Fire Destroys two boats in Edmonds, WA

Two 50' boats were destroyed.* One sank.* Not a good way to start the new year.

http://edmonds.patch.com/articles/fire-destrosy-2-boats-at-edmonds-marina


-- Edited by bobc on Saturday 31st of December 2011 01:51:00 PM

If you learn the cause please post it here. It might be something the rest of us could benefit from knowing so we can prevent it on our own boats.

Marin wrote:
If you learn the cause please post it here. It might be something the rest of us could benefit from knowing so we can prevent it on our own boats.

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Will do.* Electrical would be my guess, it was a bit colder last night and there was a fair amount of wind yesterday.** I know it's rough outside when I see the Victorica Clipper coming down Saratoga Passage.

I've been making a habit of running the electric heat full blast in the boat while I'm up there and then checking for warm ends on the shore-power cord before I turn it back down to the freeze setting before leaving.

bobc,

That seems a good way to test your wiring. Do you test your car at 140 mph before driving it 70? Hmmmmmm * Looks like you live in Everett. You do'nt live in Everett and moore in Edmonds do you? That's where we bought Willy .....was at Edmonds Marina. The first time I saw her was like this photo.

Eric Henning


-- Edited by nomadwilly on Saturday 31st of December 2011 03:27:31 PM

Jay N keeps his Pac Trawler at Edmonds, I wonder if he will comment on what he hears

nomadwilly wrote:
bobc,

That seems a good way to test your wiring. Do you test your car at 140 mph before driving it 70? Hmmmmmm * Looks like you live in Everett. You do'nt live in Everett and moore in Edmonds do you? That's where we bought Willy .....was at Edmonds Marina. The first time I saw her was like this photo.

Eric Henning

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Eric, I've never kept a boat in Edmonds.* I'm in La Conner right now.* Edmonds is a nice place to spend a night or two.

bobc wrote:

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Will do.* Electrical would be my guess, it was a bit colder last night and there was a fair amount of wind yesterday.** I know it's rough outside when I see the Victorica Clipper coming down Saratoga Passage.

I've been making a habit of running the electric heat full blast in the boat while I'm up there and then checking for warm ends on the shore-power cord before I turn it back down to the freeze setting before leaving.

*I find I use my IR gun to check for incipient shorts as much as I use if for anything else. *We're in Port Townsend right now and one of the lights in the master was acting funky. *The IR gun showed the switch on the lamp getting hot, which was replaced. *The gun made it easy to spot the problem....

Latest rumor from Port of Edmonds was an electrical event on one of the boats.* The less damaged boat was taken to the work yard, where it had a brief flare up about 1830 this evening.

The*remains of the 47' Bayliner are now blocked up at the travelift pressure washing location, investigators will have a look at it tomorrow.* There's not much left of her.*

Two boats at the end of the dock had people onboard that were taken off by rescue boat, some smoke inhaled, but they're reportedly ok tonight.

What apparently kept this fire relatively small is the fact that several berths outboard of these two vessels were empty.

Nothing uglier than a boat on fire, unless it's several boats on fire at a marina.

It would not suprise me if this turns out to be heater related.

The Bayliner 47 has several factory electric heaters.

Like many boats, the electrical system is running at full capacity with the heaters on. Get that much current, and any high resistance connections can heat up in a hurry.

The IR gun idea that was posted was a good one. You cannot check every connection, but periodic spot checks can save allot of grief down the road.

ksanders wrote:
It would not suprise me if this turns out to be heater related.

The Bayliner 47 has several factory electric heaters.

*

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*Kevin

Do you know if they are Thermador electric forced air heaters in the Bayliners?* I have three which were installed from the factory,*

Had one bad experience where the circulation fan motor failed*and over heated the unit.* Fortunately we were sitting right there and noticed the burning smell and disabled it before something lit up.* Now I take the face plates off them every year, clean and inspect them.* Like a home unit, they accumulate dust and fuzz and as we all know, lint is a great fire starter.*

My ex-wife and her husband lost their 28'*travel trailer last week same thing.* It was in winter storage, about 30' from*their house near Poulsbo,*and had a small heater on the floor inside to keep the*moisture out.* Burned*the trailer to the ground and damaged the siding and blew a window out of their house.

Larry B


-- Edited by Edelweiss on Sunday 1st of January 2012 10:46:46 AM

I don't know the brand but they are forced air units.

They should have a high temp cutoff but I haven't checked ours to make sure.

I always turn off the battery charger and other stuff when running electric heaters onboard. I charge the batteries in thawing weather. That's one of my concerns moving back to Washington is being in a big marina and my boat's safety being subject to so many other boat owners. bobc, I plan on "B" float in the so hbr at LaConner at this time.

Eric

Turns out both boats were Bayliner 47's, one was newer than the other.

Aftermath:

ksanders wrote:
I don't know the brand but they are forced air units. They should have a high temp cutoff but I haven't checked ours to make sure.

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Mine do have a high temp shutoff, but it is*momentary thermal switch and resets itself after a minute or so.* I had an electrian look at*them and he*install a fusable link in each as well.* Manufactures recommendation was to clean every six months.* I hadn't internally cleaned ours for ten years, could have been a big mistake!!

