Boat Explosion Oakville Power Boat Club

C

Captain Quest

New Member
Jul 25, 2011
55
Ontario
Boat Info
1989 Sea Ray
Engines
Twin
This one was really close to home....the next marina to us at the gas dock. I believe it was an older carver, just fuelled up & blew the lid right off the boat, propelled two in the water & one on the dock causing serious injuries

I was told that he had engine work done the day before & was having trouble starting one of the engines right after fuelling. No one knows if he used the blowers or not. The hull sank right at the gas dock. They have to lift it even in pieces onto a barge if necessary to do the investigation

It's a wake up call to always use blowers after refuelling & if someone is waiting for you to leave....too bad, safety first

This one really hits home as I was at that particular gas dock a week ago refuelling

A link to the story....be safe everyone http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...-3-injured-in-explosion-at-oakville-boat-club
 
well, even being moored
your supposed to inspect your bilge prior to starting and do a sniff test.
turn on blowers and sensors and sniff the air being exausted for fuel odor.
start the engines and go have fun.
Not having moved the boat and having a starting issue and blowing the bottom out of it would seem that he already had a fuel leak issue
with just enough air to have an explosive mix.
Most times a exploder has just fueled up and has too high of a concentration of fumes to ignite.Once moving the vents introduce air into the bilge to thin this out to explosive concentration.
 
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People become complacent after getting away without properly verifying no vapors after refueling. Sad that people were seriously injured, the boat can easily be replaced.
 
I have a question about fueling. I was at the fuel dock and checked to see the dollar amount then walked over to where the gas nozzle was dumping gas in the boat. I grabed the nozzle and got a static spark. This kind of bothered me so I asked about it and was told not to worry about it. Is this correct that I didnt need to worry about a static spark at a gas nozzle? Sounds to me like something to be concerned about.
 
Static spark? That's ok? Wrong...

The nozzle of the fueler should be grounded against the rim of your filler opening. If you saw a spark, that means your boat is lacking a ground, 9 times out of ten. I'd ask for proof that the system is grounded where you get gas.

If they say they don't have it, don't fuel there. If they show it...get your boat checked...right away.

Id never screw around with this stuff. When we refuel, everyone is OFF THE BOAT! I do not participate in the fueling process. Batteries are off, companionway closed, hatches closed. When done, batteries on and blower on. I then pay the tab while passengers reboard. By the time I'm done paying the blowers have run for at least 5 minutes.

Once I could really smell gas. I held up the quay while I opened the engine hatch to be sure all was good. It was...

Don't mess with this stuff...q
 
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