The worst thing to happen on a boat is fire, and this is just what happened to a poor boat owner the other day at the Boatyard. He went to his boat, topped up with petrol, then started his engines. There was almost immediately a loud bang, and his boat was alight. Despite exhausting two fire extinguishers and someone with a garden hose trying to put it out, the fire spread. The boat owner had lost the hair on the back of his head but was otherwise unhurt. Apart from shock that is.
The Fire brigade took about 15 mins to arrive by which time the boat was well alight.
It took around 45 minutes to get it under control by which time they had poured so much water on it, it was nigh on sunk. It was a cabin cruiser, not an open boat by the way. The pontoon next to it got a little charred but no other boats were near enough to be seriously affected.
Sadly by the next day it had sunk. My commiserations to the owner. Another sad reminder of how careful you have to be on boats.
4 Kidneys and a Wonky Leg 