Electric shock drowning

[Doryman]

Here is an article from Boat/US on the subject that has been circulating lately. Good stuff to know.

Warren

[Matt Gurnsey]

I have huge respect for people who take tragedy, and turn it into something positive, as opposed to lloking for someone to blame, or to use thier tragedy for a huge payday.

That being said, I now have a scientific reason not to go in the water. Much better than "It's too cold".

Let's be careful out there.

[Valkyrie]

There was a case of this on Lake Erie about 15 years ago. A trawler was anchored in Put-in-Bay, South Bass Island and the owner dropped his wallet overboard. He offered a nearby teenager $20 if he could retrieve it for him. The kid dove down and when he touched the boat on the way up got hit by an electrical current, unknown to onlookers, and subsequently drowned.

Lawsuits were filled, but I never heard of the outcome. What a tragedy.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

[colobear]

Warren,

Thanks for posting this.

[Mike...]

Wow. What a sad story - but it is heartening to hear what the father (and the ABYC) has done to protect other lives.

So, can anyone point me to info on how to install one of these? I did a quick google search and could not find any specific instructions.

---
mike

[ramos]

My five year old son spent his first birthday in ICU at Legacy Emmanual Hospital (and the following week) in Portland, Or. after a heart operation. Stories like this send a chill up my spine. I do not know what it is like to lose a child but, I have a better idea than I would like to have. We no longer keep a boat in a marina since we now have a 16C and enjoy it's portability. It surprises me that in our litigious world that marinas do not regularly check for "stray current". If they did and found any, all they would have to do is unplug the offending vessel and notify them that they would not be provided with electricity until the problem was corrected. A simple solution to protect marinas, boat owners and save lives. This is from a guy that believes we need fewer regulations instead of more. Keep in mind that this particular story has struck a chord with me and I may not be totally obective on this.

[rogerbum]

What's more amazing to me is that all marinas are not required to have GFI's installed on every source of power. Given that the electrical code in (nearly?) every state requires GFI's for any outlet near water in residential wiring, it's amazing that a similar requirement doesn't exist for wiring at marinas.

I also found it interesting that once the marina installed GFI's they had problems with people trying to bypass the GFI's due to them constantly tripping. That plus the other evidence in the article (testing of multiple boats), indicates that the problem is wide spread. Hence if all marina's installed GFI's a lot of people would lose shore power until the wiring on their boats was corrected. I would see this as a good thing but it sure would be a double hit for the marina - first the cost of the install and then dealing with all the upset customers. Nonetheless, in my mind, this is a case where some regulation is required. At the bare minimum, any fresh water marina should have GFI protection on every source of power.

[thataway]

It is amazing how many marinas, and boats are misswired, which allow full current flow into the water through the "ground" circuit. We use a test light or volt meter to test marinas when we plug in, but it is difficult to check the boat next to you.

On the other side of the "coin", the story was the John Wayne had a coupld of Boston Whalers stolen from "Wild Goose" his converted mine sweeper when anchored in Acapulco. Susposedly he wired the hand railing on the whaler to the hot lead of his genset and the neutral into the water near by....no more stolen whalers... I have to assume that this was only used at night, and not when children might have been swiming.

The loss of a child would be almost impossible a grief to bear. I agree that marinas should be required to have GFI circuits and test regularly. Plus the private boat owner should check out his boat on a regular basis. You cannot assume that it is correctly done.

[Sea Wolf]

It would seem to me that it would be easy to check out the water around your boat in a marina with a digital voltmeter, a metal rod with an insulated handle, and a few wires.

Simply attach one lead of the volt meter to the ground wire of the hot wire of the AC circuit, and the other to the metal rod, and read the voltage. (Being sure to NOT make yourself part of the circuit!)

(One would have to establish beforehand by testing the AC circuit, that the voltage was within the normal range, the ground circuit solid and good, and the neutral wire insulated from the ground.)

Any significant voltage present would be an indication to stay out of the water.

One might argue that no one should ever be swimming around a boat in a marina, but bottom cleaning, prop replacement, skeg and shaft work on inboards, marina repair, and many other needs dictate that some folks will be going into those waters.

It might be nice to set up a permanent testing arrangement, understanding that the electrode should only be put into the water for testing (to avoid permanent corrosion), and that the ground wire should not be attached to the ground circuit for safety's sake, least it provide a dangerous ground source should a charge be introduced into the water between testings.

I'll be testing the marina waters around by two boats at Shasta Lake soon!

Joe.

[marvin4239]

This is a sad story but like someone said the father really went to great lengths to get the codes changed to protect others. Without putting much thought into it it seems like some sort of a grid affair could be installed and create a voltage alarm system at marinas. Maybe something to think about for the inventive types out there.

[marvin4239]

You know come to think of it I wonder why they don't use isolation transformers at Marinas? I've installed these system in explosive environments the systems aren't grounded so you have no relationship to ground between the hot lead and ground.

[rogerbum]

[thataway]

Agree with Roger, the isolation transformers may not "solve the problem"--because of miswired boats.

The silver chloride electrode is the best way to check the water potential. It is usually used for DC current "leaks" but works as well for AC. Anyone who maintains a boat full time in the water should have a silver chloride electrode for their digital voltmeter.

[BrentB]

Thataway Bob

I have a Fluke DVM but no reference electrode. What are you using?

thanks

[thataway]

Brent, I pruchased my reference electrode from West Marine a while back. (West no longer carries them) You can find them on the internet. This is a specific extra item. I have several DVM's, and the banana plug on the electrode will fit most of them--definately most Flukes.