Fire Extinguishers: A Primer

By Aux. Wayne Spivak, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

One of life’s scariest prospects is that of an uncontrolled fire. The idea of a house fire is frightening. What, though, about a boat fire? On land there is usually a way to escape, difficult though it may be. On water, however, there is nowhere to go.

Fire aboard a vessel isn’t just terribly dangerous, it’s also surprisingly common. It follows that one should be just as prepared to fight fires onboard as they are at home. Smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, well-lit signs and contingency plans—these should be as ubiquitous on boats as they are on land.

Clearly, prevention is the first and best step in firefighting. Despite the best efforts, the danger of fire is always present. It is critical to be prepared and ensure that the proper fire equipment is onboard in case fire does break out.

In the early 1960s, with rising accident and death rates for recreational boating, the Coast Guard and Congress investigated boating safety. All federal equipment requirements were formed during this time, including the mandate that all vessels with gasoline/diesel engines carry approved fire extinguishers. Code 46CFR162 specifically states that the extinguishers must be labeled “Marine Type USCG Type --------,
Size --------, Approval No. 162.028/-- ------” (Sec. 162.028-4).

These requirements are meant to ensure that the fire extinguisher is ready for marine environments. Tests related to corrosion, salt spray, bursting pressure, vibrations and other factors are conducted to verify that the code is met. Remember that in order to withstand the extra strains of marine environments, most equipment on your boat needs to be made differently than your home or vehicle equipment is.

Fire extinguishers are required if your boat has any one of the following: an inboard engine; closed compartments storing portable fuel tanks; double bottom hulls not completely sealed or not completely filled with flotation materials; a cabin containing closed living space; a closed sewage compartment with flammable materials; or permanently installed fuel tanks.

If your fire extinguishers are not readily accessible and verified as serviceable, the Coast Guard considers them not onboard during a safety check. More importantly, if you can’t use your extinguisher when you need it, you’ll find yourself in major trouble.

The chart included here shows the required minimum number of extinguishers. During a fire, each fire extinguisher will only last a few minutes. Extras will be useful if the blaze outlasts the extinguisher.

Each boat’s design is different, so there is no formula for placement. That said, that are some guidelines that can assist you in finding the best locations on your boat.

First, if possible, especially for dry chemical extinguishers, mount the fire extinguisher parallel to the deck. This is to prevent the chemicals from packing, which will impair the extinguisher.

Second, find an easily accessible spot outside of your engine compartment. Placing a fire extinguisher inside of the compartment can add extra oxygen to a fire, fueling the blaze and making a bad fire even worse.

Third, place an extinguisher by the helm. Usually someone is at the helm, making this extinguisher always accessible. Fourth, situate one by the galley because of the likelihood for kitchen fires. Fifth, distribute one in each cabin.

It’s not enough just to have extinguishers though. It’s also important to plan a course of action for the worst-case scenario. Create a fire plan, deciding on a favored meeting place. (The bow is the best place because it’s the furthest from the engine room and gas tanks.) Then practice the plan and how to use your extinguishers. It’s important you understand how they work, and how to fight a fire, should one break out.

When you have new guests onboard. don’t only show them the amenities; show them the safety items also. They should know where the lifejackets and fire extinguishers are, how the radio works and how to call for help. If you have GPS, show them how to quickly find your latitude and longitude.

A final and vital step toward fire safety is taking more boating and safety education courses, as well as getting an annual Vessel Safety Check.

It may seem unlikely, but this preparation may save your or someone else’s life.

safetyseal.net

Yachting Set Free

Reuben Trane, president of Island Pilot, LLC, announced on August 18 that the company will introduce the first-ever zero-emissions-production motoryacht in America this fall at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which takes place from October 30 through November 3. At this much anticipated unveiling, the Island Pilot DSe Hybrid 12m is expected to be seen as the most economic, as well as environmentally friendly, choice in yachting.

The yacht’s remarkable efficiency was achieved through the creative utilization of technology that combines diesel, solar and electric power—the three components that create the DSe acronym.

“There are so many reasons this boat makes sense in today’s environment,” said Trane. At a time with record high oil prices, we are bringing to market a product that will dramatically reduce the most visible expense of a recreational motor boat—the cost of diesel. The DSe’s efficiency will make all the difference in the world when compared to other luxury yachts. Plus, she’s ready for alternative fuels. The DSe’s Steyr ‘monoblock’ engine runs equally well on bio-diesel.”

Measuring 12 meters (39 feet, six inches) and utilizing a six kw solar array, plus a 20 kwh battery bank, the DSe Hybrid 12m can travel at seven knots in Zero Emissions Mode using only electric power or up to 13 knots using diesel. Additionally, enough solar energy can be produced while at anchor to support a comfortable lifestyle without the need to run a diesel generator.

