Fire on boat at Wroxham

[Boaters]

From the EDP today ,a fire on a boat on Wroxham Broad on Sunday.Good to see they were not hurt as they do not appear to have been near the bank .Does not say if it was a private or hire boat.Not shown on Craigs data base under that name .

Link http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/cruiser_sin ... s_1_993861

[teadaemon]

According to a BA ranger (that I imagine quite a few people on here know, although I don't know if he posts here as well as somewhere else), it was a private boat that caught fire on the river, next to the upstream entrance to Wroxham Broad. Four people on board, who all got off safely. The boat later sank (I assume she burned to the waterline) and is about 50 metres downstream of the entrance to the Broad, marked with yellow stakes and lights.

[Hockham Admiral]

Yet another thing about the impending closure of Yarmouth Coastguard worries me.

Will some coastguard based over a hundred miles away have a clue where "Wroxham Broad" is when/if they receive an emergency call?

[BuffaloBill]

Being within a few minutes of our moorings, can anyone enlighten me as to why

she caught fire? I would be gutted (No pun intended!)if ours did so can only

sympathise with the owner.

We are down from Saturday morning till Wednesday and going by there so will

keep eyes wide open!

[teadaemon]

Being within a few minutes of our moorings, can anyone enlighten me as to why

she caught fire? I would be gutted (No pun intended!)if ours did so can only

sympathise with the owner.

We are down from Saturday morning till Wednesday and going by there so will

keep eyes wide open!

I don't think anyone knows for definite, and given that she burned out and sank, it's unlikely there's enough left to come to a definite conclusion.

[BroadAmbition]

The boat was called 'Tickety-Boo' The owner of 'Tickety-Boo' has recently posted under the thread 'Smoke - on going incident' on another forum.

[AEJB]

Teadaemon,

I dont post very much on any of the forums, but I do lurk a lot

I was going to join in the thread about the jobsworth Ranger speaking to someone moored right in front of a 4ft+2ft sign

saying no mooring, but I thought why spoil a good rant.

Lovely picture of me though.......did well to catch me not just swanning about up the river drinking tea.

Andy

[Guest]

is it just me or does there seem to be more boat fire incidents

AFTER the BSS ?

Rich

[teadaemon]

is it just me or does there seem to be more boat fire incidents

AFTER the BSS ?

Rich

I suspect that in order to get a definitive answer to that, you'd have to ask the Boat Safety Scheme office and Steve Birtles at the BA, between them they should have all of the relevant data.

As it happens I can think of two serious boat fires this year, this one and the more recent one at Beccles, both of which were probably due to the explosive ignition of petrol vapour. It is notable that in the BSS a spark-sealed bilge blower is an advisory item for boats with petrol inboard engines, but it isn't a requirement for private boats (although it would be for a hire boat with a petrol inboard, assuming there were any).

[Guest]

it would be for a hire boat with a petrol inboard, assuming there were any).

I believe that Martham Boats still have petrol as auxiliaries in their hire fleets, though there was a rumour of them being changed to diesels.

It was a shock seeing another fire in the recent posts again, before realising it was the August thread resurrected.

How could anyone think that the BSS tests could possibly increase the number of boat fires and explosions ?

Is it not more likely that there would be even more major incidents if all boat owners were still assumed to be competent in understanding the risks and have taken all necessary safety precautions ? "Self Testing" didn't work with cars either, hence the introduction of the MOT tests, many decades ago.

[MY littleboat]

I would say on this one that there DOESN'T seem to be more fires, I can recall two this year which may or may not be linked to petrol or gas and one deliberate. Last year one deliberate. It has been several years since we would hear about 4 or 5 every season which used to be a regular occurrence. All in all the BSS has introduced a minimum level of safety checking that was badly needed. If you put the same level of checking that an identical installation in your home would require then you would be looking at a myriad of people to legally sign it off such as a corgi registered installer a part P registered electrician and a fuel storage specialist to name but a few

The introduction of the BSS bought some very basic checking into boats some of the rectifications were horrendous namely curtains above a gas cooker etc

But where one incident this year (Beccles) likely due to a fuel issue, possibly old and defective fuel lines, and another incident due to a portable gas stove and one that was almost certainly deliberate I feel that the introduction of the BSS has been a worthwhile and necessary minimum standard

Although has it gone to far? As I do not see the benefit of having to get a BSS on a rib or inflatable simply because it has an electric start engine!

[teadaemon]

I believe that Martham Boats still have petrol as auxiliaries in their hire fleets, though there was a rumour of them being changed to diesels.

I must admit I'd forgotten about those (which IIRC still have Stuart-Turner two stroke engines), although it will be interesting to see if they remain available now Martham have bought up the entire NBYCo fleet from Southgate's Yard.

[Antares_9]

Regardeless of BSS not requiring a bilge blower I'm sure insurance companies do, I wonder if the BSS inspectors also check for marine grade spark arrested alternators, distrubuters and starters too, the number of people who think that a car one is OK as a marine one is the same but three times the price always amuses me. In the US where amost every boat under about 35' is petrol all this stuff is mandatory under USGC regs.

I believe for some years there has been a device to prevent starters engaging until the blower has operated for 4 minutes fitted to their new boats.

[MY littleboat]

You are absolutely tight David. All new boats fitted with GSi type engines have exactly that type of inhibitor although I don't think it is 4 mins and can br over-ridden if an immediate redraft is required. But still many petrol engined boats on the broads and Thames feature automotive engines with marine conversion kits. Even volvo are guilty of that, but as you rightly say, the quality of ancillary eat is vital

Oddly more fires seem to occur through misuse of gas rather than petrol!

