If you come aboard
Perception you are subjected to a safety briefing. It consists of your being
told and shown a lot of stuff:
1. The location and function of the sea cocks.
2. Location and how to use the heads. There is a standard operating procedure. Nothing is sacred on a boat this size.
3. Location of the fire extinguishers and the procedure for dealing with fires.
4. You are assigned a life preserver (PFD for the politically correct) for the duration of the cruise that is combination flotation and harness. It comes with a tether. You are told about jack lines and when life preserver / harness / tether is compulsory.
5. You are shown the MOB button on the GPS and told the POP (person overboard procedure). The emphasis is on don't go overboard.
6. You are shown where the gas cutoffs are for the galley stove. How to light it. How the thermocouples on each burner provide an extra level of safety. You are told that if you ever smell gas, alert all of the crew and shut off the gas in the cockpit. We will then air out the cabin and sort out the problem.
7. Location of the life boat.
The procedure for
dealing with fires (#3) emphasizes individual safety and the safety of the
crew. It is pointed out that injury from a fire is caused by noxious gasses as
well as heat. There are fire extinguishers in the salon, the cockpit and every
cabin. If there is a fire, your first responsibility is to notify every member
of the crew on the boat. Obviously, if one of the crew is at the pub down the
quay, you don't have to go down there and tell him. Each crew member must
determine how they are going to get out of the boat. All members are then to
pick up the fire extinguisher in whatever part of the boat that they are in and
converge to fight the fire. The fire extinguishers are the powdered chemical
type. They are good for fighting all types of fires. They are terrible for
destroying electronic equipment. If we need to use them, we will. The powder
will go everywhere. When it gets on printed electronic circuit boards, it will
intermittently short out some circuits rendering the equipment useless.
We left for
At 0800 we called
for a repairman. When he arrived, morning of the same day, we opened the
breaker box and determined that the shore power wiring prior to reaching the
boat side breaker had developed a loose connection. The resulting arcing had
melted the insulation and caused a short. 220V, the European standard, is hot
stuff. The shore side breaker had not tripped.
During our trip to
In spite of having
gone through the safety briefing several times, neither of us had a fire
extinguisher when we converged in the cabin, the place of the fire.
There is now a
maintenance step to inspect and tighten tighten all
electrical connection every third month.
Stopping the source
of the fire, if it is apparent, belongs between notify all of the crew members
and get a fire extinguisher.
We should not expect
anyone to learn from the safety briefing. We didn't. We wrote it.
We give it.
Possible corrective action:
We could add a
circuit breaker between the shore power source and the boat. This is still
under consideration.
Had Phyl been
asleep, the first indication might have been a boat full of smoke that
triggered the smoke alarm. If she had
not done exactly the right thing, turn off the electricity, being awake might
not have helped.
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