The revolutionary combination of technology (Steyr Motors Serial Hybrid Propulsion System, Outback Energy solar controllers and inverters and enersys “True Lead” Odyssey batteries), along with a structural design resulting in the maximum amount of horizontal area on which to mount solar panels, is what enables the DSe to achieve this new standard for cruising economy.








While the DSe is constructed for utmost efficiency, the yacht has all the amenities and comforts of the most luxurious cruising yachts. Such features include:

• On-deck master stateroom (just forward of the deckhouse) with a forward-facing queen-sized “sleigh bed” and a 270-degree panoramic view provided by 30-foot-high windows on three sides. Steps lead down to the extensive dressing room and head in the starboard hull.
  
  
• Expansive guest stateroom with ensuite head, dressing room and island queen bed that converts into a pair of single berths.
  
  
• The spacious and comfortable “great room” and galley includes two settees, a high-low table, a 26-inch HDTV and a Bose home theater. An express-style bridge with wrap-around seating for eight, twin helm chairs and centerline console.
  
  
• Technological features throughout, including a Garmin 15” touch screen with Garmin HD radar, Imtra Marine LED lighting products, Tecnautic “Fly by Wire” controls and gyro autopilot, CookTek induction cook tops, four zones of air conditioning, Hitachi hi-tech refrigerator with ice maker, a KVH Satellite TV antenna with DirecTV receiver and a dinghy with a Torqueedo electric motor.

“Our goal from the initial concept stages two years ago was to deliver six knots on solar energy alone,” said Trane. “Sea trials earlier this year proved it can be done! We feel the DSe represents a real breakthrough, opening the door to a new era of environmentally friendly and efficient cruising yachts.”


The introductory price of a DSe Hybrid 12m is $600,000. Island Pilot is currently taking orders for the DSe 12m. The first ones will be delivered in early 2009.

dsehybrid.com

Rising Fuel Changing Marinas

When you ask Brion O’Dell of Waukegan, Illinois’ municipal harbor about the effect rising gas prices have had on his marina, he answers curtly.
“It’s terrible,” he says.

When you ask Scott Bird of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin’s Quarterdeck Marina the same question, his answer is just as succinct but entirely different. “It doesn’t affect us,” he says.

The difference? Bird, anticipating an increase in summer oil prices, signed contracts in late January that have kept his costs—and the price of his marina’s fuel—down. O’Dell, on the other hand, didn’t. He buys fuel the way nearly ever marina operator and boat owner does: as he needs it. The problem is, everyone needs gas and diesel and the supply is diminishing.

The picture seems pretty clear: fuel costs go up, and boats don’t go out. But when you talk to marina operators around the lakes, you get a more nuanced description of the relationship between increased fuel cost and the behavior of boaters. Once you get beyond the immediate responses, you find that while there is some concern about what five-dollars-a-gallon gas will mean for boating, the prevailing sentiment is uncertainty.

As Chris Marx of Sheboygan, Wisconsin’s Harbor Center says, “I think that the true effect of fuel prices is hard to gauge this year because I think the weather has been the primary factor in whether people are going out. I think the weather has had a lager role in the slowdown this year. I think it’s hard to generalize that. I think that there’s certainly a slowdown in fuel sales in transient business this year. Like I said, it’s a combination of weather and fuel prices that’s causing a slowdown. We’re not seeing a major slowdown. Not a step backwards—maybe
a step sideways.”

But Harbor Center is different than most marinas. As a destination marina for cruisers, it is relatively immune to some of the challenges facing facilities that cater to a consistently local group of boaters. There, the effect of high fuel prices is more apparent: fuel consumption is down about 11 percent on regular gas and 15 percent on diesel. But the decline in fuel sales doesn’t necessarily mean that boaters are staying home. Powerboaters are still coming to marinas—they just aren’t taking their boats out of their slips as often. And when they do, they aren’t cruising as far as they did in the days of cheap fuel.

Boaters will keep boating, the consensus seems; but they will likely start boating differently. Boating is a lifestyle, and boaters aren’t going to abandon it just because of fuel prices. Just as people will prioritize fuel efficiency in their cars and drive less often, boaters will find ways to minimize their boats’ fuel consumption. Doing so means reducing their boats’ weight to reduce mass and increase efficiency. Lightening onboard loads, tuning engines and buying “greener” propulsion systems are just a few of the things boaters are doing to keep their time on the water affordable.

With the trajectory of fuel prices impossible to discern, no one can say for certain what the long-term change to boating will be. That said, the current climate at marinas around the lakes does offer some clues as to what might happen.

“My perception is,” said O’Dell, “I see more powerboats staying at the docks and the sailboats go out pretty much as they always do. Our weekly sailboat races are still pretty well attended. The powerboats seem to be staying in more often.”

