Boy did I get lucky

[hollywood8118]

Spent yesterday working on the never ending list of upgrades on the new boat. In the afternoon a marine electrician (guy # 1) that I casually know stopped buy and thanked me for making a call to the Business he and the fellow (guy # 3) that owns the 60' sailboat next to me works for.
A alarm was beeping intermittently and I called another person (guy#2) I know who works for the same company and mentioned the beeping. It was intermittent but as I spoke with the guy it went to a continuous sound... it sounded like a low battery or some not too urgent alarm.
The conversation was overheard by guy 1 and he thought since the owner ( guy 3) was out of town for the weekend he would have a look.

As I talked to guy # 2, I did casually walk down the dock, felt the dock cord at both the plug ends, looked for anything out of the ordinary and didn't notice anything unusual.

When guy # 1 got to the boat shortly after I left the enclosed center cockpit was full of smoke, as was the salon on his entry and on opening the hatch to the engine space the entire place had burnt. It appears that the automatic suppression system did its job and saved the entire boat
(and the ones in close proximity, mine being the closest) . It was so hot that the fuel lines to the fuel filter had burnt through and all the wiring and anything plastic in the compartment is toast.

As both guy 3 that owns the boat and guy 1 are really well respected excellent marine electricians it is a real eye opener. Guy 1 suspects it was related to a heater ( as are most boat fires in the PNW this time of year) but was holding out on the surveyor for the insurance company to establish a cause.

Tis the season to check your ac system...

HOLLYWOOD

 

[DCBD]

It’s always good to hear of another story of someone paying attention at the docks and taking action when seeing/hearing something that doesn’t seem right. I live a long ways from my boat and although my brother makes regular checks, he’s not a real enthusiast and might not realize when something is going wrong. He goes onboard and checks the bilge, ropes etc but might not notice if something didn’t smell or sound right. So to some degree, I also rely on my neighbours to call alert if something was going wrong.
Personally, when I’m at the boat I’m very much aware of the boats around me without even thinking about it. I know my neighbours and wouldn’t think twice of making contact if I saw something that didn’t look right.
I have to question why people feel the need to run heaters on vacant boats through the winter season at all, it just seems to be a waste of electricity and I don’t understand what they’re gaining by doing this. I have talked to some people and they’re convinced it helps keeps their boat dry by keeping it warm during the cold season. I see it all the time, meters spinning counting the kw used, Webasto heaters running on boats that sit vacant for long periods of time. While away we keep our boat at ambient temperature and winterized. I’ve installed an solar/battery exhaust fan which exchanges the air daily and we have no trouble keeping our boat dry. While away we keep our Link 2000 on to keep the batteries charged and the automatic bilge pumps are turned on ready for service, all other breakers are in the off position. Am I just missing something here?

 

[Edelweiss]

Good Man. Dock mates need to watch out for each other.

Two winters back, one of my neighbors noticed my bilge pumps were running more often than usual and mentioned it to Dock Security. They called me and I ran down and checked the pumps. Sure enough I had a substantial leak. Further examination revealed an unknown boat had rammed my swim step leaving a nice bow dent, sheared four bolts (two below waterline) and punched a hole in the stern of my dingy.

Never ID'd the boat, but glad they notified me. Whatever it was, it was heavy!!

 

[GFC]

Good Job Hollywood on paying attention to what's going on around you.

Our marina will not share phone numbers of boat owners with other owners. Their idea of handling minor emergencies was for the person reporting it to call the marina's number, leave a message, and someone would get to it. That wasn't very efficient in my opinion so 3 years ago I put notes on all the boats on our dock asking people if they wanted to be on a digital (Excel file) listing I was going to put together so we could get in contact with each other.

Of the ~40 boats on our dock, about 25 provided their names, phone numbers, email addresses to me. I put together the list and emailed it out to those who joined. It hasn't prevented anything serious like Hollywood found, but I know of several calls to owners about alarms going off, spotlights left on, etc.

I'll leave another note in the spring asking for updates and info from new members.

 

[Bay Pelican]

Hollywood, nice job on paying attention, GFC your dock list is a good idea. Hope that if I ever go back to a dock that I have some good dock mates.

Marty

 

[hollywood8118]

The entire episode was a eye opener.. In hindsight all the close boats got really lucky the fire was extinguished and didn't re flare after the bottle was empty.

I always have a emergency contact placard placed in the window of my boat with my cell and home numbers.. have not had to use them yet.

HOLLYWOOD

 

[markpierce]

I always have a emergency contact placard placed in the window of my boat with my cell and home numbers.. have not had to use them yet.

 

[hollywood8118]

Hey Mark...
You need to redo your emergency contact card...
It's faded out from all that San Fransisco sunshine!
HOLLYWOOD
:lol:

I should of known you would have a picture of it..............

 

[markpierce]

Hollywood, I wiped out the number for posting on the Internet, but you are correct: the number has faded and needs to be redone.