Decide
Where should you mount a portable extinguisher intended for an engine-space fire?
The lesson in plain words
- Extinguishers
- Small craft may carry dry powder, foam and carbon dioxide (CO₂) extinguishers, plus a fire blanket.
- Secure portable extinguishers near exits, where you can reach them without passing a fire.
- Keep portable engine-space extinguishers outside that space.
- Put the blanket near the exit from the galley, the boat’s kitchen, away from the hob.
- Choose numbers, ratings and locations for the boat and applicable rules.
- See Emergencies: fire for selection and use.
- Keep them working
- Check access, mounting, damage, pin, seal and the pressure gauge where fitted.
- CO₂ units normally have no gauge: check their charge by weight as the maker instructs.
- Follow the maker’s maintenance, service and replacement instructions; invert a powder unit only if instructed.
- Fit smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.
- CO is a poisonous gas from engines, heaters and cookers.
- Fit a gas alarm if you carry bottled gas.
- Bilge pumps
- The bilge is the lowest inside part of the hull.
- An electric bilge pump with a float switch removes small amounts of water automatically as the water rises.
- Have at least one manual pump that can be worked from the cockpit with hatches shut, its handle tied on, and a strainer that you can clear of debris.
- Carry two strong buckets with securing lines.
- Bungs and seacocks
- A through-hull fitting carries water through the hull.
- A seacock is a valve used to close an inlet or outlet.
- Tie a tapered softwood bung of the right size next to each fitting, ready if the fitting or hose fails.
- Open and close each seacock during seasonal checks to confirm it moves freely.
- Check hose clips follow the fitting maker’s instructions.
Key points
- Small-craft equipment includes dry powder, foam and CO₂ extinguishers, plus a fire blanket.
- Mount portable extinguishers where you can reach them without passing a fire.
- Check condition, pin, seal and any gauge; follow the maker’s checks and service dates; invert powder only if instructed.
- A manual pump worked from the cockpit, plus two strong buckets.
- Tie a softwood bung next to each through-hull; check seacocks open and close freely.
Check what you have read
A powder extinguisher has an intact seal and a green gauge, but its service date has passed. What should you do?
True or false?
Decide each statement before you see the answer.
Seacocks are best left alone: turning them may break them.
Mount portable extinguishers where you can reach them without passing a fire.
A manual pump worked from the cockpit, plus two strong buckets.
Check condition, pin, seal and any gauge; follow the maker’s checks and service dates; invert powder only if instructed.
The electric bilge pump will cope with any leak.
One big extinguisher in the saloon covers the whole boat.
Practice case & exam keys
Situation
Taking over a used boat, you find a portable powder extinguisher in the engine compartment, nothing by the cooker, no bungs and a manual bilge pump in a locker below. What must you put right before sailing?
Show the answer
Before sailing, mount portable extinguishers securely near exits, with the portable engine-space extinguisher outside that space. Keep them reachable without passing a fire. Fit a fire blanket near the galley exit, away from the hob. Tie suitable softwood bungs beside the through-hulls. Provide a manual pump operable from the cockpit with hatches shut, so pumping does not open the boat to the sea.
Exam keys
- Small-craft equipment: dry-powder, foam and CO₂ extinguishers; fire blanket.
- Mount near exits; check pin, seal, condition and any gauge; CO₂ charge by weight; maintenance and dates per maker.
- Electric pump with float switch, manual pump worked from the cockpit, two buckets.
- Softwood bung tied at each through-hull; seacocks checked for free opening and closing.