Hunter H18 - Fire Safety; Distress Signals

Hu
nt
e
r 1
8
• Boatin
g
Safet
y
4.1
2
Wa
t
e
r
T
em
p
eratur
e
E
xh
aus
ti
o
n
o
r
U
n
co
n-
sc
i
ous
n
ess
E
xpected Time o
f
S
urvival
3
2.
5
U
nder 1
5
mi
n
U
nder 1
5
to 4
5
mi
n
3
2.
5
– 4
0
1
5
–
30
mi
n
30
–
90
mi
n
4
0
–
50
30
–
60
mi
n
1
–
3
hr
s
50
–
60
1
–
2
hr
s
2
– 4 hr
s
60
– 7
0
2
–
3
hr
s
2
– 4 hr
s
7
0
–
80
3
–
12
hr
s
3
hr
s
– in
def
init
e
O
v
e
r
80
In
def
init
e
In
def
init
e
4
.4 Fir
e
DANGER
! !
A fire aboard
y
our boat is serious. Explosion is pos-
sible. Respond immediatel
y
. Develop a fire response
pl
an
.
4
.4.1 Fir
e
E
ver
y
boater should develop a
f
ire response plan to
determine what kind o
f
f
ire
(f
uel, electrical, etc.
)
mi
g
ht
b
rea
k
out, w
h
ere
i
t m
igh
t
b
rea
k
out, an
d
t
h
e
b
est wa
y
to
r
eac
t.
Important: Everyone on board should know where a fire extin-
guisher is and how to operate it.
An
y
fire requires stoppin
g
the en
g
ines immediatel
y
.
Keep the
f
ire downwind i
f
possible. I
f
the
f
ire is a
f
t, head
i
nt
o
t
he
w
i
n
d
.
H
ave all persons on board put on their personal
f
lotation
devices
(
PFDs
)
.
I
f
y
ou can
g
et at the
f
ire, aim the
f
ire extin
g
uisher at the
base of the flames and use a sweepin
g
action to put out
th
e
f
ir
e
.
If the fire
g
ets out of control, make a distress si
g
nal and
c
all
f
or help on the radio.
D
ecidin
g
whether to sta
y
with the boat or abandon ship
will be difficult. If the decision is to abandon shi
p
, all
p
er-
sons on board should
j
ump overboard and swim a sa
f
e
distance awa
y
f
rom the burnin
g
boat
.
4
.5 Distress Si
g
nal
s
4
.5.1 Ma
y
da
y
If
y
ou have a VHF radio, heed storm warnin
g
s and
answer an
y
distress calls from other boats. The word
“
MAYDAY” spoken three times is the international si
g
nal
o
f distress. Monitor marine radio channel 16, which is
reserved for emer
g
enc
y
and safet
y
messa
g
es. You can
also use this channel to contact the
C
oast
G
uard or other
boaters if
y
ou have trouble
.
Never send a “MAYDAY” message unless there is a serious
emergency and you are in need of immediately assistance.
4
.5.2 Visual Distress Si
g
nal
s
The U.
S
.
C
oast
G
uard requires that all boats operat-
in
g
on U.S. Coastal Waters have visual distress si
g
nal
e
qu
i
pment on
b
oar
d
.
I
n
g
enera
l
, coasta
l
waters
i
nc
l
u
d
e
all waters except rivers, streams, and inland lakes. The
Great Lakes are considered coastal waters, as is a river
m
ou
t
h
m
o
r
e
t
ha
n tw
o
m
iles
w
ide
.
Boa
t
s
o
wn
ed
i
n t
he
U
nited
S
tates and operatin
g
on the hi
g
h seas must also
c
arr
y
visual distress si
g
nal equipment
.
V
isual distress equipment must be in serviceable con-
dition and stowed in a readil
y
accessible location.
E
quipment havin
g
a date showin
g
useful service life must
be within the speci
f
ied usa
g
e date shown. Both p
y
rotech-
nic and non-p
y
rotechnic equipment must be U.
S
.
C
oast
Guard a
pp
roved
.
Py
rotechnic U.
S
.
C
oast
G
uard approved visual distress
si
g
nals and associated equipment include: Red flares,
handheld or aerial
O
ran
g
e smoke, hand held or
f
loatin
g
Launchers
f
or aerial red meteor or parachute
f
lares. Non-
p
y
rotechnic equipment includes an oran
g
e distress fla
g
,
d
y
e markers, and an electric distress li
g
ht.
No sin
g
le si
g
nalin
g
device is ideal under all conditions for
all purposes.
C
onsider carr
y
in
g
various t
y
pes o
f
equip-
ment.
C
are
f
ul selection and proper stowa
g
e o
f
visual
distress equipment is ver
y
important. If
y
oun
g
children
are
f
requentl
y
aboard,
y
ou should select devices with
packa
g
es which children, but not adults, will
f
ind di
ff
icult