sad...yet people still swim around the docks all the time.

skennelly

http://fox8.com/2017/06/17/19-year-old-dies-from-electrical-current-in-water-at-put-in-bay-marina/

212rowboat

doesn't sound like they were swimming for recreation.... and is a sad cautionary story to be sure.  

somebody is in deep poo- and rightfully so.... this isn't the type of thing to write off as "an accident".   somebody was careless.  somebody else (most likely somebody else) paid for it.... 

Black_Diamond

Was another one at Tom's River in NJ on Sat too. Girl swimming near a dock, grabbed a boat lift, shocked and died. 

Don't swim near boat slips and in Marinas. That simple. 

Liberty44140

THEY WERE NOT SWIMMING. The people in that article were on our dock last summer. Very nice family, they have been trying to sell the boat for a year, it is a newer Sea Ray. We only met them a few times as they were barely using the boat due to their kids activities but most of the people on our dock knew them well and are just devastated. Oddly 6 boats from our dock including us were docked at Miller Marina on Put in Bay together last weekend. It is my understanding that they validated the problem was not the marina's electrical system. Somehow their dog either jumped in or fell in. The father jumped in after the dog and however he came up it was obvious that he was in trouble. The two son's jumped in after the dad and then the mother pulled the shore power plug. All of them got out of the water but one son could not be revived. Just horrible. 

rasbury

I saw this on the news and did not see the details but the first thing that went through my mind....so senseless and loss of a young life, or any life in this manner.

Black_Diamond

Stray A/C voltage from the boat itself is more likely the cause. 

brianc613

Sad. They have sensors with alarms that detect electric current in water to help keep this from happening. Should be a requirement on everything that has shore power near water in my opinion.

mattie

My father took his spankin' new 1978 Sea Ray to Put-In-Bay. Fella a couple boats over died that evening - same deal. Stray current is no joke.....

JoeStang

Wow thats really sad, especially the circumstances surrounding it.

LaRea

@brianc613 - do you have any details on the sensor you mentioned?  Is it a permanent sensor that you install at the dock, or a handheld sensor?

If there's a permanent sensor that is reliable and affordable, I'd get one.  

aero3113

How far do you think a stray current will travel?? We anchor near a couple of marinas but are around 100-200 yards away.

aero3113

Looks like you have more danger in fresh water than salt. Below is a good link for everyone to read.

http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/2013/july/electric-shock-drowning-explained.asp

randy56

Thanks for info, it's serious stuff.

andyd

That BoatUs article has some valuable info. It explains why fresh water is more dangerous than saltwater. That's a bit reassuring because especially on July 4th in California the coastal marinas are full of swimmers and I couldn't find a news story about ESD at the coast, just in lakes and swimming pools. There's no reason to be complacent about the potential for a real problem though.

Andy

Black_Diamond

Stray current does not go all that far even in fresh water. 10-20' at best.  Problem is that is exactly where people will be from the source.  

Look around on the internet and you can see pictures of outdrives almost completely dissolved from stray current in the water.  

miggy

Liberty44140 said:

THEY WERE NOT SWIMMING. The people in that article were on our dock last summer. Very nice family, they have been trying to sell the boat for a year, it is a newer Sea Ray. We only met them a few times as they were barely using the boat due to their kids activities but most of the people on our dock knew them well and are just devastated. Oddly 6 boats from our dock including us were docked at Miller Marina on Put in Bay together last weekend. It is my understanding that they validated the problem was not the marina's electrical system. Somehow their dog either jumped in or fell in. The father jumped in after the dog and however he came up it was obvious that he was in trouble. The two son's jumped in after the dad and then the mother pulled the shore power plug. All of them got out of the water but one son could not be revived. Just horrible. 

Ohh poor young guy!

Stodge

We have a guy that will scuba dive to find things that folks have dropped in the water.  He recovered a waterproof camera I lost in a marina a couple weeks ago.  In response to the recent drownings he got one of these:  http://www.shockaler...er-shock-alert/

Willhound

@Stodge this thing looks awesome. For $150 it would be easy for almost anyone to own one. Or even if a marina had one that either the staff could do spot checks from time to time or even let clients sign it out and check around their own slips for issues. This topic really has me thinking. We would never knowingly swim in our marina apart from knowing it's wrong, it's a very weedy, mucky bottom. But an accidental fall is certainly always possible. I am also in the habit of using my aluminum boat hook to push debris, weeds etc. away from our slip. Don't know how much current would have to be present to zap somebody standing on a dry dock, but if things are wet it could happen I suppose.

Stodge

Willhound said:

@Stodge this thing looks awesome. For $150 it would be easy for almost anyone to own one. Or even if a marina had one that either the staff could do spot checks from time to time or even let clients sign it out and check around their own slips for issues. This topic really has me thinking. We would never knowingly swim in our marina apart from knowing it's wrong, it's a very weedy, mucky bottom. But an accidental fall is certainly always possible. I am also in the habit of using my aluminum boat hook to push debris, weeds etc. away from our slip. Don't know how much current would have to be present to zap somebody standing on a dry dock, but if things are wet it could happen I suppose.

If you're on land and not well grounded you might get a tingle, but I don't think it would hurt too badly.  If you were on land, barefoot and wet, then it would be more likely that you'd feel it and could get hurt.

LaRea

Sticking a boat hook in the water probably would not be dangerous.

The problem is that in fresh water, your body conducts electricity better than the water.  If there's stray current seeking the easiest path to ground, and your body is the easiest path, the current will go through your body.

If you stick a boat pole into the water, some current might be conducted along the pole towards the seabed, but it would not go through your body.

In salt water, the water is a better conductor than your body.  Stray current would go through the water instead of through your body.  

vyborny1

One of friends parents had a houseboat on Lake Cumberland & for years we would swim off the back at the docks, never once was this sort of thing even thought of. Now being a parent & some what wiser, holy cow that wasn't the smartest thing. 

Even last year, we were at PIB, it just got done raining, my buddy was stepping off my boat to the next, before he could even blink, he was in the water & wasn't even drinking. 

99270fv

is there a risk of stray current from a boat with a running generator? 

brianc613

@LaRea I Google "dock electrocution protection and this is the first thing I clicked on. No idea what the price is. 

http://www.docklifeguard.org/

raybo3

brianc613 said:

@LaRea I Google "dock electrocution protection and this is the first thing I clicked on. No idea what the price is. 

http://www.docklifeguard.org/

$950

LaRea

Thanks @raybo, I was trying to find a price.  Interesting system, and I think it's a great idea for private piers.  

raybo3

It only covers 40 square feet. Not a very large area....... Just say'n..

LaRea

I think they would need to modify their solution before it would work for a marina.  Imagine 30 or 40 individual systems ... you'd have an alarm going off somewhere twice a week, and people would start to ignore them.  For a private pier, different story.

Black_Diamond

A/C does not travel far in water to be deadly. It certainly can go very long at low amps and destroy an outdrive though. 

rasbury

So how exactly does this happen and who is at fault?

LaRea

I don't know, but I think the research would show that it's not caused by well-maintained boats with original wiring.  And it's not caused by dock wiring in well-maintained marinas that use only licensed, insured electricians.  

Black_Diamond

As LaRea noted, usually improperly wired boats, done by the owners over time.

Nice article here:

  http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/2011/april/corrosion.asp