Owner/User Responsibility

Original manual page 67

General Safety Tips:

Do not venture out when the weather conditions are unfavorable or are predicted to become so. Listen to weather forecasts, check with your Harbor Patrol office, and look out for small craft warnings.
Be especially careful in areas where there may be commercial shipping traffic. Keep well away from shipping channels. Keep a sharp lookout when crossing the shipping channels.
Learn to follow the rules of the road. All other sailors will expect that you know them and abide by them. The U.S. Coast Guard (BBE-2), 400 S. Eleventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590, will supply free literature on this. Your local branch or Harbor Patrol office may have it available.
If your boat has a genoa sail that obscures the helmsman's vision, have a dependable person in the crew keep a sharp look-out under the genoa sail for traffic.
When sailing at night, provide safety harnesses for yourself and your crew, and secure these lines to the boat. Use approved harnesses.
Purchase all Coast Guard required safety equipment and learn how to use it.
Enroll in a C.G. class or other certified boating and sailing class. You will learn a lot and enjoy sailing even more.
Do not take more than a safe number of persons aboard your boat when sailing.
Marine insurance is worth every penny you pay for it. Take out insurance from the start. See your dealer for a recommended marine agent if you do not have one.
Keep all seat hatches and main hatch closed during rough weather or gusty winds which could unexpectedly strike the boat and cause a knock down.
CAUTION! The aluminum mast, and the metal parts conduct electricity. Coming in contact with, or approaching an electrical power line can be fatal. Stay away from overhead power lines and wires of any kind, when launching, underway, or when stationary.

Required Safety Equipment:

Fire Extinguisher:

It is wise to locate a minimum of two, approved for marine use, fire extinguishers, one forward of the galley and one behind the galley, preferably below the cockpit hatch. Should an alcohol stove or engine fire start, you can always reach a fire extinguisher. For example, you do not want to locate both of your extinguishers in the bow area because if you are located in the cockpit, you would have to get by the danger area to reach them if the fire is either in the galley or engine area.

Dry chemical extinguishers should be inverted occasionally to prevent the contents from packing. Extinguishers should be recharged yearly or after each use, according to manufacturer's recommendations.

Life Vests:

Keep a Coast Guard approved life vest aboard for each crew member. Wear them during rough weather and night sailing. Children should wear vests at all times no matter how they object.

Horn:

Your yacht should be equipped with a horn capable of producing a blast that can be heard for a distance of one mile.

Flares:

The law requires that your yacht be equipped with a minimum of 3 day/night flares.

Suggested Safety Equipment and Safety Package:

Medical Kit:

A basic medical kit is a wise investment for any boat owner. Suggested items include: Motion sickness pills, aspirin, bandages, etc. We recommend that you personalize your medical supplies for you and your crew's specific needs.

Toolkit:

A varied arrangement of tools is again, a wise investment, to have on your boat. Tailor your tool box for the conditions that you sail. For local sailing, with professional help just a phone call away, you only need a small array of tools. However, for long range cruising, a more extensive supply of tools will be needed.

Lightning Precautions:

Your yacht was not provided with a lightning protection system during construction. The reasons are as follows:

There is no procedure for lightning protection which is proven reliable under all conditions. Yachts with elaborate lightning protection systems have sustained serious damage from a direct lightning strike.
If the builder were to assert that the yacht was lightning protected, it could instill a false sense of confidence in the owner or operator, leading to less-than-prudent actions when lightning threatens.
Lightning systems are "out of sight, out of mind", except when lightning threatens. Generally, they are not checked and maintained on a regular basis. A defect in the system (i.e., a break in a ground line) could, in some cases, increase the risk of personal harm, as well as damage to the yacht, as compared to a yacht with no protection. The reason for this is that many lightning protection systems distribute the high voltage throughout the yacht before allowing it to exit through the ground.
It is impossible for Catalina Yachts to control changes which you, the owner, may make to the yacht, which could affect lightning protection systems.

You, the owner, must decide whether or not you wish to equip your yacht with lightning protection. And, if so, the method of doing it. For your guidance, a copy of ABYC recommendations is attached (see Lightning Protection). The following suggestions and comments are also offered:

Keep the system as simple as possible. This will facilitate both installation and inspection/maintenance. Perhaps a single over-size ground (battery cable) from the mast to the engine, coupled with external shroud grounds (see 2 below), will maximize reliability.
ABYC recommends straight-line wire runs, which is virtually impossible within the yacht. For grounding the shrouds: A battery cable, which clips to each shroud and extends outside the yacht to the water, can minimize the number of bends required. This method has the added advantages of keeping the power surge outside the boat and allowing easy, routine inspection. The obvious disadvantage is that the clip on cables are not a permanent installation and may not be in place when an unexpected lightning strike occurs.
Use only top quality materials to go oversize wherever possible.
Keep all permanent attachment points and connections where they are readily available for inspection, yet protected from damage or inadvertent disconnection.

Factory installed metal tanks, 100 volt systems and major components are grounded to the engine. The engine is grounded via the shaft and propeller to the water. The purpose of internal grounding is for static charge control and accidental shorts in the internal systems - not to provide lightning protection. However, you can incorporate the ground lines present in a lightning protection system you may wish to add.

By far, the most important consideration regarding lightning is observing common sense safety precautions when lightning threatens. The key considerations are listed in the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) publication, which is printed herein.