NIGHT PASSAGES AND BEST PRACTICES
⚠️ NIGHT PASSAGES AND BEST PRACTICES ⚠️
Captains and crew aboard cruising vessels are wise to be on constant alert day or night. Night Passages are inherently more dangerous than daytime passages due to a distinct change in how we see and what we do and do not see in the darkness. Passages made between sunset and sunrise have a particular set of best practices that are important to the safety of ones vessel and crew. Please review the following list and consider what you can do to make every night passage safe and thereby fun.
- Before the onset of darkness prep topsides. Make sure everything is well stowed or tied down. If sailing, choose a comfortable and prudent sail configuration.
- Consult all navigational charts along your planned course. Be sure to zoom in to look for any rocks or obstructions that may only be visible on a closer look. Additionally, navigating coastal and offshore waters along the Ocean Posse routes outside of US Waterways mariners will find places where the charts do not match up with the actual contour of the land and sea. Being aware of this as a fact is imperative to the safety of ones vessel and crew. Charts are not always GPS accurate. Use multiple sources of information like radar, OpenCPN, and Sat charts as an additional aid to navigation.
- Set a watch schedule and make sure that everyone on watch understands how to use navigational and safety equipment including AIS.
- If entering or leaving an anchorage, harbor, or port be sure to give a wide berth to headlands.
- Run radar, throughout the night. If possible overlay your radar image over your electronic chart to verify both with one another. If there is a discrepancy, trust the radar over the electronic chart. The radar is also great for looking for squalls.
- Check for other marine traffic. If your vessel is equipped with and AIS make sure everyone on watch knows how to use it to see other vessels that may be in your range or on your course. Note: Not every vessel on the ocean is equipped with AIS so this equipment, while an exceptional safety advancement, does not take the place of visually scanning the area for lights or shapes on the water.
- Know how to read navigational and ship lights at night. There are international rules on light color and placement aboard vessels of different sizes carrying different loads. The lights will show what part of the vessel is in view and the direction of travel.
- Objects at night have come up a lot faster.
Be aware, be cautious, be vigilant, and, most importantly,
be safe so you can enjoy all your sunrises and sunsets out at sea.
by Maurisa Descheemaeker, Ocean Posse editor
MARINE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
MARINE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
No matter where one is in their cruising season or in the world checking and maintaining marine fire extinguishers onboard is imperative. The USCG keep an up to date log on product recalls. See this link: USCG PRODUCT RECALLS
Carrying out a visual inspection.
Check for rust, dents, or chemical deposits. Even the smallest leak will render your device useless. It's important to inspect your fire extinguishers on a monthly basis to check for any signs of a leak or corrosion.
EXPIRATION
Disposable (non-rechargeable) dry chemical fire extinguishers, must be removed 12 years after their date of manufacture. These extinguishers generally have their year of manufacturing stamped on the bottom or have its year marked next to its UL label.
Refer to the date of manufacturing stamped on the bottle; for example, "11" means "2011."
Units needed
For vessels between 26 and 40 feet, you need either two 5-B fire extinguishers or a single 20-B fire extinguisher.
For vessels between 40 and 65 feet, you need either three 5-B fire extinguishers or one 20-B fire extinguisher and one 5-B fire extinguisher.
Got Lithium ?
Honestly, it would be quite surprising to go onto any cruising vessel today and not find any lithium batteries in some electronic device, tool, or toy. Lithium batteries are a huge innovation in the battery industry powering everything from small fans to large motors. Lithium batteries present a distinct risk onboard because the 2 of the 5 fire extinguishers above do not put lithium fires out. Water and foam extinguishers are NOT effective and can make a lithium battery fire worse. Only Class D fire extinguishers are effective against lithium-metal battery fires. Lithium-ion battery fires are Class B fires, indicating the presence of flammable liquids, so a standard dry chemical or ABC extinguisher can put them out. Plus New high performance battery fire blanket are now designed for lithium ion battery packs. With lithium smoke and expanding batteries you will also need Safety glasses Safety gloves
Dr Adam Best, Principal Research Scientist at Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, is a leading lithium-ion battery expert. He says, ""lithium-ion batteries are statistically a very safe technology and that fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are also a statistically rare event." Not all lithium batteries are the same. In terms of safety profile, experts make a clear distinction between the high-energy lithium-ion batteries found within portable devices, and the lithium iron phosphate [LFP] batteries that are recommended for the marine industry as a vessel power source. LFP batteries are widely regarded as more stable than other types of lithium-ion batteries with a better safety track record.
The biggest Lithium battery risk is over-heating that can lead to battery damage, instability, and / or fire. That said, cautious person will take certain measures to ensure they are using their lithium batteries carefully by
- Only charge lithium battery devices while onboard.
- Once a battery reaches 100% take it off the charger.
- If a battery feels hot, let it cool.
- Inspect batteries, if they look misshapen, dispose of them properly.