Practicing a good safety precautions when fueling your boat is one of the top important ways to protect your boat.
A lot of people encounter fire incidences when they refill the tank of their vessels.
Most of these could have been avoided if at all they adhered to safety procedures while fueling their boats.
In the course of this guide, you will learn of how you can fuel your sea vessels without damages.
This will enlighten you on what you should do before fuelling your boat.
What Should You Do Before Fueling Your Boat
1) Anchor Your Boat Well
One of the things you want to avoid when fuelling your boat is having an unstable boat.
This causes a lot of problems.
When a boat is not properly anchored, it will be moving about carelessly.
This can cause the nozzle to fall off during fuelling which is very dangerous.
So before you start fuelling your vessel or boat, make sure that you have anchored it well.
This will keep the boat in position and stop it from moving about uncontrollably.
2) Turn Off Boat Engine
Before you fuel any automobile, it is very important to stop the active state of the engine.
This can be easily done by turning off the engine.
This is also applicable to boats as well.
So before you start fuelling your boat, make sure that you have turned off the engine of the boat.
3) Make Sure That Nobody Is Smoking
Another thing you should do before fuelling your boat is to make sure that no body is smoking.
This should be checked in case people are in the boat.
It should also be checked for people that are outside the boat.
The fuelling period of a boat is a period you should be totally away from inflammable objects.
If someone is seen smoking, it is at best practice to make sure that the person destroys the smoked substance immediately.
This will avoid casualties that might occur as fire outbreak.
4) Close Boat Windows And Doors
When you fill the tank of your boat, you have to make sure that the fumes are prevented from entering the boat interior.
This can be done by closing the openings leading to the interior of the boat.
So make sure that you close the doors and windows of the boat.
This has to be done before you start fuelling your boat.
This will help in preventing fuel fumes from entering the boat.
5) Turn Off Devices That Can Cause a Spark
Another good safety precautions when fueling your boat is to make sure that there is no spark.
There are a lot of things that fall into this category.
It could be in the form of hitting a metal with a metal.
A spark can also be caused from poor electrical wirings.
Make sure that you check them well to avoid any explosion when refueling your boat.
6) Do Not Wait Till The Tank Is Empty
One of the bad things people do is to drive their boat till the fuel finishes totally.
This is a very bad practice which should be avoided.
When you drive your boat till it remains the last drop of fuel, you risk the safety of your engine.
This will cause some debris that settle at the bottom of the boat fuel tank to find its way into the engine.
When this happens, it leads to faults in the engine.
So when you discover that the fuel in your boat tank is less, make sure that you refuel before it finishes totally.
What Is a Good Safety Precautions When Fueling Your Boat
1) Keep Your Fire Extinguisher Close
Most of the times even when you have followed the safety measures, a casualty might still occur.
This could be a fire outbreak sometimes.
It could be caused by a carefree person with an inflammable object running close when you are fuelling your boat.
The best way to secure yourself and boat is to always keep a fire extinguisher close when fuelling your boat.
This will help you to arrest any fire outbreak before it causes more damage in case it occurs.
2) Use Hozzle Without Leakage
When you are filling the tank of your boat, you have to be very safety conscious.
Also you have to make sure that you avoid wastage at all cost.
This can be accomplished by making sure that your fuel nozzle is not leaking.
This will help reduce the chances of fire outbreak from the leaked fuel.
Also, it will help avoid wastage of the fuel due to leakage.
So always make sure that you use a fuel nozzle that is free from any type of leakage.
3) Refuel Boat Tank During The Day
A very good safety precautions when fueling your boat is to make sure that it is done in the day time.
This will help you avoid a lot of bad things that might occur.
It will help you avoid spark from lighting source that could lead to an explosion.
Also it will help you to notice a leakage from the nozzle in case there is any.
4) Do Not Fill The Boat Tank To The Maximum Level
When you look at any fuel containing object, you will observe that there is a space between the maximum fuel limit and the apex of the container.
This is to give some room for some of the gases that is contained in the fuel.
The same thing applies to your boat fuel tank.
When you fuel the tank of your boat, make sure that you do not fill the fuel to the tank cap level.
This will be an overfill which is not too good.
You have to leave space for some of the gases to avoid expanding the tank due to high built up pressure inside the fuel tank.
5) Keep Nozzle In Good Contact With Tank When Refuelling
Always make sure that you keep the contact of the fuel nozzle with the tank in a very close condition.
This will avoid the nozzle from falling off the entrance of the tank when you are releasing fuel into the tank of the boat.
Having a nozzle at loose contact with the tank is not good in any way.
It could easily fall off and spill the fuel all over the place.
This is very dangerous as it can easily cause an explosion.
Apart from the explosion, it will lead to the wastage of fuel.
What To Do After Fuelling Boat
Even after you have successfully finished fuelling your boat, you still have to follow safety procedures to make sure that the whole fuelling process is a success.
Some of the safety things you should do after fuelling boat includes;
1) Clean Any Fuel That Spilled
After you have successfully filled your boat tank with fuel, there might be a trace of some spilled fuel.
This can be on the body of the boat or tank.
It can also be seen on the floor.
Fuel can damage the painting of the boat body when it comes in contact with the body of a boat.
To avoid this, you have to clean off any fuel that had gained contact with the body of your boat during the fuelling process.
Also if you notice that the fuel had spilled on the ground, you should make sure that you clean if off immediately.
2) Close The Tank Cap Tightly
The cap of the fuel tank gives access to the interior of the fuel tank.
It should be kept open only when you are fuelling the tank of your boat.
On no account should you leave it open.
Leaving it open will allow unwanted objects to enter the fuel tank.
This could be solid objects or objects I liquid form like water which is very bad to the fuel tank and boat engine.
To avoid this, do not just close the fuel tank but make sure that you close the fuel cap tightly.
This will prevent water or any unwanted thing from entering the fuel tank of the boat.
When Fueling Your Boat What Should You Remember To Use?
1) Make Sure You Use a Good Fuel
When fueling your boat, you should make sure that you use a fuel quality that is very good.
This is very important and should not be joked with.
Any mistake in this will lead to the damage of your fuel tank as well as the damage of your boat engine.
This can be done by buying fuel from reputable places that sell fuel.
One of the common causes why people use bad fuel in their boat is when the price of the fuel is low.
If it is being sold at a reputable fuel station, you can buy but if it is being sold by a less reputable vendor, you have to avoid this.
Most of the cheap fuel from less reputable vendors are always low quality which lead to damage in the engine of your boat.
So always make sure that you buy from reputable vendors that sell fuel for your boat.
Conclusion
In order to use your vessel or boat for an extensive period of time, you have to pay attention to a lot of safety rules.
This cuts across obeying good safety precautions when fueling your boat.
Also, what should you do before fueling your boat should be paid close attention to.
It will safe your boat from damage.
Also it will safe your passengers too from encountering health hazards like inhaling fuel fumes.
Further Reading