Miss Scarlett - Burns and Sinks

[CarpeDiem 530]

https://www.livesaildie.com/miss-scarlet-burns-sinks/

[Clipper 375]

That fire video is terrifying!

[waikiore 485]

Thought she must be heading back to Aussie when I saw all the fuel stacked aft, sure must have gone up quick, I wonder what type of Batteries?

[Sudden5869 17]

Makes me think about having smoke detector(s) for quick response.  
And the important of having the grab bag ready to go. 

[Island Time 1,294]

Electrical fires are one of the most common causes of fire on vessels like ours. Have a plan - You MUST be able to turn off the batteries, or the fire may re-ignite. Extinguishers in service and at multiple locations. 1/Shut off batts. 2/Shut off air and fuel 3/ use fire fighting systems, installed or hand held. Hopefully all this while another crew member issues a mayday, and another gets the raft ready... 

My maritime fire fighting course just confirmed that you are unlikely to control a serious fire - get ready to get off!!

Oh, and if you have a race yacht and it's a lithium battery fire (won't be if it's LiFePo4!), get off!!

[K4309 403]

Apart from the obvious elements of this, what gives me the shits is being able to get out of the cabin. As in two available exits. The question being could you get out of the main hatch? In a lot of boats the engine and batteries are directly under the companionway steps, and the battery switches, switchboard and fuel tanks aren't far away, generally everything is around the hatchway / back end of the cabin area. This being the most likely area for a fire like this to get started.

For my boat the possible exits are the main hatch and forehatch. Most of the tome on the mooring I couldn't open the forehatch fully as we tie a sun cover over it on deck, as I expect a fair few boats do. I'm keen to come up with an alternative for that so the forehatch can be used as an emergency exit if required.

Noting I have 3 fire extinguishers and 2 fire blankets on the 37 fter. With a fire blanket and extinguisher in the forecabin to give options if the issue is around the main hatch / engine / galley area.

[Frank 173]

I recall in the 80,s reading of a fire in a GRP yacht where the children of the owner were sleeping in the quarter berth. Attempting to rescue them from outside the companion way he was defeated by dense smoke. Entering via the fwd hatch he could not traverse the saloon due to the vinyl lining on the roof burning and raining molten balls of fire,  (this being the cause of the dense smoke). With the children now screaming he exited and smashed through the deck above the Q berth with a crash axe and then extracted them from above. Both survived but had to be hospitalised due to smoke damage to their lungs. I was building the family boat at the time and cancelled plans for a soft roof lining which I had otherwise been quite keen on. I also repositioned the fwd hatch to be directly overhead the Vee Berth as its original position it was too high above the sole to be any use for egress. I don't recall the detail on how he accessed the crash axe or why it was onboard but it saved lives.

 

[K4309 403]

4 hours ago, Frank said:

I recall in the 80,s reading of a fire in a GRP yacht where the children of the owner were sleeping in the quarter berth. Attempting to rescue them from outside the companion way he was defeated by dense smoke. Entering via the fwd hatch he could not traverse the saloon due to the vinyl lining on the roof burning and raining molten balls of fire,  (this being the cause of the dense smoke). With the children now screaming he exited and smashed through the deck above the Q berth with a crash axe and then extracted them from above. Both survived but had to be hospitalised due to smoke damage to their lungs. I was building the family boat at the time and cancelled plans for a soft roof lining which I had otherwise been quite keen on. I also repositioned the fwd hatch to be directly overhead the Vee Berth as its original position it was too high above the sole to be any use for egress. I don't recall the detail on how he accessed the crash axe or why it was onboard but it saved lives.

 

Crikey, that is a feckin awful story. Enough to give me nightmares.

Might go and sort out my forehatch cover so I can open it form the inside.

[Frank 173]

3 hours ago, K4309 said:

Crikey, that is a feckin awful story. Enough to give me nightmares.

Might go and sort out my forehatch cover so I can open it form the inside.

Yes it certainly got my attention, I worked for Air NZ engineering for many years and I recall that a crash axe was always strapped to the cockpit bulkhead as mandatory emergency equipment. I have sometimes pondered carrying one in the lazarette, probably a standard sharp wood axe would do and could be used to smash the perspex of any internally secured hatch.  I recall the author of the article commented on how tough the GRP was but adrenaline kept him going and probably provided freakish strength. Matt of IT is right its a good idea to have a think about the emergency procedures for a fire. 

[splashprincess 20]

We have a large fire extinguisher stored in a cockpit locker for exactly that reason - that you may have to get through the companionway to get to an extinguisher but that's likely to be where the fire is. 

[Black Panther 1,767]

The big one to remember is to hit the battery switch first. I lost maybe 10sec there and the flames doubled in size

[aardvarkash10 1,105]

Ok, you've motivated me.  Two of these going in this weekend.

No excuse really.  They were $10 each. I'll need to make up a couple of cables but still...