Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Quiz · Safety and communications
You are about to launch the liferaft. What must you check about its painter before the canister goes over the side?
The deck of a yacht with a liferaft canister stowed at the rail. A gold line labelled painter comes out of the canister and ends in a loose coil on the deck, marked with a question mark, next to a deck cleat.
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That it is made fast to a strong point on the yacht. The painter does two jobs: a sharp pull on it fires the gas bottle that inflates the raft, and it keeps the raft tied to the yacht while the crew get in. Make it fast to a strong point first, then launch the canister to leeward and pull out the rest of the line to inflate it. Stay with the yacht for as long as she is the safer place to be, and leave when she is not: sinking, or a fire you cannot control.
