Be Careful with those Shore Connections

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi]

I leave my boat connection secured and connected at all times. I coil,my cable and hang it with straps off my stern railings. My breaker is off until I plug in the shore power end. I turn off my breaker before unplugging the shore power. This is the safest way to conduct this operation.

 

[John Howitt]

That connection on my boat caused a fire.
The plug and cord both looked good, I had checked them earlier in the day.
The corrosion was on the back of the plug behind the panel, where you could not see it without pulling the panel off.
It just got hotter and hotter until it caught fire.
It was not a short , so it didn't pop the breaker.
Luckily a fire fighter sailor was at his boat and saw the smoke.
Five minutes more could have been catastrophic.
$ 14,000 later I was back on the water.