🔍 Key Concepts

• Life floats and buoyant apparatus requirements in 46 CFR (lifesaving equipment standards) • What a painter is used for and why its length and strength matter • How rope size is specified (diameter vs. circumference, manila vs. synthetic)

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: for a small-capacity device (49 persons or less), would the painter need to be extremely long, or just long enough to safely handle and control the float alongside? • Look at which options specify rope material and dimensions in the traditional way used in regulations (circumference and type) versus more modern or arbitrary-sounding specs. • Convert fathoms to feet and compare that length to the 90 ft and 100 ft options—does the regulation for small life floats really call for something that long?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which option mentions manila rope or equivalent and gives the size in circumference, as that is how many older lifesaving rope requirements are written in 46 CFR. • Double-check the length units: 1 fathom = 6 feet, so confirm what “four fathoms” equals in feet before comparing choices. • Confirm that the requirement in the CFR for life floats/buoyant apparatus of 49 persons or less does NOT specify an overly long painter more appropriate to larger survival craft.