Greetings,
From the news article it appears there were numerous mistakes made.
1) Missing the fuel fill. Who was doing the filling? The Captain/owner or the guest? The one who is most familiar with the boat should either pump the fuel him/her self OR make sure the fuel nozzle goes where it is supposed to (NOT the fresh water fill or the holding tank pump out) 25 gallons? Somebody was way asleep at the switch.
2) Listening to the tow assist guy when he said to disconnect the battery cables. Turn off your battery switches, sure but leave everything hard wired.
3) Sounds like there were 3 people in close proximity of the re-fueling. When I refuel our gas boat, everyone but me OR the fuel attendant is off the boat and a distance away.
I experienced a fuel (gas) spill on board last summer. When I opened the hatches to ventilate after fueling I immediately smelt gas. Turns out there was a break in the vent line right at the tank. Repaired the break, washed everything down well with soap and water and aired out the ER to the point where I could not smell any more vapors and THEN turned on the blower. Took about 2 hours and the grandsons were getting antsy but I did not let them anywhere near the boat until I deemed it to be safe.
Mr. g. "dont you just love petrol " Other than one has to be more aware of the potential dangers of gasoline and act accordingly, I don't mind it in the least. Perhaps since I used fire in the performance of my duties for 35 years in a past life I am much more attuned to dangers of flammable materials and their proximity to a source of ignition. Open flames, hydrocarbon solvents and inattentiveness do NOT play well together.
