166 seamanship secrets
Fixed CO 2 firefighting system. Evacuate the engine compartment. Energize
the CO 2 system with the auto switch or remote pull station.
Portable CO 2 fire extinguishers. Ventilate the compartment. Blast short
bursts directly into the engine air intake.
Manual Shutdown Method
Equipment. Find a large cushion, a block of wood, or a life jacket.
Find the air intake. Locate the air supply. Look for a cylindrical- or discus-
shaped fi lter mounted to large piping. Remove the fi lters.
Block the air intake. Air intakes create enormous vacuum pressure at the
pipe opening. Keep your hands and fi ngers away from the opening. Lay the
cushion, wood, or life jacket fl at against the open air intake pipe. Use a solid
object like a block of wood or hatch board if possible. If you have to use a soft
object, take great care not to allow the object to get sucked into the intake.
Runaway Engines in Restricted Waters
If you have a runaway engine in restricted waters, remember these three steps.
- Sound the horn or whistle. Assign one crewmember to continuously sound
the danger signal on the horn or whistle. If your VHF has a loud hailer
function, ask a crewmember to warn others in your path. - Put the boat into a tight turning circle. If you have room to maneuver, put
the boat into a tight turn. Put the wheel hard over and leave it there. Th is
gives you more time to use one of the emergency shutdown procedures
described above. - Consider an intentional grounding. You might choose to ground the boat
to prevent endangerment to others. Get the crew aft into the cockpit—in life
jackets, squatting low, and grabbing any solid support. As you enter shallow
water, make a narrow angle to the shoals. You want to ground the boat so that
it slows down gradually before stopping. Th is prevents injuries associated
with hard impact groundings.
Fighting Engineroom Fires by Remote Control
When fi re strikes, you have about 30 seconds to get things under control. Aft er that,
it’s too late. Some vessels have fi xed CO 2 systems inside the engine compartment.
(Note: halon is no longer authorized as an extinguishing agent in a new installation.
Vessels with existing halon systems may use it, but must choose another system if
they replace their existing system.) On your boat, do you have enough redundant
systems in place as a backup? Train your crew on the operation of these four vital
systems.