Any scary moments this year?

[breausaw]

I plagiarized this question from another boating forum, there were some great responses.

This was our scary moment:

I installed stainless flush-mount rod holders last year, port and starboard. The holders are placed about 3 inches forward of the fueling ports.
I was filling up on a return tip to Anchorage this summer while talking with another c-brat doing the same. I had to run my card through one more time to top off the tank. While toping off gas started coming out the drain hole; Holy S---. I looked inside the cockpit to observe about an inch of gasoline sloshing around. I had mistaken the rod holder for the fuel port-they look extraordinarily similar.

Lucky for me I had turned off the battery switch and my bulge pump was without power. Was pumping slowly because I new the tank was just about full, so only about 5 gallons hit the cockpit.

We pulled the boat forward than proceeded to dump 5gal buckets of water into the cockpit; it could have gone a lot worse!
Needless to say no damage was done other than major mortification .
The fuel cap when removed now sets on top of the rod holder.


Moral of the story, pay attention to what you’re doing!

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Wow, that was scary. Now i am glad that I removed my rod holders and covered them with a mahogany base for the down riggers.

[Dene]

Today in fact.

We had SCA going in Puget Sound....4 footers with 18-24 mph winds at West Point. On our Devlin, we made the 6 mile trip from Shilhole to Bell Harbor. Had to tack much of the way. Seas abeam are disconcerting but I'm learning what this boat can do. It's most capable but I don't want to learn anymore beyond that.

-Greg

[T.R. Bauer]

[Da Nag]

[hardee]

Scary not as bad but I have put about 12 ounces of fuel stabilizer down the rod holder holes. Makes a mess but is less scary.

Spent about 2 1/2 hours running with hugh waves (ave 6 foot) abaft the beam to port aft quarter, running slow and surfing a lot. Fortunately there was little wind, so most were not white capped. Going up Strait of Georgia from West Vancouver towards Secret Cove. Not something I will do again, but I'm glad to know that the C-Dory can handle it, and we did for a while. Don't just listen to the wind and weather, find a wave report somewhere.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Fun Patrol]

As a firefighter, I have to share this:

Gasoline is only very slightly soluble in water. Adding water to an inch of gasoline in the cockpit will only raise the level of gasoline. The water will go to the bottom, you will still have the problem. Add enough water and the gas then goes into the cabin. You could soak up a very small spill with pads, but an inch of gas should be foamed before the (expensive) disposal.

Here is a cut from: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/swybf.asp

How to Handle (And Not Handle) Spilled Gasoline

Whenever gasoline is spilled in the bilge, anything more than a few dribbles, the response should always be to call the fire department. With the boat shown burning above, the new owners had refueled the empty tank from a portable gas can and got the engine running. The following morning, they returned to find about 20 gallons of gasoline had somehow found its way into the bilge. According to a bystander, the boat ‘reeked’ of gasoline. He said the owners of nearby boats were all nervous.

Instead of calling the fire department, the owner called a mechanic. The latter shut off the electrical switch and began mopping up the gasoline. As he was finishing, something—maybe static electricity or the bilge pump clicking on—caused an explosion. Two people had to be airlifted to a hospital with severe burns. A third person was treated and released. By the time the fire was extinguished, five boats had been destroyed and three others were damaged.

Unlike mechanics, professional fire fighters are trained to deal with spilled fuel. According to Kenny Athing, a technician with the Fairfax County, Virginia Fire and Rescue, fire fighters would have handled the same situation by boarding the boat (in full protective gear), to assess the situation. Like the mechanic, they would shut off the battery switch to reduce the chance of sparking. Unlike the mechanic, they would have filled the bilge with foam to suppress the explosive vapors. The boat’s owner could then have contacted a private salvor to clean the foamed gasoline. The latter often will often have a compressed air pump to safely remove the gas/foam mixture.

******

Be careful out there!



Roy

[tpbrady]

I shared that scary moment with Jay. We warned people away from the pumps. Nearest fire department was probably 20 miles. The response from the station wasn't very good and I was looking for some type of decent fire extinguishers. The only option was to flush the boat with water. The wind was blowing enough to disappate the fumes but it was a tense few minutes.

