condition and that you have a CO detector in each cabin or enclosed area. Gasoline and flame detectors will let you sleep a lot sounder if they are installed in engine compartments. Every boat with an engine must have an approved marine grade fire extinguisher onboard. Keep cabin extinguishers where they can be easily seen and not hidden away in a locker. In an emergency, no one will know where to find them. Be sure everyone aboard knows how to use an extinguisher. Engine room should have an automatic fire extinguisher with an alarm.
Buy extinguishers specially made for marine use that are rated type A, B and C. This means they will put out all types of fires. Also buy the right quantity and size extinguisher for you boat length. Check your fire extinguishers at least once per season to make sure they are still working. Automatic engine room fire extinguishers should be checked by weight.
There is no sure method to protect your boat against a lightening strike, except to get out of its way. A metal hull vessel that is grounded via a lightening rod placed at the highest point of the mast probably has the best chance to disperse the awesome electrical power of a strike. On fiberglass vessels, it's best to connect your lightening rod via Number 4 wire to a large underwater grounding plate bolted to the hull. Keep all crew out of the water and inside the boat. Just connect as many electronic gadgets as you possibly can. Remember to properly ground your vessel when it's hulled out for storage or bottom painting. It can be very vulnerable to lightening strikes while at boatyard.
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