I have nobstats on this as this is more a personal observation than fact

[Guest]

I have nobstats on this

Nobstats ? is that a Freudian slip ?

sorry, couldn't resist, even though I agree completely !

[Antares_9]

You are absolutely tight David.

How dare you!! I haven't touched a drop all day.

[MY littleboat]

Ironically I would call it an applian slip - another iphone reply, although I dread to think why that would be in the iPhone directory! It should have said no stats!! But then again 'eat' should have also been eqt! redraft - restart... Now the code breakers amongst you can go back and decipher the message!

And lastly, I have no idea why iPhone thought the word 'right' would be better served by 'tight' unless the iPhone knows something I dont!

[MBA Marine]

The only 'I' devices i use are- me myself and I, and the pair of eyes in my head! Im not the oldest of members on here but i realy cant embrace the fruit company gadgets, people would get more done if they didnt spend 15mins of each hour checking mail boxes and social networks.

Back to the thread, im very happy no-one was hurt. Personaly i think that accidents/missuse of disposable bbq's is the most dangerous thing on boats, the bss has done alot for checking petrol and gas (as long as the inspecter takes there role seriously) but the bss cant do anything about what people take on their boats. In the same way that the MOT inspecter cant stop you driving like an idiot and mis using your car, that would be the role of the police as it should be the role of the river plod to 'sniff' out the onboard bbq and make sure its being opperated in a safe manor.

Note i dont say ban the bbq, i say educate to use it properly.

[Guest]

but the bss cant do anything about what people take on their boats.

I couldn't agree more.

It's sad when posts often appear on forums where the user is proud to have "beaten" the "elf and safety police" by not leaving their portable gas stoves on board during the BSS test.

Such brave and clever people, it's a shame that their innocent families have to share the ongoing danger as well.

[Boaters]

I am sure that I did read that the owners have now a diesel boat and are back on the river which is good news

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

I couldn't agree more.

It's sad when posts often appear on forums where the user is proud to have "beaten" the "elf and safety police" by not leaving their portable gas stoves on board during the BSS test.

Such brave and clever people, it's a shame that their innocent families have to share the ongoing danger as well.

I did make a point on another thread somewhere about how easy it would be for some unscrupulous person who could quite easily borrow things from friends to get a boat through a BSSC test, only to swap them back for some "old faithful" part that could quite easily be unsafe. Unfortunately due to other people neglegence and stupidity, the BSSC test has become an essential (dare i say it?) incovenience. As much as i have confidence in my own abilities, if i bought a boat, i would want to know that it is in a safe condition, and safe to use, due to others who may NOT be as competent as they think they are. Yes the BSSC to some may be a pain in the ****, but it would be interresting to hear some of the horror stories that have failed the examination. Are there ant BSSC examiners on the forum, and if so, can they enlighten us?.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

The only 'I' devices i use are- me myself and I, and the pair of eyes in my head! Im not the oldest of members on here but i realy cant embrace the fruit company gadgets, people would get more done if they didnt spend 15mins of each hour checking mail boxes and social networks .

Now THAT really is a breath of fresh air

[MBA Marine]

I did make a point on another thread somewhere about how easy it would be for some unscrupulous person who could quite easily borrow things from friends to get a boat through a BSSC test, only to swap them back for some "old faithful" part that could quite easily be unsafe. Unfortunately due to other people neglegence and stupidity, the BSSC test has become an essential (dare i say it?) incovenience. As much as i have confidence in my own abilities, if i bought a boat, i would want to know that it is in a safe condition, and safe to use, due to others who may NOT be as competent as they think they are. Yes the BSSC to some may be a pain in the ****, but it would be interresting to hear some of the horror stories that have failed the examination. Are there ant BSSC examiners on the forum, and if so, can they enlighten us?.

I was asked to fix a boat that had failed its gas test very badley this year, the owner was oblivious even though it stunk of gas, this is one to be alerted to, the system had a bubble tester and that didnt show any leak, why? well the regulater had given up and was leaking, the bubble tester tests everything the other side of it! This is why we need the BSS examiner to test and not leave it to the owner to diy test, now boats are having their 2nd test most gas failiers are on the applience and not the gas pipe run and the leaks are slight (i know any leak is bad but i would rather a minor leak on the valves not quite seating than a kinked pipe with a split), but hence my comment regarding the inspection not always being carried out as it should be, too many boats slipped through the net first time around, and im sorry to say some work that is carried out is still 'old school' from the eara that you do whater ever works no names mentioned as mud slinging in your own back yard is not recomended!

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

I suppose in its infancy, there were things that the BSSC did`nt cover, which later have manifested themselves, thus resulting in the exam being made more stringent over time. However, as you`ve pointed out (MBA), the BSSC is open to interpretation by the examiner, and therefore, some may pass a boat that others may fail. But then i suppose NOTHING in life is evr going to be 100% foolproof.

[MBA Marine]

I suppose in its infancy, there were things that the BSSC did`nt cover, which later have manifested themselves, thus resulting in the exam being made more stringent over time. However, as you`ve pointed out (MBA), the BSSC is open to interpretation by the examiner, and therefore, some may pass a boat that others may fail. But then i suppose NOTHING in life is evr going to be 100% foolproof.

I agree and descresion should be used, but ISO7840 hose has been required on fuel pipes, flame aresters on fuel breathers and batteries housed so that they cant drift around the boat have been there from the begining if im not mistaken. somtimes jobs are are difficult to reach!