Boat safety scheme & Life rings

[MauriceMynah]

I have been lead to understand that I am obliged to carry a life ring or a variant of the same on board and that it is a requirement for the BSS. Is this true? I have one, but to be honest, it's right in the way!

 

[Poppy]

No!

[ranworthbreeze]

They always tend to get in the way being as they should be located handy, ours are reachable from the upper helm when the canopy is down but we brush passed them when walking to the boarding ladders.

 

If you are leaving one on board make sure it has a good length of floating line attached to it.

 

Regards

Alan

[MauriceMynah]

In that case I'll replace it with a floating throwing line. Where can I get one of those?

[ranworthbreeze]

Most of the chandlers will have them, we got ours from Brian Ward's when we replaced our damaged horseshoe lifebuoys.

 

Regards

Alan

[teadaemon]

The life ring or similar is not required for the BSS on a private boat, however I believe it is part of the BSS checks for hire boats (which I don't currently do, as there hasn't been an appropriate training course run since I qualified as an examiner). In addition, it's also part of the Hire Boat Code, which hire operators on the Broads are required to adhere to as a condition of licencing.

[JawsOrca]

Hi, as above it's not a requirement.

 

Here's the guide: http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/180428/bss%20guide%202005%20complete%20web.pdf

 

[BroadAmbition]

I got 'Advised' that I needed one on 'B.A' prior to our sea trip to the Thames, to be fair I had always intended fitting one.  It has reflective bands both sides for night time assistance and a floatation lanyard

 

But what about recoving a person back onboard?  that in my mind is equally important.

 

I then got set to and made our own rope ladder, bottom rung lead weighted, now it is a matter of simply hooking the rope over a stern cleat and throwing the lot in the oggin.

 

Can't seem to find a photo of the ladder completed

 

 

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Oh yes and if any lightfingered so and so is thinking of 'Borrowing' it as once happened with our deck mop (Not directed at any forumite I might add)  I have security marked them both!

 

 

Griff

[JennyMorgan]

Nice things to put names on, one of mine has 'Titan Uranus' on it. Amazing what you find drifting about!

[Oddfellow]

Dan's right about it being a requirement on a hire boat for both the BSS and license.

 

There is conflictiing information and thoughts on having lines attached to throwable buoyancy though. A floating line in the water allows you to retreive the buoy, but is always at risk of being caught on a prop.

[Mowjo]

I've been thinking about this subject for a while and can't decide between the ring/horseshoe type or the throwing rescue line ones, both seem to have advantages and dis-advantages, mine with the ring is, with my luck I'd hit the OB on the head and knock them out, no matter where I put them I always manage to fall over it! catch on it or knock it off, you have limited distance you can throw it and they are hard to aim, the plus is, they float! so if the OB isn't wearing a L/Jacket and a non-swimmer they have something to hang onto, I can't think of any downside to the throwing rescue line apart from the fact that if they arn't wearing a L/J, and non-swimmer they might panic or nor be able to hold the rope, plenty of ups for them! they are small, neat, easy to store to hand, easy to aim and retrieve quickly, I'm heading more toward the throwing line mainly because you can throw it a lot further and more accurately, in thrirty years I've never had to use one, but it's sods law that if I don't have something, first time out I will need one!

 

Frank,,,

[grendel]

one other thought that occurs to me is that if a OB is wearing a life jacket they cant easily slip a life ring over their head and secure themselves to it, where a floating line if it has a lightweight snap hook on the end can be passed round the OB and clipped back onto the line. thus if the OB is rendered unconcious they wont just let go.

Grendel

[JennyMorgan]

I think that the  relatively small rings carried on the Broads are more for holding onto rather than putting over one's head.

[Baitrunner]

I have one of these bolted to the boat on the swim platform. Didn't have space for a full size ring - and a lot of boats seem to mount them forward out of the way, which might be a problem in a strong current for the OB by the time you can get to it. 

 

http://www.marinescene.co.uk/product/10516/seago-inflatable-horseshoe-lifebuoy-set/?gclid=CKvO0-jEjsMCFQvItAodZ1kAjQ

 

Not sure how long the rope is on it or how accurate it would be in a breeze once inflated, but the drogue will hopefully get it down stream fairly quickly. Like Frank, hope I never have to find out.

 

Which reminds me - need to check the inflation cylinder.

 

Like the lifejacket thread - always pros and cons with anything, but something has to be better than nothing.

[ExSurveyor]

Having read this thread I have gone for belt and braces. I have ordered a couple of new throwing lines from fleabay. (20.00) for the pair. These I will use if better suited to the situation instead of the ring.

[Baitrunner]

Sounds like a very sensible solution - I think I might get myself a throwing line as well to supplement my inflattie job.

 

I know we all have our own opinions on things on this forum, but I do think it's great to have these discussions to get your grey cells thinking about stuff you take for granted or (like me) just forgot about

 

It does make we wonder about the usefulness of the BSS considering the basic things they don't seem to worry about? CO/CO2 detector anyone - not on the BSS.

[ranworthbreeze]

Safety aboard should be of concern to everyone be it part of the BSS or not.

