kaboom, says the boat...

212rowboat

A 28' boat joined the driftwood in morehead city north carolina, at the morehead yacht club this weekend.. not cool..

He had just topped the tanks, and couldn't get it started... The dock hand had just left to retrieve a charger, and the two on board kept cranking the engine trying to get her to fire up... Well.. she fired up.. they didn't die, but they may be wishing they did as they are in the burn center today...

I pass this to you guys kinda tongue in cheek, because that's just my personality, but friends, there is not a dang thing funny about this.. these two were and are mighty lucky to be counted amongst the living today.. their boat is no more.. it could have ended a lot worse..

For the love of all that is holy, use your blowers, and don't excessively crank an engine that is flooded... If you flood, go full choke and only hit the starter, don't ride it.. better yet, sit back and do some rope maintenance or scrub your deck.. let the vapors dissipate.. open your engine compartment and let her breathe.. don't go kaboom..

By the way, when I say bump the starter, I don't mean consecutively back to back.. I mean hit it for no more than two seconds and not again for at least a minute.. every time you hit it you're generating a spark.. you don't want things hotter where the heavier fumes rest and your starter lives than need be.

Black_Diamond

That happens too often: flooding, no blowers, using automotive electrical parts...had the same thing happen by me a few years ago, beautiful wood ChrisCraft went up like a bomb...you just cannot be careful enough looking for leaks, snif testing etc.  Boat safe!

212rowboat

I read the article posted on this.. it's a bad story.. these guys had just bought the boat the day before.. it was a carolina classic 28, which are pretty dang good offshore fishing boats- express style.. this was the first time they fueled it.. I bet they hadn't crawled all over that thing yet, and I bet it was something like you suggested B_D, in that automotive parts were used, or that it wasn't well maintained...

http://www.wcti12.com/news/multiple-injuries-reported-after-morehead-city-boat-explosion/25791388

the story, now better explained than what i heard on the radio, isn't as bad as it sounded... the boat is in surprisingly good shape afterward.. still, both dudes went to the hospital, and one was airlifted to another hospital..

I hope they post the results of the USCG inspection.. just curious..

Black_Diamond

Not being morbid, but knowing the cause is good for everyone else.  One hopes they didn't fuel up a rod holder or similar.  Luck it did not completely burn and take the marina with it.

A guy at a marina south of me was filling his boat from a plastic fuel can out of the back of his P/U to save a few bucks..took out several boats and severely injured him too. 

[-(

Michael T

20:1 air fuel ratio and h*ll asceds.Ssw a marina fire in early 70's. It looked like a napalm run in VN. There was nothing anyone could do. Gas is a bomb. Fibreglass is an incindeary. I have the highest regards for that stuff and the 30/50 amp circiuts on water craft - Oh Yeah!  MT

midweste

So how long should you run the engine compartment blower and when? 

What do you guys do? 

JoeStang

If I'm out on the lake anchored for the day I run the blowers for a minute or two before the engine is started. At the dock I lift the hatch and do a visual & sniff test before leaving for the day, and check the oil and fluid levels also.

You're supposed to run the blowers 4 minutes after filling up with gas, but most people are probably much less than that.

Good guide - http://www.boat-ed.com/ri/course/p2-2_fuelyourboat.htm

midweste

Thanks Joe! 

212rowboat

Maybe I'm whacked, but I keep it simple... If engine is running blowers are too, and the blowers run for at least two full minutes before I start the engine.. I live less than 1/4 mile from the ICW, and have luxury of leaving engine hatch open all the way to the launch..

Black_Diamond

I like to error on the caution side: I'll run the blowers from the time I get on until I have everything set and ready to go and then start/warm up, so 15-30 minutes at the dock.  Hurts nothing.  I also run them when at no-wake running too.  The only time I have them off is when running at cruise speed..unless I forget to turn them off

midweste

Good ideas Drew and BD - Better to be very safe then go Ka-Boom!!

Black_Diamond

RY: your diesels may not have to worry about fumes to ignite, but checking for a fuel leak is always smart: sight and smell test.  A friend of mine has a 45' SR with diesels and blew a fuel line, at the pressures the fuel runs at it made a complete mess to say the least, he was lucky nothing hot ignitied it.  Fire is fire!

212rowboat

Diesel off gasses at 175*... It can go boom too.. it just needs heat added to the equation.. 175* is doable in an engine compartment after running a while, on a hot day.. go to restart, and... Uhoh..

Black_Diamond

Your engine bay auto fire extinguisher is typically set to go off at an ambient temperature of 175F, so the compartment itself should never get that warm.  That does not mean some parts are not that warm.