Other than that my scariest time was leaving Hidden Bay on Culross Island behind Shiroz with the tide coming in through a narrow opening. I was probably too close (150 feet or so) and the current velocity was such that I had to get on step to maintain good directional control with his prop wash and the current. Mark did the same thing but I was faster getting on step than he was and used more throttle so the distance dropped quite rapidly to about 75 feet. By then we were out and I backed off the throttle. The opening was about 25 feet wide, 30 feet deep in the center and the current was about 8 to 9 knots. The gasoline was still way scarier.

[Hunkydory]

We had more then our share in 2007 and rather enjoyed them all or at least the eventual outcome. This season was much more laid back and can't really remember a single scary moment though Jo-Lee's memory may have recorded some event that mine missed.

Jay

[breausaw]

[starcrafttom]

not boat related but in the last month I have had one truck totaled out from under me at a stop sign, fell of a ladder and twisted my ankle, got t-boned in the other truck at a stop sign and fell down some stairs. if this does not stop I'm changing my name to lucky.

[starcrafttom]

Just remembered that if you spill gas in the water or boat just grab some dish washing soap and spray it on. I don't know if this will keep it from going BOOM. It does disperse the gas. We were in friday harbor for the weekend and a old wood boat was two spots over from us. after they smacked the dock on the way in they all went up for a bite to eat. 10 minutes later I start to smell gas and look to see their bulge pump pouring out gas. when it stopped we grabbed the dish soap and sparyed it on the water. the gas just goes away. I have been told it breaks down or sinks. not sure which it is.

[Chivita]

Jay, I've got your story beat!

I was deckhanding this fall on a commercial troller. Had about a forty five pound salmon and was just about to gaff him when, with the Captain watching AND his buddy making a pass about a hundred feet away,

that sob spit the hook~

Talk about scary!

You never ever want something like that to happen in front of the boss, especially with a talkative witness that has access to the VHF!

Came dang close to testing the survival suit!!

Had to spit shine everything from the hold up before I got to disembark!

Think I'll stick to the old pole an troll and leave that deckhand stuff to folks who can tread water while the Captain cools off!

[matt_unique]

I had a few scary experiences my first season with the Tomcat.

The worst was when I had complete steering failure 50' from the dock in 25 knot winds. The helm pump failed, ejected all the fluid, and my steering wheel could literally spin like a bicycle tire without moving the engines. The wind was of course blowing me toward our rocky shore. I was in reverse when this happened, slow reverse I might add, and both engines toed out. I had the shore off my bow and the mooring field off my stern. I of course reversed to get away from the shore and using alternating throttles I was barely able to avoid other boats and borrow an empty mooring. Once the helm pump was replaced the steering was flawless.

Coming back from Stellwagon bank I had a Humpback whale surface right off the bow. I was planed off but going as slow as possible with my hand on the throttles. I was keeping a sharp watch as was my Admiral. We saw the whale and I immediately dropped the throttles to neutral. The whale descended quickly and there was no contact thankfully but it was a hell of a surprise.

Then there was the time when I hit the power on my Furuno system and the screen was blank. What?!? Turns out I dimmed the display cruising the night before and forgot to turn it back up....that was definitely scary before I realized what I had done.

[arniehuff]

LOOK FOR THE SHUT OFF SWITCH!

Our tanks were both pretty low so we decided to put 10 gal in each tank. We pulled into a gas station, my husabnd put 10 gal in the port tank and headed for the rest room. I was putting fuel into the stbrd tank. 10 gal went in, I tried to turn the nozzle off, nothing happened, fuel just kept coming. I yelled, screamed, waved, and jiggled the nozzle, the gas (at $4.++/gal) just kept coming.

An employee finally saw me and asked what the problem was, and got the inside attendant to shut the pumps down.

Thank heaven we were only doing a part fill, and there was room in the tank. I hope this near disaster saves somebody else a near heart attack.

Marcia