Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[Tuttlet]

There is usually a smoking area, usually of the top deck, usually aft.

Granted, and entirely appropriate. What about inside though? If it's pouring out and you're gathered to chat, are the smokers really sent out into the gale? Not just divers, who may be more safety-conscious than others, but the rest of the boating community.

My point was to determine if that's another reason not to have a smoke detector installed, it's just too annoying to have around.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Granted, and entirely appropriate. What about inside though? If it's pouring out and you're gathered to chat, are the smokers really sent out into the gale? Not just divers, who may be more safety-conscious than others, but the rest of the boating community.

My point was to determine if that's another reason not to have a smoke detector installed, it's just too annoying to have around.

So far, I've not been on a liveaboard where anyone is allowed to smoke indoors, not even though the boat is from a culture that allows smoking anywhere, for example Indonesia.

Perhaps there are some boats in Red Sea that allow smoking indoors? Hope not.

 

[Dirty Mac]

I get what you're all saying but I think you'll see, at least in the U.S., a lot of new USCG stuff because people are already saying to them, "How could you approve all of this?"

If nothing else, divers are, at least for a while, hyper-aware and will simply demand changes with their feet and their pocketbooks. Boats that make changes and upgrade (as Nautilus has) will use it as a marketing tool. Those that don't will be left in the lurch.

As for grandfathering, a number of years ago, Mexico decided they would no longer certify all-wood vessel as commercial passenger vessels for a variety of reasons. That's why the Don Jose, which we had used for 26 years, ceased to exist. I'm not suggesting USCG will be that Draconian, but the idea of "grandfathered in" may be taking a hit - and perhaps deservedly so - in light of all of this.

- Ken

They'll probably put a time limit and date certain on the grandfathering. Like maybe, '5 years more from this last inspection. And then on such and such date certain 5 years from now, this COI for this boat will no longer be renewable for this commercial purpose." Gives the owner some time to come up with something new....or make some other tough decision.

 

[JohnnyC]

Granted, and entirely appropriate. What about inside though? If it's pouring out and you're gathered to chat, are the smokers really sent out into the gale? Not just divers, who may be more safety-conscious than others, but the rest of the boating community.

My point was to determine if that's another reason not to have a smoke detector installed, it's just too annoying to have around.

Yes, if you want to smoke on the boat you go out where you're not burdening anyone else with your smoking. It's not cool to force other people to smoke along with you. Even in a gale. The air is everybody's to share, a smoker doesn't get to be the one to decide the contents of said air.

(Unless you're the captain. Caveat for the semantics wizards.)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

In California, you can no longer smoke inside public buildings, many private buildings nor at parks and beaches. I doubt anyone would allow smoking inside a boat.

 

[broncobowsher]

One of my boat briefings (I forget which one) stated the smoking area was 25' behind the boat. As the crewman was pointing into the ocean behind the boat. "If you are smoking on the boat we will assume you are on fire and safely put the fire out by throwing you overboard. At which point the man overboard drill is..."

But if you go back in history to when this boat was first built in the early 80's, smoking WAS very accepted in the society. I am sure there was plenty of packs smoked in the cabin back in the day. We have not always been at the standards that we are at now. Some people may be too young to remember that, or are old enough to know but choose to ignore the past.

 

[Akimbo]

The smoking light is out in most places in California (the link explains for landlubbers). Vaping too.

 

[Wookie]

Granted, and entirely appropriate. What about inside though? If it's pouring out and you're gathered to chat, are the smokers really sent out into the gale? Not just divers, who may be more safety-conscious than others, but the rest of the boating community.

My point was to determine if that's another reason not to have a smoke detector installed, it's just too annoying to have around.

I’ve never heard of a boat that allows smoking anywhere but the smoking area. The other passengers would riot.

 

[Wookie]

Yes, if you want to smoke on the boat you go out where you're not burdening anyone else with your smoking. It's not cool to force other people to smoke along with you. Even in a gale. The air is everybody's to share, a smoker doesn't get to be the one to decide the contents of said air.

(Unless you're the captain. Caveat for the semantics wizards.)

My smoking second captain was allowed to smoke on the bridge wing while navigating. Although I love Captain Randy like a brother, we had to let him go because he would prop the bridge wing door open and fill the boat with smoke. And the bridge wing smelled like an ashtray. He found a job on another boat.

 

[pepperbelly]

I know of a few who people travel with a personal smoke/CO detector, although I've never seen one on a Liveaboard. It seems to be more common when traveling to those remote backwaters of the world where safety can be an unregulated afterthought. People who use Airbnb frequently are also known to carry their own. I'm not sure how much value it would be on a Liveaboard, but one of the mariners here would have speak whether there would be any objection to this.

There has been a lot of discussion in this thread about what the boat operators can do, but was going to make much the same point that @Ken Kurtis did above. There is a lot we can do as divers -- i.e., actually paying serious attention to the safety briefings, personally testing the escape hatches to ensure that we can work them, and making a note as to the location of exits, fire extinguishers, etc. We can avoid knock-off chargers and batteries, use fireproof storage and charging containers, and monitor the batteries we're charging and promptly unplug them when they're done. I'm sure if we think about it, there are many other simple ways we can help make these boats safer for ourselves and others.

Many divers carry a CO detector to check the air in their tanks.
A smoke detector in a berth may not give a warning as quickly as one in a main area, but a late warning is better than no warning.