yellowfiero88
Well-known member
As a lot of you already might know, I lost a loved one on sunday night. Not one of the blood and bones type, but the one who I have spilled blood and made many bones ache. She has really been a labor of love and has become a true part of the family. Tho this is a tragic loss, no one was hurt and that is the important part.
The thing most of us overlook is the fact we will spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on our boats. But, never once think about protecting it other than insurance, covers, garage. For $400-$700 one could install a marine fire suppression system. Tho it would not have stopped my fire, it could have reduced it to minimal reparable damage. Instead, I am sitting here with one of the sickest feelings I have ever had. Staring at the chard remains of a once great boat.
As for the fire, it is unknown the cause. The majority of the damage is around the throttle control and above the battery. I was very lucky I was running late when we came back from the river Sunday. I had to get the kids back to my ex so we pulled in, went inside and ate, then took off in the caddy to drop them off. I came home and did some work on it, went inside to watch "Top Gear". When I came back outside to close down the garage, I smelled what I thought was the neighbor burning his trash. I cleaned for another 5 minutes or so so that all the tools were inside when I had enough. I started walking over to give him a piece of my mind. As I walked past the boat, I noticed there was a faint light coming from the vents. The cockpit cover was on and the hatch was down. I grabbed the hatch and opened it thinking I left the drop light in there and on. When I swung it up, a ball of fire came out and tried to bite me pretty good. It got my arm and burnt all the hair off my arm but I was OK. I went into panic mode and grabbed the hose and started hosing it down. Megan came out and moved the cars over to the far side of the yard while I was hosing and calling 911. She took over hosing while I jumped into the truck and backed it away from the house. (This is the part where I was glad I was late, the boat is normally unhooked, and sits 1' away from the side of the house. If that was unhooked and that close, it would have caught the house on fire.) I grabbed the hose back from Megan and kept the water on it. It took (what seemed like 2 hours) 4-5 minutes for the fire fighter to show up. At that point, there was 6' tall flames shooting out of the entire boat. Now despite belief, it was a great thing that I had topped the tank off (something I never do) as the full tank kept it from exploding. The chief inspected it but could not determine 100% a cause of fire. One of the worst things was for me to watch it go up. A hose blasting full bore and that fire showed no sign of backing off until the FF'er put their big hose on it. Then doing their jobs, they took the axe and tore interior and parts of the floor out to confirm there was no more combustion.
Now one thing I have been thinking hard about is the fact a lot of us sleep on our boats. We even did it and loved it last weekend. As fast as this spread, IMO there would have been little to no chance for both of us to get out without harm. I promise the next boat will have a smoke alarm on it.
Also it will be rigged with a fire suppression system. Cheap insurance in the event of anything like this happens.
Personal items. This covers vest, ropes, bumpers, anchors, etc. One can not imagine how fast it adds up. I got a list together of what I remembered today. I figured I better go out and check the interior and its a good thing I did. I forgot 1/2 of the stuff. Normally this would have all been taken out as soon as we got home and hung up to dry (again in a hurry so it didn't). Of the 650+ pics I have, I have 1 or 2 with equipment in the back ground only. Next one, I will take pics of ALL EQUIPMENT.
Again, a couple things that we can think about that could save us a lot of hassle in the future or even save our lives.
Pics from Monday
Now many have asked what are you going to buy. A week ago, it was a 253,259, or a 300 convincor. I have such a sick feeling over me that I think my boat looking will be put on hold for the time being. I am not saying I am done with it, but I am saying I am taking a break at least till spring or later.
Also many have asked if I will rebuild it or build another. The answer is NO. Physically I can not do another build. Even with a ton of help, I am in no shape to do anything other than turn the key and crank the throttle or swim off of it. This boat can not be rebuilt. Even tho the mesh is all there and does not look bad, the fire took all the resign out of it and it is like touching a wet sponge. I do have a ideal for it but it will depend on the buy out $$. Now comes the hard part of telling my kids what happened
The thing most of us overlook is the fact we will spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on our boats. But, never once think about protecting it other than insurance, covers, garage. For $400-$700 one could install a marine fire suppression system. Tho it would not have stopped my fire, it could have reduced it to minimal reparable damage. Instead, I am sitting here with one of the sickest feelings I have ever had. Staring at the chard remains of a once great boat.
As for the fire, it is unknown the cause. The majority of the damage is around the throttle control and above the battery. I was very lucky I was running late when we came back from the river Sunday. I had to get the kids back to my ex so we pulled in, went inside and ate, then took off in the caddy to drop them off. I came home and did some work on it, went inside to watch "Top Gear". When I came back outside to close down the garage, I smelled what I thought was the neighbor burning his trash. I cleaned for another 5 minutes or so so that all the tools were inside when I had enough. I started walking over to give him a piece of my mind. As I walked past the boat, I noticed there was a faint light coming from the vents. The cockpit cover was on and the hatch was down. I grabbed the hatch and opened it thinking I left the drop light in there and on. When I swung it up, a ball of fire came out and tried to bite me pretty good. It got my arm and burnt all the hair off my arm but I was OK. I went into panic mode and grabbed the hose and started hosing it down. Megan came out and moved the cars over to the far side of the yard while I was hosing and calling 911. She took over hosing while I jumped into the truck and backed it away from the house. (This is the part where I was glad I was late, the boat is normally unhooked, and sits 1' away from the side of the house. If that was unhooked and that close, it would have caught the house on fire.) I grabbed the hose back from Megan and kept the water on it. It took (what seemed like 2 hours) 4-5 minutes for the fire fighter to show up. At that point, there was 6' tall flames shooting out of the entire boat. Now despite belief, it was a great thing that I had topped the tank off (something I never do) as the full tank kept it from exploding. The chief inspected it but could not determine 100% a cause of fire. One of the worst things was for me to watch it go up. A hose blasting full bore and that fire showed no sign of backing off until the FF'er put their big hose on it. Then doing their jobs, they took the axe and tore interior and parts of the floor out to confirm there was no more combustion.
Now one thing I have been thinking hard about is the fact a lot of us sleep on our boats. We even did it and loved it last weekend. As fast as this spread, IMO there would have been little to no chance for both of us to get out without harm. I promise the next boat will have a smoke alarm on it.
Also it will be rigged with a fire suppression system. Cheap insurance in the event of anything like this happens.
Personal items. This covers vest, ropes, bumpers, anchors, etc. One can not imagine how fast it adds up. I got a list together of what I remembered today. I figured I better go out and check the interior and its a good thing I did. I forgot 1/2 of the stuff. Normally this would have all been taken out as soon as we got home and hung up to dry (again in a hurry so it didn't). Of the 650+ pics I have, I have 1 or 2 with equipment in the back ground only. Next one, I will take pics of ALL EQUIPMENT.
Again, a couple things that we can think about that could save us a lot of hassle in the future or even save our lives.
Pics from Monday
Now many have asked what are you going to buy. A week ago, it was a 253,259, or a 300 convincor. I have such a sick feeling over me that I think my boat looking will be put on hold for the time being. I am not saying I am done with it, but I am saying I am taking a break at least till spring or later.
Also many have asked if I will rebuild it or build another. The answer is NO. Physically I can not do another build. Even with a ton of help, I am in no shape to do anything other than turn the key and crank the throttle or swim off of it. This boat can not be rebuilt. Even tho the mesh is all there and does not look bad, the fire took all the resign out of it and it is like touching a wet sponge. I do have a ideal for it but it will depend on the buy out $$. Now comes the hard part of telling my kids what happened
sorry about your boat brian
