A Pause for Scary Possibilities

Well, today we experienced an event that gave both Cheryl and I real "cause to think". I am not sure whether I had mentioned this before but when we were in Nanny Cay getting the boat ready to sail, another yacht came into the slip beside us that had just broken it's mast off at the 1st set of spreaders while sailing in a stiff wind around the eastern side of Tortola. At the time I was kind of bothered to see the damage done and also in considering the possibilities of people being hurt when this kind of thing happens. It happened suddenly and without warning to these people and I thought about it for quite some time. After sailing for a while we have come to accept that these things can happen and that with experience the dangers can be minimized.

Today the "God's of Sailing" sent us another reminder of the need for alertness and also a wakeup call that we can't control all things at all times. Cheryl and I were below decks about 9:00 AM just doing piddly things when all of a sudden we heard a very loud pop 0r snap. We both rushed up on deck to find the boat 2 moorings over with the rear deck engulfed in flames and a huge cloud of black smoke coming from it. Of course the first thought that came was "Is there anyone aboard" but we couldn't tell because of the smoke and flames. I got in the dinghy and started over to see if I could see anyone but by that time there were already a couple of dinghies that had been going by over by the boat and although one was able to get alongside, it didn't stay so I took that to mean there was no one aboard. The flames got too hot to get close to the boat and the yacht that was between us and them was being moved. There had been only the wife aboard that boat apparently the alternator had been removed so they couldn't start it but 2 dinghies placed themselves on either side, released the boat from it's mooring and took it up to the mooring on our other side which luckily had been freed up that morning.

That left nothing between us and the burning boat except water. We had no idea how big the fuel tanks were, how much propane they had aboard or whether they carried oxygen for diving so we decided we would also move Mystic Journey out of the possible danger area. We took it out away from the moorings and Cheryl kept us from drifting too far by using the engine to adjust when needed.

In the meantime, a tug from the town pier had come up. We had seen it before while at the pier and noticed that it had a water cannon mounted on the "crowsnest" - the highest part of the stack on the tug. Unfortunately it seems that this cannon didn't work because the only water they were able to supply was from a hose on deck with not a lot of pressure. The tug tried to get close enough to use that hose but for whatever reason (perhaps depth - the boat was on the edge of the shelf) they would only go in so far. Bottom line, they were not able to apply any water to the burning boat. The fire engine from town was on the road opposite to the moorings but they were spraying against the wind. Consequently they were also unable to help.

We noticed that the people had now returned to the boat that had been moved and there was a dinghy beside them with a woman who became quite hysterical. Of course our first thought was that there had been someone aboard the boat but it turns out that was not the case.

From piecing together the story then and later at a meeting of a lot of the yacht people who gathered to see what they could do to help we found out most of the story. The couple who owned the boat, a 40' Pearson, had been diving. The reason that the woman became hysterical, aside from just losing their boat, was that she thought their dog was still aboard. In fact, the dinghy that I mentioned earlier that had pulled alongside did so to rescue the dog so that came out okay. The couple had no insurance and everything they had except their dinghy and dive gear was burned including passports, money, credit cards etc etc. At the meeting the SSCA hosts for Bonaire (Seven Seas Cruising Association) said they could put the people up at a house they have on the island. Different folks contributed clothes and money and the couple were able to get in touch with the American Consulate in Curacao and make arrangements to get new passports in quick fashion although they have to fly to Curacao in the morning. The couple were still somewhat in a state of shock but the fact their dog had been saved seemed to be the most important thing to them at this time. The skipper indicated he had no idea what might have caused the fire except that earlier he had heard a snap when he started the boat and he thought it might had been electrical. If it was, according to the sounds we heard and the swiftness of the engulfment, it must have ignited some kind of gas or fuel.

To finish with the burning boat, eventually the flames burned down somewhat and the authorities were able to attach a rope to the boat and tow it out to deeper water (300'). The boat only had a 4' draft so most of it was above the water so when the boat had burned down to the waterline there was very little left. At that point, they scuttled her.

As I said earlier, this experience was quite the wake-up call and in addition very disturbing. Cheryl and I both felt - I guess scared might be a good word although it was more than that. I can only hope that rather than make us fearful on this journey we are on, it will make us more aware of what can happen and thankful it didn't have to happen to us for us to learn this lesson.