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Hi, Christopher Hughes of BoatTest.com.
This message is brought to you by our good friends at Allstate Insurance.
Remember, they've been insuring boaters for over 40 years.
Today we're going to take a look at fueling safety.
Let's start with a few of the basics. First off is approaching the fuel dock.
You want to make sure you do it in a safe manner,
following all approved patterns within your particular marina.
Once you get alongside the dock, secure your boat properly, fore and aft.
Then you're going to ask your passengers to get off while you proceed with your fueling.
Now let's go through the checklist.
Our first stop is going to be at the helm.
We want to make sure that the boat is powered down
and any electrical equipment is in the off position.
We recommend you consult your operator's manual
before you fuel your new boat for the first time.
There are differences between an outboard and an inboard in sterndrives,
but for our checklist today, we're going to start by opening our hatch
and inspecting. We're looking for damaged lines, we're smelling for fuel leaks,
and generally making sure that everything is connected properly.
Now, if your particular boat has a cabin, make sure you close the hatch
so the fuel vapors won't get inside.
And also, remind everyone around, no smoking during the fueling.
Next on our checklist is fire safety. Locate and find out
where the nearest fire extinguisher is other than the one on your boat.
And also, just in case, find out where the spill kit is.
One thing we really want to point out -- it may seem humorous, but it's not:
know where your actual filling ports are. This is not a filling port.
This is a rod holder. Your filling port will be marked clearly "gas."
When you do begin your filling process, go ahead and open up the fill port first
so you're not holding onto the gas hose, fumbling around.
As you begin your filling, make sure you keep the nozzle in contact
with your fill port at all times. Be aware of any spillage that might happen
and have an absorbent rag on hand to clean that up.
When the fueling is complete, again, make sure there's no spillage...
secure your nozzle, close up your fueling port.
Now that the fueling is complete, go back in again, open up your engine hatches,
check your lines, double check again for leaks now that the boat is full.
For those of you with inboard engines, make sure that you have
your blowers on before you start up, and check for the recommended timings.
Now, when we're not fueling up the fuel dock and we're on a trailer,
we're going to follow exactly the same safety steps.
Today, fueling up a PWC, we want to make sure that we open up our hatches,
do our inspections and look for leaks. Most importantly,
open up the hatch to the engine compartment.
That way we can ventilate any gas fumes.
So for BoatTest.com and our friends at Allstate Insurance, I'm Christopher Hughes.