Boat exploded in Homer
- Thread starter kgpcr
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homerdave
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Quickwater, all we can figure is there was a problem with vent or hole in fuel line. Gas got into bilge and exploded. Blew out the windows, blew door off hinge, buckled interior deck plates. Remarkably, Jim was uninjured. He may chime in here when he's settled down.
Kardinal_84
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Super glad he is ok. It sounded like a bomb went off. Kudos to the quick reaction by the other boats to get there to help.
pics with my phone...
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pics with my phone...
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Kardinal_84
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timinhomer
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Jim is one of the nicest and most seasoned guys on the water. I am very glad he is okay and yes once he's on the other side of this I'm hoping to learn what happened so my radar is up on my boat. Hoping for a fast recovery Jim
homerdave
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We know fuel/vapors got into the bilge and were ignited by the kerosene heater. We don't know how the fuel got there or what created the spill. It may be hard to find out, since it blew up!
jamesjq
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Holy crap! That looks like no fun!
Just wanna echo the thank you to all who responded; good to see all the help the boat community lends to one another... Even though you guys all catch more fish than me most days, I sure like having all of ya around!
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Just wanna echo the thank you to all who responded; good to see all the help the boat community lends to one another... Even though you guys all catch more fish than me most days, I sure like having all of ya around!
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hoose35
Well-known member
This is pure speculation, but this was my first thought. I have heard some boats are built with the fuel fill hose being non fuel grade, I have heard hughes craft is one of them. It looked like he just left the harbor, perhaps he had just filled his boat, topped it off and there was fuel in the fill up tube. The hose leaked because of the fuel being in the non rated hose. Like I said, pure speculation on my part, but I have heard of this issue before. Glad he's OK.
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bkmail
Moderator
Jim,
Glad your doing better, thankfully it was just a boat we lost.
Talk to you soon and look forward to hearing the lesson learned.
Bk
Glad your doing better, thankfully it was just a boat we lost.
Talk to you soon and look forward to hearing the lesson learned.
Bk
Tolman24
New member
Where will you install it? Bilge or cabin? Just curious and interested myself. One of my concerns is fire on the water.
It is nice to see people immediately coming to help while not knowing if there will be subsequent explosions. Heroes in my book. Some run from danger and other run to it. Ken
timinhomer
New member
I recently installed one of these https://www.amazon.com/FIREBOY-XINT..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=CKF489QRWTX6HS2W844B. I put the head unit in an empty tach hole on the front captains panel and the sensor raised on the port side stern near the bilge and where the original fuel hose had failed last year. They also have a gauge with power for a blower that fires up (no pun intended) when gas is detected. Install was relatively easy but I can't speak to durability yet as it's fairly new. It did actuate well upon install though and alerted me to a bad fuel/water separator last week!
overtime
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I have a glacier craft boat. The cabin and rear deck are separate bulkheads with individual gas tanks. The cabin bulkhead isn't airtight and I have a webasto heater so I have been concerned. The detector comes with two sensor heads that can be ran to the individual bulkheads with the remote alarm on my dash. It will alarm when LEL fumes are detected. LEL is "lower explosive limit". This means it will alarm before the gas levels are explosive. I believe it alarms way below the LEL.
They have other detectors that sense co2 on the same heads.
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They have other detectors that sense co2 on the same heads.
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Yep that was me! Here's how it went down; did morning trips across the bay, fished on the way back (most important), went to fuel dock, noticed gas coming out of vent. Was weird because the boat has always taken fuel full bore no problems. Stopped, went to slip and disconnected both vent lines and main fill hose. Cleaned out vent (it gets fish scraps on it sometimes being close to the transom lid), inspected everything. Main fuel fill hose I replaced last year with the correct size and grade so it wasn't a factory faulty fill hose.
Went back to fuel dock, took on 50 gals and headed out of the harbor. She holds/held 160 total but I don't want the extra weight so usually only 50 at a time daily.
Came out of the harbor, got on step passing lands end. Door was shut and suddenly smelled fuel and just as I was thinking "what's up with.....Boom!"
Like Dave said, blew out the window next to me, the other side window on the port side, back windows and twisted the rear door off the hinges.
Front door blown outward even tho it was latched. Interior and rear deck buckled up, the 3 seat boxes bolted to the floor all tweaked and off the deck. Big fire in the transom area, one battery melted badly, the battery switch completely gone as in not even parts, just the space where it was mounted. Buckled the rear alum transom facing the motors.
I'll post pics asap.
Amazingly I came out of it 99% percent unscathed which is a miracle; just barely singed on the left side.
Don't think there's anything to have been done differently as those of you who know me know I'm pretty overboard on maintenace and care of that boat. All new batteries and wiring this past spring, always checking everything possible for issues and kept clean. After the ins co looks at it I'll investigate so see what happened with the sudden fuel leaking issue.
Went back to fuel dock, took on 50 gals and headed out of the harbor. She holds/held 160 total but I don't want the extra weight so usually only 50 at a time daily.
Came out of the harbor, got on step passing lands end. Door was shut and suddenly smelled fuel and just as I was thinking "what's up with.....Boom!"
Like Dave said, blew out the window next to me, the other side window on the port side, back windows and twisted the rear door off the hinges.
Front door blown outward even tho it was latched. Interior and rear deck buckled up, the 3 seat boxes bolted to the floor all tweaked and off the deck. Big fire in the transom area, one battery melted badly, the battery switch completely gone as in not even parts, just the space where it was mounted. Buckled the rear alum transom facing the motors.
I'll post pics asap.
Amazingly I came out of it 99% percent unscathed which is a miracle; just barely singed on the left side.
Don't think there's anything to have been done differently as those of you who know me know I'm pretty overboard on maintenace and care of that boat. All new batteries and wiring this past spring, always checking everything possible for issues and kept clean. After the ins co looks at it I'll investigate so see what happened with the sudden fuel leaking issue.
timinhomer
New member
Jim once again I'm glad you're okay. Given the damage to the boat I'd say someone was definitely on your side. That and I'm sure your quick response time. Good to hear you!
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Kardinal_84
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Glad you are ok! That scared the heck out of me, my first thought was a whale breached on top of a boat. I hope all turns out ok with the vessel whether it gets fixed or you end up with a new one.
