Boating Safety
4.11
likely drown. In general, the colder the water, the shorter
the time for survival. PFDs will increase survival time
because they provide insulation.
FOR REFERENCE ONLY (TIMES MAY VARY)
Water
Temperature
Exhaustion or
Unconsciousness
Expected Time of
Survival
32.5 Under 15 min Under 15 to 45 min
32.5 – 40 15 – 30 min 30 – 90 min
40 – 50 30 – 60 min 1 – 3 hrs
50 – 60 1 – 2 hrs 2 – 4 hrs
60 – 70 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 4 hrs
70 – 80 3 – 12 hrs 3 hrs – indefinite
Over 80 Indefinite Indefinite
4.5 Fire
A fire aboard your boat is serious. Explosion is pos-
sible and can result in significant property damage,
personal injury or death. Respond immediately.
Develop a fire response plan.
Every boater should develop a fire response plan to
determine what kind of fire (fuel, electrical, etc.) might
break out, where it might break out and the best way to
react.
IMPORTANT: Everyone on board should know where a fire
extinguisher is and how to operate it.
In the event of a fire, consider the following guidelines:
Any fire requires stopping the engines immediately.
Keep the fire downwind if possible. If the fire is aft,
head into the wind.
1.
2.
Have all persons on board put on their personal flota-
tion devices (PFDs).
If you can get at the fire, aim the fire extinguisher at
the base of the flames and use a sweeping action to
put out the fire.
If the fire gets out of control, make a distress signal
and call for help on the radio.
Deciding whether to stay with the boat or abandon ship
will be difficult. If the decision is to abandon ship, all per-
sons on board should jump overboard and swim a safe
distance away from the burning boat.
4.5.1 Engine Compartment Fire
An optional halon fire extinguisher system is available for
you boat. This system functions to automatically extin-
guish a fire in the engine compartment.
When a fire is detected on your boat, the automatic sys-
tem will sound an alarm, discharge the extinguisher (Fig.
4.1) and illuminate the “Discharge” LED on the Safety/
Fuel panel located at the starboard side of the cockpit
(see the DC System chapter in this manual). A relay will
shut down the engine, the blower (see Waste System
chapter in this manual) and the optional generator.
Figure 4.1
When discharging, a loud sound (similar to that of small
arms fire) followed by a “rushing” air sound indicates acti-
vation of the extinguisher. If the discharge light activates
or if you hear the extinguisher discharging, proceed as
follows:
Be aware the activated automatic fire system will
automatically shut down the engine and the blower.
3.
4.
5.
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