Only 7 more classes to go till I get my certificate. Yay!
This class was REALY oriented to power boat sailors, I yawned through some of the manuevering discussions. However, some reviews regarding fuel were definitely important. Sailboats with inboard engines still need to follow the safety rules when fueling.
- Close all hatches & windows before fueling.
- Turn off all electrical equipment
- extinguish all flame, turn off galley stove, don’t smoke
- Have the crew wait on the dock.
- have the fuel dispenser touch the neck of the fuel tank to ground it
- If it’s a portable gas tank, put it on the dock to fill
- after fueling open all hatches and windows
- operate blowers at least 5 minutes to clear out fumes
- use your nose to check for fumes before starting
- have a fire extinguisher ready
Another interesting tidbit was a discussion on anchors. I found out my left-over anchor from the O’Day Sailboat is a Danforth.
Danforth anchor
It’s worth about $50 to $75. One more thing I won’t have to buy to outfit my big boat.
Never pick up your anchor from the rear of your boat. The Coast Guard Auxilliary folks love to scare us with stories of people in disasters. This time it was about some pro football players that had anchored and couldn’t get the anchor back up. They moved the rope to the back of the boat, tied it on a cleat and gunned the moter to yank it out. It didn’t come out and instead the back of the boat went under the water, the boat rolled and a few drowned. Very sad. Don’t do that. I couldn’t find any details about where the anchor rope was tied, but here is a news article about it.
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