The Loss of a 37 Cutter

[Jim Legere]

I was very sad to come across this article yesterday. Sadder still than the loss of the boat is the tragic death of her owner.

The article names the boat "Panacea". I have no record of any Hunter 37C by that name but there was a "Panasea" that was purchased by Englishman Phil Hays-Jahans and sailed across the Atlantic in July 2005. Phil had proposed to rename the boat "Moondance" but had not done this at the time of the passage. He bought Panasea, a Mk 1 H37C, in Oriental, NC with a plan to sell it at a profit in the European market. The Practical Sailor article mentions the deceased owner was Swedish; so there may be some basis for the supposition that the boat in this sad story was Panasea. Hopefully someone on this forum can help unravel the mystery.

I am attaching a scanned version of the story, in case anyone has trouble with the link above.

And please, PLEASE, if you have propane on your boat, make sure your system meets all safety requirements and inspect it regularly!

 

[Hello Below]

Truly sad. Although, I do not have access to current ABYC nor NMMA nor USCG documents, I cannot find a reference anywhere that states there is a requirement to have a propane sniffer/alarm/detector fitted on board recreational boats. I have found that there is a requirement for smoke and CO detectors, plus a multitude of other safe equipment but not a LPG detector. So until I get one installed on my 2012 ABYC certified sailboat, if the solenoid is off then the shutoff valve at the tank will be off.

 

[Blaise]

Guys,
I might be totally off base here, and my observations have nothing to do with propane safety, but I am not sure that boat is a 37c. I guess the deck must be in orbit somewhere, and I obviously have never seen a 37c from this prospective, but the bow seems way to fine, and the stern too small. Has anybody out there seen that style of stripes? It could be. Maybe I am just in a state of denial about loosing one of our boats.

 

[Sailvayu]

Although I commend PS for promoting safety they should at least get the facts right.
The statement that connections should be kept to a minimum is misleading. The law is all connections must be made in the propane locker and only 2 connections are allowed in the boat. 1 from the supply line to a flexible hose for a gimbaled stove. The other is from the flexible hose to the stove. If you run rubber hose from the locker it should connect direct to the appliance. Hose ends must be made with machine swagged ends and approved for propane. Tees or any other fittings in the line are prohibited.
Sniffers are not required although they are a good idea.
Valves inside the boat are not allowed.

Here is a link to an article I wrote for Cruising World awhile back http://www.cruisingworld.com/how-to/living-aboard/maintaining-your-propane-system

 

[Jim Legere]

Guys,
I might be totally off base here, and my observations have nothing to do with propane safety, but I am not sure that boat is a 37c. I guess the deck must be in orbit somewhere, and I obviously have never seen a 37c from this prospective, but the bow seems way to fine, and the stern too small. Has anybody out there seen that style of stripes? It could be. Maybe I am just in a state of denial about loosing one of our boats.

Blaise, I emailed and received a reply from Capt. Brandes, the surveyor who was mentioned in the PS article. It was indeed the Hunter 37 "Panacea" and the name of the deceased is Richard Muntzing.

To quote the surveyor: "There's really not much more to say beyond what is said in the article. Richard jury rigged a propane system that did not have a remote shutoff and when the rat chewed through the hose during the night the boat filled with gas."

Capt. Brandes also questioned why the tip of the bow blew off and wondered about the glass lay-up in that area. He sent me the picture attached.

 

[bugaloo]

I have seen a lot lately about propane on here and this is the very reason I would not have it on a boat same reason CG won't allow it on a charter boat. common sense

 

[Stephen Trapani]

Better not have electricity on your boat either as it is by far the larger cause of fires on boats.

http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/fire/

 

[bugaloo]

The wiring on my boat is all new and is done in accordance with ABYC standards and I have made a living at marine electrical work for the last 35 years so I am sure it is done properly with the most modern material. I have wired over 50 Carolina sport fishing boats, head boats, cruisers, and trawlers without any issues or failures to pass CG inspections. I have also been burned badly with someone else's misuse of propane. I was in a wheel chair for a while because of it.

 

[Jackdaw]

Blaise, I emailed and received a reply from Capt. Brandes, the surveyor who was mentioned in the PS article. It was indeed the Hunter 37 "Panacea" and the name of the deceased is Richard Muntzing.

To quote the surveyor: "There's really not much more to say beyond what is said in the article. Richard jury rigged a propane system that did not have a remote shutoff and when the rat chewed through the hose during the night the boat filled with gas."

Capt. Brandes also questioned why the tip of the bow blew off and wondered about the glass lay-up in that area. He sent me the picture attached.

Wow, looks like drywall, cut with a drywall knife.

 

[jmce1587]

thanks to articles such as this and recent forum posts, i purchased a trident detector and installed it this past weekend. lo and behold, it picked up a leak iin th system that will be corrected immediately.

 

[Stephen Trapani]

If you are comparing a good install of electricity to a poor install of propane then of course the propane loses. But if you compare good to good it makes no sense to avoid propane.

 

[bugaloo]

A fire is one thing---A bomb is another, I really didn't see much fire damage in the photo shown of what was left of the boat but a lot of damage from an explosion. That is why I don't use it!!! I don't even want to be on a boat as old as mine with the original wiring that is over 30 years old and has propane too.

 

[Pilotocopilot]

It would be good if there were additional photos of the complete hull.How can the deck blow off without ripping the inward flange of the hull. The bolts holding the deck to the hull have washers which would have sheared ofF sections at least in those locations.

The bow section he shows doesn't make sense with the opening you see in the picture with the article. In fact the remaining part of the hull in the main picture doesn't look long enough even if 5' of bow was blown off.

Not doubting the article but I can't make sense of what I'm looking at.

Regardless a bit of a concern if it sheared in that manner.

 

[Jim Legere]

It would be good if there were additional photos of the complete hull.How can the deck blow off without ripping the inward flange of the hull. The bolts holding the deck to the hull have washers which would have sheared ofF sections at least in those locations.

The bow section he shows doesn't make sense with the opening you see in the picture with the article. In fact the remaining part of the hull in the main picture doesn't look long enough even if 5' of bow was blown off.

Not doubting the article but I can't make sense of what I'm looking at.

Regardless a bit of a concern if it sheared in that manner.

I agree - its hard to reconcile the two pictures. There is no way to scale the little section of bow, but it appears to be maybe 18" high, whereas the missing section of bow in boat picture is at least several feet along the edge. As to the deck blowing off along the flange, that is consistent with the "Crash Test Boat" video of a propane explosion. (The 'bang' is at 05:46)

 

[Pilotocopilot]

Great video Jim, what it shows me is that on the 37 Hunter you would get a partial failure where the house would be blown off because of the weakness created by the number of ports.
The pic in the article shows the whole deck mold gone leaving the hull, so the only thing I can conclude is that they may have used a comparable photo of a damaged boat, or in the extreme enough gas was expelled into the hull that it blow it off clean which is highly suspect.
Condolences go out to the family of the deceased skipper and, I will be going over my whole system prior to heading out for Georgetown next week.