LB***

nomadwilly wrote:
bobc,

That seems a good way to test your wiring. Do you test your car at 140 mph before driving it 70? Hmmmmmm * Looks like you live in Everett. You do'nt live in Everett and moore in Edmonds do you? That's where we bought Willy .....was at Edmonds Marina. The first time I saw her was like this photo.

Eric Henning

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*Very pretty boat, Eric!

nomadwilly wrote:
That's one of my concerns moving back to Washington

______________________________________________________

When are you doing that?........................ * Arctic Traveller

*

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*

nomadwilly wrote:
...*moving back to Washington ...*

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*Eric, when and why?

nomadwilly wrote:
...*moving back to Washington ...*

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*

Yeah! Eric if you do that, that leaves what? Me and Superdiver as the only representatives of Alaska in the Trawler forum Fleet.

Oh well. You will always be South East Eric to me.

SD

Soon and over the next 9 months. We're making the first run south starting friday the 13th just to make it interesting. This move is going to be expensive because of the high prices on the ferry and gasoline through BC. Anybody know what gas costs in Smithers? But it will be a bit fun too. We're going to the boat show and the flower and garden show on this first trip. Plan on being down for the better part of a month. We're taking the newer Buick, the Suburban and 14' utility trailer down w enough stuff (bed, tables and chairs ect) to live there normally when we're south. Who knows when the Alaska house (castle) will sell. Most of our stuff will come via container w barge and tug (Northland Marine Services) to West Marginal Way in Seattle. Then we'll need to hire tractor-trailers to get the container(s) to our house in Concrete Wa. The boat (Willy) will need to come down sometime before next winter but will probably go late spring or mid summer.*

Why??? * *We love Alaska but my cousin Ann said it best when she found we'd moved to Alaska * ..."But what do you dooooooo?". Think of all the things you did last week and consider how many would not be done in Alaska. 95% of what people do here is hunt and fish and I do neither. And I'm sure I'll do more boating in Puget Sound. Shopping, friends and traveling by road ... like I like it. I guess it was a little like pinching one's self and saying "are we having fun" ... the answer was more no than yes. Among many other things I'll now get a chance to meet some of my Trawler Forum friends.*

Eric

Eric I feel your "what to do, what to take, what to get rid of etc" issues. We ( like many more here probably ) have moved so much over the last 35yrs chasing work, leaving behind memories on each destination. Living in one place wanting to be in another until roots are formed. Each move seems to be more expensive than the last. Then there's the "I should have" feelings associated with moves.. ( should have stayed, should have left earlier ) that we never seem to get away from but such is how life goes. The problem we found with going back to places we've lived before is how things ( people mostly ) have changed and it was like starting all over again.

Our last plan is a 7yr plan to relocate permanently ( retire )*with*only 5 more yrs to go so I am trying to make sure I have all my things covered ( visited for a month here and there ) but who knows, once we get settled, just might want to be somewhere else. Our knawing issue is; all our Kids & Grandkids are living in Western Canada while we want to settle in the East. Not much water in Alberta to float a yacht hahaha

Good luck with your plan and I wish you health & patience in the relocation decisions not to mention a safe & satisfying result.*

Elwin*

Delfin wrote:*I find I use my IR gun to check for incipient shorts as much as I use if for anything else.....The IR gun showed the switch on the lamp getting hot, which was replaced. *The gun made it easy to spot the problem....

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*Very smart use of an IR gun and one I have never thought of.* I use the "hand" method of determining if a plug or socket or wire is warm but that's a fallible method at best.* Thanks for bringing the IR gun idea to my attention.

Ocean Breeze NL wrote:
Our knawing issue is; all our Kids & Grandkids are living in Western Canada while we want to settle in the East. Not much water in Alberta to float a yacht hahaha

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*That's why there's WestJet.* Great airline flying great planes (ours) and connects almost everywere in Canada with everywhere eise in Canada.


-- Edited by Marin on Monday 2nd of January 2012 01:31:12 PM

Agree with you Martin, that was one thing that is making the future relocation a little easier. Luv WJ. Also knowing the youngest will be 8ish in 5 or so years makes spending time at Grandpa's retirement home doing things they normally don't do a little more reason for them to visit. Once they get involved with their friends and activities*:nerd:*our visits at their places will be a hi and goodbye then off to hang out with their things. Grandma is going to have a rough time with not seeing them each week or so then but once she gets rejected because their friends are more important then the parting will be a little easier ( I hope ). The oldest is already bugging his Mom and Dad about spending time on Grandpa's boat ( hopefully this summer ) and maybe when his Mom isn't looking*:shocked:, a ride on the motorcycle may just hook him to wanna spend more time in Newfoundland. Who knows, he might be the one that will want a yacht someday.*


Elwin*

OB NL,

We're not leaving much. Taking just about everything......all 11 boats, tools, most furniture and about 75% of clothing. Most of what er're leaving is a result of cleaning house and not the move. $250. a month moorage is weighing heavily on me but it's not a deal breaker so I think I'll keep on boating for the near future at least. Moorage in Puget Sound is not a good deal, not fair and unjustifiable in my book but I'll bet ther'es something I do'nt know about it that causes it to be so high. And re the new house it will only be good until*we are unable to climb the steps or put in an elevator. Moving is a little like marriage.....always think it's final and then change does a number on you and off we go on a new tangent. Thanks, I'll take your good luck wish on the road w us across BC in the winter. Went to Anchorage in the dead of winter once and only went off the road once so I'd like to do a bit better than than that. I'm a little apprehensive but not really worried. When the weather dictates we'll just stop. I expect it will be a bit of fun.

