Confession and the Soul

[Gary Wyngarden]

I'm sharing this in the hopes that it might save someone's life.For those of you who don't know me, I consider myself to be a very knowledgeable and very careful sailor. We just returned from a sometimes challenging but overall very nice month-long cruise on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. But this incident arose from my carelessness, and it could have cost me my boat and the lives of my wife and me.Despite it's being mid summer, morning temperatures at the beginning of our cruise were in the upper 50's in the cabin and I was running the diesel heater to take the chill off until the sun warmed things up. After a couple of days of this I started the heater. The blower and fuel pump kicked in, but the heater failed to fire. After a couple of tries I went to the swim platform locker where the heater is mounted to see if anything obvious was wrong.I didn't find anything wrong with the heater. What I did find was that the plastic gas can used to store fuel for my outboard had become dislodged and was leaning against the exhaust hose for the heater. The heat had melted the can to the point where there was a pinhole in the plastic through which small amounts of both fumes and gas could have escaped. Any further melting would have allowed fumes and gas to be in contact with the heater with tragic results.I went weak in the knees at the thought of the possible outcome. I basically never use the outboard as I row everywhere, and the plastic container didn't get the attention it should have.Lessons to be learned: 1. Obviously don't store your gas can near any heat sources. 2. Even when you think you have the sailing and cruising drill down pat, you can never be too diligent.May we all learn from this.BTW the heater is now working again. Why it didn't fire that morning I'll never know. I think the sailing gods must have been watching over us.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[Gary Sisson]

Yes indeed

I don't know about sailing gods, but God must have. This was a true miracle that the heater didn't fire up that morning.

 

[higgs]

Thanks

Another item to keep in mind.

 

[Brian D]

Wow...

Thanks, Gary, for that narrative. I am glad that the heater did not fire up. I have no plastic containers of fuel on my boat, but I can rest assure you that this will be in my mind every time I fire up anything that contains a flame or generates a spark.Thanks, again.

 

[rich]

True miracle...

Don't see gods hand here at all Gary....true good luck that you found this in a world saturated with chaotic potential. Why would god prevent a gas can from blowing up yet let millions starve or die from infectious disease?

 

[MoonSailer]

Sometimes you are Lucky

I don't believe in devine intervention but I do believe in luck. Sometimes you are lucky sometimes you are dead. I'm very glad that you were lucky. I sometimes store gasoline on my boat. The safest place that I've found in is my sink!!! The sink doesn't have a water trap so it is a straight pipe out of the boat. Since gasoline fumes are heavier than air they go straight out of the boat via the drain. When we are on the boat I either tie the can to a rail or store it on deck under the dinghy... Being lucky is great but luck isn't a reliable way to stay safe.

 

[Gary Wyngarden]

My Post

Didn't intend to turn this into a religious thing--strictly a boating safety issue.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[Ross]

I make a point of lashing all fuel containers

My concern is where will this stuff go if we are knocked down. Gravity is not dependable on a boat. If you don't want it to fly either put it in a tight locker or lash it to something solid.

 

[Hale]

Reminders

Thanks for the reminder to use caution. We all take certain things for granted after doing them a while. Although nothing has gone wrong on my boat, I have taken new safety precautions that should have been done much sooner. The lesson here is be vigilant. Every sailor out there can find some safety measure on their boat that can be improved upon. Thabks for the reminder Gary! And God bless you and your family.

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

Yes, sometimes the 'gods' are paying attention...

The nearest thing to your situation that I've been in was a recent trip to Lake George. Only a (too)small outboard on my V21 with a small internal tank. Under power, got out about 3/4 mile from the marina when a storm swung in on us. This meant about 3 miles against current on the tiny outboard to our expected landing point. As the weather got even more snotty, I DIDN'T switch on the running lights, despite the poor daytime visibility and was instead busy making sure we weren't swamped by any larger waves. As we reached the dock the motor ran out of fuel. After checking in to the ranger station to let them know that we had, indeed arrived, I went to refuel the tiny outboard from the spare can in the lazarrette. BIG surprise - The can had tipped over in the rough weather and had popped the top and emptied into the bowels of the boat. Had I switched on the running lights and/or cabin lights there might have been a pretty big 'kaboom' that day.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Boating safety issues

