Boat Burns near Poulsbo - I think it is a Willard

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Yes, according to the Willard site, the Liberty Call was a 1977 Willard 30FS.

Sad to lose a classic, and very sad to lose a pet.
 
seems like a lot of boat fires out there in the PNW lately...:eek:
 
There always has been. Even before we got into this kind of boating I recall hearing about marina fires and individual boat fires on the news every year. Particularly during the winter. Most of them have been traced to faulty heaters or heaters drawing too much current for the boat's wiring, breakers that didn't break when they were supposed to, or some other similar electrical fault.

The recent big boathouse fire in Bellingham that destroyed 20 boats and killed two people was as of the other week being investigated with the thought that the couple who lived on their boat were drawing too much power for the ancient boathouse's wiring or connections. Stuff corrodes, rusts, resistance goes up, breakers corrode and don't work, old wires with old insulation crack and short out, and so on.

Shed-type boathouses are very popular in some of the marinas here. These are "condo" arrangements where individuals buy or lease individual slips in a single, long boathouse that has a back wall, end walls, and a roof but no solid dividers between the stalls. And most if not all of them do not have sprinker systems. So if a fire gets started in there, it is contained inside the boathouse, the heat builds up rapidly, the wooden structure starts to burn, and the fire jumps from boat to boat to boat in minutes.

The boathouse fires I've been aware of over the years have all occured in this type of boathouse, not the newer, individual and fully enclosed boathouses that are becoming more popular these days (and are very expensive).
 
Marin said:
There always has been. Even before we got into this kind of boating I recall hearing about marina fires and individual boat fires on the news every year. Particularly during the winter. Most of them have been traced to faulty heaters or heaters drawing too much current for the boat's wiring, breakers that didn't break when they were supposed to, or some other similar electrical fault.

The recent big boathouse fire in Bellingham that destroyed 20 boats and killed two people was as of the other week being investigated with the thought that the couple who lived on their boat were drawing too much power for the ancient boathouse's wiring or connections. Stuff corrodes, rusts, resistance goes up, breakers corrode and don't work, old wires with old insulation crack and short out, and so on.

Shed-type boathouses are very popular in some of the marinas here. These are "condo" arrangements where individuals buy or lease individual slips in a single, long boathouse that has a back wall, end walls, and a roof but no solid dividers between the stalls. And most if not all of them do not have sprinker systems. So if a fire gets started in there, it is contained inside the boathouse, the heat builds up rapidly, the wooden structure starts to burn, and the fire jumps from boat to boat to boat in minutes.

The boathouse fires I've been aware of over the years have all occured in this type of boathouse, not the newer, individual and fully enclosed boathouses that are becoming more popular these days (and are very expensive).
Click to expand...

It's a shame....I've been on the water either as a liveaboard or rescue guy for the last 35 years...only one in recent memory around these parts and it was at my marina....old woodie Cris Craft being resored and the wiring got her one late fall day.

Oh well...stay at least 4 boats away from the knuckleheads....:thumb:
 
Boat Fire

The boat named "Liberty Call" was on its way to the annual PNW Willard Boat Owners rendevous in LaConner scheduled for this weekend. Her skipper was rescued by a companion boat, "Ed's Piano", also a Willard 30. Sadly, Skipper Doug lost both his beloved boat and his dog in the fire. No idea of the cause, just that it appears to have gone out of control rapidly, requiring Doug to abandon ship in a hurry. I'm guessing we'll learn more about this personal tragedy at the gathering this weekend.
 
So sad .......so very sad.

I do'nt know the owner.

Was hard to look at the pics as it looked so much like my Willy.

So sad to happen just before the rendezvous.
 
Very sad, but thank God his friend was with him to provide rescue support.
 
Ugh that gives me chills. I am so glad the skipper is ok. Too bad about the dog.

It isn't just the knuckleheads who may have wiring issues. We recently had some electrical work done by a pro as we were not comfortable with the level of complexity of the task. The shop uncovered some hidden wiring issues that could have easily led to a fire... so we were very lucky we got the work done and found the issue. Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit to think I am not a knucklehead :angel: but I think some things are just pure bad luck....
 
knuckleheads are those that try and heay their "old" boat with 4 space heaters and extension cords, etc, etc.

anybody can have a "accidental" electrical fire...too many possibilities for that to happen...it's the obvious knuckleheads that I'm talking about! :D
 
On the topic of on-board pets and their plight in an emergency like a fire, has anyone here heard of this kind of vest for a dog or had any experience with it? If it works as advertised it seems like a viable solution in an extreme emergency like the Willard fire to be able to simply pick up the dog and throw him/her overboard or push it if it's a bigger dog.

About.com: http://crittersinflatable.com/
 
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