 

On taking over our Syndicate in 2012 we checked all of our safety devices, extinguishes for dates, we found that the engine bay extingusher had been removed (replaced) and normal extinguishers were out of date, no throwing lines on the lifebuoys.

We opted for automatic lifevests but kept some of the smaller sized normal vests as backups.

 

We have a CO/CO2 detector in the galley (check the batteries and change each season).

 

I also tend to turn the gas off in the gas locker when travelling and the last thing at night. 

 

What do you do?

 

Regards

Alan

[teadaemon]

Sounds like a very sensible solution - I think I might get myself a throwing line as well to supplement my inflattie job.

 

I know we all have our own opinions on things on this forum, but I do think it's great to have these discussions to get your grey cells thinking about stuff you take for granted or (like me) just forgot about

 

It does make we wonder about the usefulness of the BSS considering the basic things they don't seem to worry about? CO/CO2 detector anyone - not on the BSS.

 

The BSS isn't perfect, nor is it designed to be - it's the minimum requirements for a vessel to be licenced/tolled by the relevant navigation or harbour authority. The BSS scheme (and I as an examiner) strongly recommend CO detectors, and even provide advice on where they might be best sited in a boat (with the obvious proviso that the manufacturer's instructions take priority).

 

As far as lifesaving equipment goes, remember that boats requiring a BSS are located on several very different waterways, and what is good practice on the Grand Union Canal may not be appropriate for the Norfolk Broads or (to give a more extreme example) Loch Ness. (When I hired a yacht on the Caledonian Canal there was a pack of flares under the chart table, which we were instructed to only use if we were prepared to be lifted off by helicopter, as they were only 10 minutes away by air and would relish the opportunity to come out and practice on us.)

[MauriceMynah]

I turn on the gas when I install a new cylinder and off again when it needs replacing. That way I can tell if I have a gas leak. The cylinder that came with the boat has just "expired" after just over two years. I have a new one ready to go in!

[JawsOrca]

I agree Alan, Safety of the boat and those aboard is the most important aspect. Having read the BSC guide a few times it's clear it's not perfect and a bit stupid in some places but it's a helpful start.

 

With regard to lifebuoys, we will have a houseshoe lifebouy and a decent throwing floating line as this was what we had on our sailing boat, to be honest I'm not sure how useful they will be on the river as I suspect they will just blow/flow straight past anyone!   I seem to remember from my dayskipper course that they are recommended but they are only helpful if you can circle around those in the water as so to get them to the poor sod in the water. But still it's a couple of quid from the jumbles so probably a good idea.

 

With regards to gas, we turn it on from the bottle when using and off when we have finished. Even though it has all the the proper taps but I just don't trust it. Smoke alarms and CO2's will be provided and I'll add more fire extinguishers than BSC advises including an automatic one in the engine bay . It's the same on our houseboat.

 

I too don't quite understand why a swimdeck can be anything but positive, it's perfect to protect the prop (on our boat at least), I will allow us to service the prop, It will help recover anyone if they go over (although the worry of the prop would be there), allow us to use the dinghy, hopefully help with stern moorings which are plenty on the broads. We made our swimdeck for about £200 and it seems sturdy enough.  The only annoyance is it may hinder certain stern on moorings although we just need to do the ropes to hold us off the bank and it adds expense to the mooring bill and insurance bill! 

 

We will (at somepoint!) be adding a fold down ladder on the swimdeck to aid if we fall in (bloody hope we wont!) and we will have the best life-raft in the world, "a dinghy" ... (It does annoy me though why the BA toll a dinghy separately considering how valuable it is in terms of safety, but that's a separate issue!).

[Baitrunner]

Gas off when not in use. Bit of a pain but saves forgetting it when you leave the boat or at night. Everyone on board should know how to turn the gas and batteries off.

Same with battery isolators. If you need to leave them on when off the boat I always turn the water pump off. A leak is not as serious but might be a pain at the very least drying your bilge out.

[Mowjo]

If it's not needed I turn it off, I have my little routine that I do every night before I turn in, and thats turn everything off, for lights in the cabin I keep a couple of magnetic led lights that came from Aldi's, one in the cabin and one in the loo, I actually very rarely use my main lights the portablr leds do a good job,

On the life ring throwing line debate I found these http://www.balcan.co.uk/balcan-emergency-life-line/ looking at their video I can see a good reason to go for this type, no distance with the life ring type, the throwing bag is thrown underarm so you need room to swing it, this one looks like anyone can throw it even if room is tight, I wasnt sure about the rope at first but as point out your pulling someone to the boat not trying to pull them out with it, I love the washer weight in it, and looking at it I don't think it would be that hard to make your own version using something like a cork ball for the weight, might be my next project,,,

 

Frank,,,,

[BroadScot]

All this BSC talk of turning taps and switches off! Where is the silence the SWMBO button/switch?  

 

Iain.

[andy]

I have just bought a new horseshoe lifebuoy my boat didn't have one . But reading the above post's I think I will have to look at a floating throwing line and a automatic fire extinguisher in the engine bay and a Smoke / co2 alarms just to be safe.