Thanks, Gary, great post.As a long time single-hander, I find what I've read in books by single-handers to be very true. Sometimes, at odd times, it just "seems" that something needs to be checked, even if you'd never thought about it before. All seemed well with a nine month old alternator and new regulator, but I checked, for "some intangible reason" and found a loose wire. Motoring along in daylight, I "just got the feeling" to scan the horizon one more time, and missed the crab trap.Lotsa those kinds of thing actually do happen in real life. There's always something to check.Thanks again for prompting this thread.

 

[Bill Roosa]

It ain't luck!

Well Gary it looks like we are members of the same clan. I've had several occasions to have the good Lord watch out for me too.God looks out for dummies, as long as they remain humble. I think your post qualifies as the humble part.Thanks and fair winds/God bless

 

[Ross]

I think in this thread you can make atribution

where you will and as you will. I am opposed to giving credit to a god or assigning blame to a devil in almost all cases. maybe one in a few million is ok but please folks we are just another species on this planet and sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Sometimes.......

You are a creation of a loving God that cares for you,andsometimes you are evolved up from a puddle of goo.Since the odds of evolving from a puddle of goo are just about the same as a loving God creating me, coming to earth to show us the example, dieing on a cross and then coming back to life............I'd rather think that those "little voices" that tell me to check the gasoline tank are from God and not random cosmic ray showers interacting with my neural network.Call me stupid but after hundreds of cosmic ray showers that sent me EXACTLY to the problem, I begin to think it is the former explanation and not the latter.Ross, I'm putting you on my prayer list.

 

[dale17781]

Bill your right

There is no such thing as luck. Luck is when God chooses to remain anonymous. Gary, you learned a great lession, from an even greater teacher.

 

[Bill Roosa]

PTL Dale!!!

nm

 

[RAD]

Coincidence

is also when God chooses to remain anonymous.I always say there are no Coincidence'sI leave my gas can for the dink outboard lashed down to the dinks floor board and the dink is hanging from davits and would never store it below.

 

[r.w.landau]

Gary, Thanks!

Good things come from people sharing the good and the bad.I would press God's(that would be one God) timing but that is another forum.Thanks!r.w.landau

 

[MoonSailer]

The Good Bad and Ugly??

Some would like to credit supernatural forces for good things that happen. But fail to blame these same supernatural forces for bad things that happen. I could easily praise the lord for my Mom recovering after almost 6 months in ICU... But what about my nephew who died a horrible death at age 16?? Should I hate God for killing or at least failing to save Jerry?? He was an awfully good kid who didn't deserve to die such a horrible death from Ewing's sarcoma. Where was god when hitler decided to kill 6 million Jews??? Where is god almost every day when a suicide bomber attacks civillians??? Then you have the tragedy of a plane crash etc and one ot two survivors profess that it's a miracle that god saved them..why one might ask. What did the dead people fail to do or do wrong??  No I am afraid that it is a natural world with no gods or demons angels or witches. Just predictable and unpredictable events. Sometimes you get lucky even after doing something stupid. Sometimes you die. Storing gasoline near a hot exhaust pipe is really stupid. Garry you were lucky!!!! The next time you do something really stupid you may or may not be lucky. Knowing that you are alive and well by just pure luck is not very comforting but true. Go to a cancer ward for children and ask god why these children..what could a two year old have done to deserve such pain and suffering???  Prepare your boat and self well don't expect god to send an angel to save you when you set out across the Pacific in your Mac 25!!!

 

[Ross]

I think that with just a little effort we can get

this thread moved to the Sailors call lounge. It is getting very polarized and it is beginning to make Kyle's prank look desireable. If someone wants to credit the gods with the events in their life then they should pour out a libation in private and allow the rest of the world to continue in their comfortable ignorance. I, personally don't need to be convinced one way or another on this subject. I am however offended by those that seem to express the idea that the world will be a safer place if we all believe as they do.