Eric

So Eric if you do get stuck in the snow or go off the road on your trip, don't wander off from your vehicle looking for the next town over the hill like the Canadian couple did in Arizona. She lived to say "he went that way", he never did show up.*

I know you are much wiser than I but at the end of the day ( other than your toys ) it is all just stuff.*

Elwin*

It appears there are not many electric built in electric heaters with needed safe guards. The one that stands out in made in Seattle by King-Electric. I could find nothing negative about their product line except the high price. They appear UL approved for marine envioment. Worth looking into if electric heat needed. I would think power supply should be 10-3 marine wire with high quality C/B inline. A clear area behind the mounted unit with good air flow would also help.

nomadwilly wrote:Moorage in Puget Sound is not a good deal, not fair and unjustifiable in my book but I'll bet ther'es something I do'nt know about it that causes it to be so high.

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*There are two reasons.* One is competition.* Many more boats than slips.* While there has been a temporary reduction in demand in some marinas, in others the demand is as high as ever.* And as the economy comes back (for the upper earners if not for the lower ones) the demand for slips will start coming back and growing.* In Bellingham right now, as I understand it, for a 35'-45' slip the wating list is some four years.* Their are three boathouses for sale that I know of in our marina.* All three are in the $50,000-$100,000 range.

The second reason is the cost of everything is zooming upwards.* The cost of security is going up (Washington just raised its minimum pay to the highest in the nation, for example).* The cost of garbage collection is going up.* The cost of electricity is going up.* And on and on and on. And these things always go up much faster in urban areas--- Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Bellingham--- than they do in out of the way places, like Thorne Bay.

OB NL,

On the last snowy trip I mentioned we just felt the ride getting a bit rough and then the car just stopped. We looked around and saw a Cafe and Garage about 150 yards over to the far left. We got out of the car, hiked over to the garage and asked to be pulled out. They said sure so we went into the cafe and had lunch. They ran their tow truck out where our car was and got it stuck. Had to fire up the Kenworth truck tow truck to get us over to the road and about that time we were through w lunch. I payed a small fee for the tow and as we were driving away we saw them pulling out the smaller tow truck. So I did run off the road but as you can see it was'nt much of an event.*

Marin, * *

ZOOMING UPWARDS is not what I want to hear. I do'nt care for Bellingham Bay much so LaConner and Anacortes are two obvious possibilities. When we were at Everett we found we spent way too much time in Saratoga Passage. Got rather tired of it and moved to LaConner. I do'nt know much about Anacortes but as I recall they do'nt have covered. Could consider Oak Harbor but it's further from Concrete. Prolly will wind up at LaConner.

Eric

Anacortes has covered moorage but not at the big Cap Sante public marina (so far as I know). There are private marinas that have covered moorage but I have no idea of the moorage rates. Cap Sante in Anacortes is a nice marina with good access to the San Juans and points north and the town also has some very good boatyards, engine shops, etc.* I have no idea what their waiting lists or moorage rates are like.

The other thing to be aware of is that more and more marinas are apparently going to the practice of charging for the footprint of the boat rather than the length of the slip. Bellingham has said they are "studying" this which probably means they will implement it eventually. But from what I have heard from people who pay moorage based on the hull footprint, it's become a license for marinas to print money. The few people I've talked to who have experienced this change said their moorage fees took a big jump up. They did not stay the same, nor did they go down.

And I'm sure you know this, but I think just about every marina in the greater Puget Sound area requires a boater to have liability insurance and give the marina proof of it. Some marinas say they want to be named on the policy but I don't know if that's ever really enforced. They say this at Squalicum but are happy simply being given a copy of our policy. Actually our insurance underwriter does this automatically every year so we don't even have to deal with it.

As an FYI, while I doubt it will be an issue for Nomad Willy, the Swinomish channel that runs in front of La Conner has not been dredged for several years now.* Federal funding for dredging was cut off as a spending reduction move some time ago.* According to the editorials that appear about this regularly in the local boating magazines, this is starting to present a problem with more groundings occuring as the waterway continues to silt in.





-- Edited by Marin on Monday 2nd of January 2012 10:07:18 PM

Yeah! Eric if you do that, that leaves what? Me and Superdiver as the only representatives of Alaska in the Trawler forum Fleet.


*Hey,* we'll help you fly the flag for Alaska.

And Eric, I seem to remember we owe you dinner, look us up........Arctic Traveller

*

Trawler training at www.arctictraveller.com


-- Edited by Arctic Traveller on Monday 2nd of January 2012 10:27:03 PM