So, will powerboaters switch to sail in order to keep boating? The short answer is no. That drastic of a change is akin to drivers going back to buggies, and no one takes that possibility very seriously. What’s more likely is that powerboaters will switch to smaller vessels. Even that, though, seems unlikely. On July 4, marinas were hopping. On weekends, the fuel docks are still going strong. Slips are still full, even if the waters are more open.

If, as is expected, oil keeps going up in price, there is sure to be some change to how people boat. Wherever you go and just about everyone you ask seems to think that the difference will involve adaptation to—and not abandonment in the face of—new realities.

What will happen? “I wish had a crystal ball to tell,” says O’Dell.

Since he doesn’t, we’ll all just have to wait and see what the future—and rising fuel cost—brings.

Sailing at a Fraction of the Cost

By Bob Remsing

As the price of gas rises, Americans everywhere are feeling the impact. In difficult economic times, luxury items like boats are often the first things that people sacrifice. For anyone who has ever owned a boat, the old adage that “a boat is a hole in the water in which to throw money” rings true. Dock fees, mortgage costs, maintenance, insurance, fuel—the costs associated with owning your own boat can prove daunting.

There is, however, an alternative to owning a boat: fractional membership. The concept is simple. A boat is “shared” by a limited number of members (usually less than eight) and one owner-member. Each is guaranteed at least two weekend boating times and five weekday/night boating times every month. Additionally, each member is entitled to unlimited “as-available” use on a 24-hour notice at no extra cost.

At the Chicago base for SailTime, a fractional sailing membership organization with a fleet of more than 160 boats located at more than 50 locations in North America, the Caribbean and Europe, members can use a simple online scheduling system that allows members to design their own sailing calendar, and even carry time over from the previous month or borrow time from the next month.

Much like the concept of shared use of airplanes, fractional membership eliminates the cost and hassle of ownership. The base pays for the dockage, insurance and maintenance of the boat and provides the owner a guaranteed monthly payment that helps defray much of the monthly mortgage payment. The owners virtually eliminate their expenses and the members get access to a luxury boat year-round for much less than the cost of owning or chartering a boat.

For many who enjoy day and weekend sailing but do not enjoy the costs associated with owning and maintaining their own yacht, fractional sailing makes great sense. While monthly rates can vary by location, the average monthly cost of a fractional sailing membership is $600 as compared with the cost of owning a boat, which can fall in the range of $1,800 to $2,400 per month for a comparable vessel.

There are several advantages to the fractional membership program over charters and sail clubs. First, the boats are generally nicer, luxury models and, with a finite number of members to a boat, are generally in much better shape than charters. Also, most SailTime bases upgrade their fleets after a few years, ensuring members access to state-of-the-art vessels at all times. Some bases also offer training programs geared to their fleet and ensure that members have access to American Sailing Association-approved courses and training.

Sailing clubs also rarely offer the larger, luxury models, and generally cater mostly to the small day sailor. Those who participate in sailing clubs often complain about not having access to boats during peak times. Fractional membership offers less competition for bookings, and allows more freedom to choose when to sail, be it for a day, overnight or for as long as a week.

For members who travel, SailTime now offers a program called PLUS, which allows members to access boats at other bases. For a discounted additional fee, they can now sail not only in their own waterway but also in waterways in key destination areas like Miami, San Francisco, Puerto Rico, New York, the Netherlands, England, Wales and Ireland. Sailtime Chicago, as well as other SailTime bases on the Great Lakes, either are or will soon be offering luxury powerboats in their fleets, as well.

Fractional membership is also a useful tool for corporations or businesses looking for a unique way to market their business and entertain clients. Instead of trying to close a deal over a round of golf, companies can take a prospective client sailing for the day and have a relaxed, social environment in which to offer their services. The Chicago branch of Facebook is one of the corporate members of the city’s fractional sailing base.

“This is my third season utilizing fractional sailing,” notes Lee Jerousek of Oak Park, Illinois. “The system is so affordable and convenient. The best part of the story is while sailing with my friend offered occasional sailing, my fractional membership allowed me to go out virtually any time I wanted. I set the record for 20 sails in July of 2006 alone! My entire family has been onboard at least once or twice. Most have sailed for the first time in their lives! I love this system and would recommend it to any and all.”

“I had never imagined that I would have been able to purchase a new sailboat, let alone a tricked out new vessel like my Hunter 33,” notes John Hurite of Detroit, Michigan. “Since joining SailTime, we have found that the time allowed was more than enough to fill our needs. ”
If you’ve always dreamed of being on the water but a luxury boat seems out of reach, then a fractional program could be just the thing for you.

sailtime.com

Bob Remsing is the independent owner and operator of the Chicago base for SailTime.