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HMS BOATING SAFETY REVIEW:
25' FARALLON (HMS FRIENDSHIP) / TRAILER

HMS boat rules:

• Recreational use of HMS boats is not permitted.
• Solo use of boats between dusk and dawn is not permitted.
• Proposed uses of the Friendship must be submitted to the HMS Boat Committee for approval.
• The skipper must be checked out to the level of boating being conducted.
• Friendship users must take the California Boating Safety Course test or document equivalent knowledge, and must crew on this or similar boat under local conditions or equivalent, before being checked out to skipper.

FRIENDSHIP PROCEDURES:

Important: Check the boat the day (or a few days) before you plan to use it (including gas, battery charge, and radio charge) to avoid last-minute aggravation.

Hooking up the Friendship trailer:
- Use the heavy-duty hitch (in cabinet in garage). Cross safety chains, shackle emergency trailer brake chain to truck bumper. Connect trailer-light cable, and check to make sure the lights work.
- Make sure the outdrive is up and resting on the brace.
- Check that 3 hooks connect to the bow eye: winch hook, safety chain, and turnbuckle.
SAFETY CHECK: walk around trailer, and do a final visual check before driving it anywhere.

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Prior to trip:
- Get keys and winch battery from garage.
- Make sure there is sufficient gasoline for the planned trip.
- Check/clean water filter in engine compartment, check oil, check coolant, check blower conduit.
- The Friendship must have the following items on board:

• Functional flares with current date (min. 3day, 3 night), radio, fire extinguishers, horn, tools, bailing device (small bucket and hand pump in center hold)
• One life jacket per person plus one throwable floatation device
• If diving: DAN emergency oxygen box containing O2 equipment and first aid kit; dive flag
• Anchor (check to make sure it is properly stowed and attached at the bitter end), plus a spare
• If going further out, consider additional safety equipment (extra radio, EPIRB, exposure suits…)

- Stow gear so that safety equipment and dock lines are accessible.
- Remove solar panel battery trickle charger unit and place in dive lockers. Cap the outlet on the side of the engine compartment.
- Fill out float plan in dive lockers and tell your plan to someone who will be around to notice if you're not back on time.

Trailering:
- Remember to do exaggerated, wide turns since the trailer tracks inside the truck path.
- Keep in mind the additional braking distance needed when trailering the Friendship.
Launching:
- No one shall ride in the boat while it is being trailered.
- Prepare boat at top of ramp, out of the way of ramp traffic. Remove outdrive brace. Raise antennas.- Put out fenders. Turn battery on (alternating from one most recently used), start blower. Unhook turnbuckle (leave safety chain and winch hook connected to bow eye). Make sure winch brake is snug.
- Back Friendship down ramp slowly, using "drive" gear as needed.
- When trailer wheels are in water, stop the truck and disconnect the safety chain and winch hooks. Have two people man the bow and stern lines. Back a short distance further until truck wheels are just at reach of surge, then brake firmly to bump the boat off the trailer. Pull boat off completely and make fast to dock cleats. Timing is especially important when there is a lot of surge.

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Start-up:
- Lower outdrive completely.
- Start engine after blower has been running for at least 3 minutes. Recommendation: pull off cover before starting, and don't let passengers aboard until engine has started and cover is replaced.
- Allow engine to idle for a few minutes before leaving dock.
- Make sure motor locks into reverse properly before loosing dock lines.

Motoring:
- Throttle can be sticky, so brace heel of hand on throttle mount.
- No wake in harbor - go slowly. Once outside harbor, get on a plane.
- Match speed to conditions, and avoid porpoising.
- Passengers may not ride on bow while underway, except during launch and recovery operations.

Retrieval:
- Turn off engine, raise outdrive, lower antennas.
- Keep boat under control with bow and stern lines as it is floated onto trailer, lining up properly with rollers. Time this operation carefully with the surge. Connect winch hook to bow eye.
- Use battery-powered winch to pull boat further onto trailer while maintaining control with lines. Keep winch brake only as tight as necessary to maintain friction, no tighter.
- Connect safety chain when possible, then pull trailer slowly up ramp.
- Out of the way of ramp traffic, pull in fenders, attach outdrive brace and lower outdrive onto it, connect turnbuckle and tighten it, and release tension on winch line. Replace battery lead in box.
- Walk around trailer and visually inspect before trailering.

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Clean-up:
- Lower outdrive, flush motor for at least 3 minutes.
- Flush trailer using the two hose attachments; rinse trailer thoroughly, paying special attention to rollers. Rinse truck springs, wheels, brakes.
- Clean boat thoroughly, inside and out. Run bilge pumps while rinsing engine compartment and holds. Use hand pump to remove water that bilge pumps leave. If the boat will sit for an extended period, use wet/dry vac in dive locker cabinet to get compartments completely dry.
- Stow equipment tidily, let boat dry before covering. Connect battery charger. Fill out boat log.
- Park boat properly, with outdrive down, and replace trailer hitch and keys in garage.

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