PFD carriage specifics on Public Vessels are found in the vessel’s safety booklet. This booklet is the official, on-board reference that lists exactly what types and sizes of life jackets must be carried, how many, where they’re located, and how they should be maintained and inspected. It’s prepared by the vessel operator and kept on board so crew and passengers can verify compliance during inspections and daily operations. Other sources aren’t as reliable for this purpose: the owner’s manual may cover general operations but usually doesn’t specify PFD counts or placement for every voyage, the internet can be outdated or non-specific, and captain’s notes are informal and not the official policy for the vessel.

The heading indication is built around a stable reference: the compass card. In a properly installed marine compass, the card provides the fixed scale of degrees. The bowl (the damped, liquid-filled housing) and the lubber’s line are the moving parts that rotate around that card. This arrangement lets the ship’s fore-and-aft alignment be read by where the stationary lubber’s line intersects the rotating card’s graduations. The damped bowl smooths out quick motions, while the card stays as the consistent reference for heading.

A backfire flame arrestor must stay clean and intact to do its job of cooling and quenching any flames that try to travel back toward the fuel system. When it’s dirty or damaged, those small passages can be blocked or cracked, so it can’t stop a flame from propagating or from igniting vapors. That’s why it may not function properly and permit flammable vapors to ignite, increasing the fire risk. Keep it clean and replace it if damaged to maintain its protective function.

The main idea is how the equipment is installed and powered on a boat. Permanent systems are designed to stay in one spot and are wired into the boat’s electrical system, so they require hard wiring. Portable systems aren’t fixed; they can be moved between vessels and run on batteries or temporary power, without permanent wiring. That’s why the correct understanding is that permanent systems need to be hard wired, whereas portable ones do not. The other statements don’t fit: fixed systems aren’t defined by not being wired, portable devices aren’t inherently more powerful, and the two types aren’t identical.