where there's smoke...

No time is a good one to be standing in a bathrobe holding a fire extinguisher. But aboard a fiberglass boat when it's 25 degrees out is especially not a good one.

Two weeks ago two liveaboard boats here in Eastport burned to the waterline. It simply gives one pause. And there's this sick irony to boat fires because a boat is surrounded by water. I don't know what exactly caused that fire, but electricity arcing at shore power connections seems to be a frequent cause of boat fires, so I wanted to do some preventive care aboard to ward off that problem. On Saturday I had planned to unplug the shore power cables, wipe down the blades, and then coat them with dielectric silicone compound. Various folks had recommended putting it on the connections to prevent corrosion and arcing that can lead to electrical fires. The package said to avoid skin contact. I wasn't sure how much I'm supposed to put on. I pulled out my copy of Nigel Calder's Mechanical and Electrical Manual to see if it mentioned applying the compound to the shore power connections. I couldn't find anything. I decided to wait until I had a little more information.

While contemplating the dangers of fire aboard, I noticed that the many fire extinguishers aboard are mounted and held in with straps. I pondered just how those straps fasten. I'd never actually removed any of the extinguishers, but if there were either a fire or an intruder (an ABC extinguisher is a handy defensive weapon) I was concerned about how difficult it would be to remove the canister from the strap when time was of the essence. 

Sunday morning I was supposed to go ice skating with friends. I do love to skate and was looking forward to it, but was not really feeling up to being surrounded by kids. I went back and forth about it but just had this feeling I needed to beg off and stick around the boat. As I was messaging back and forth with friends, I heard a strange sound, sort of a slow, deep "whomp." It seemed to come from the starboard aft-most corner of the nav desk and breaker panel. But I didn't hear anything else and started to go back to the message I was writing. Then I noticed the music was off. Hmm. Maybe I had turned it off for some reason. I turned it back on and sat down. The music started coming and going. The iPod dock runs on 110V, i.e., shore power, but also has a 10-hour battery back-up, so if the A/C power is off, it just switches over. I looked at the panel and it showed 120 volts, but the power strip light was flashing on and off. Ah, maybe something on the shelf is hitting the power strip button. Nope. Then I saw the adjacent outlet was dead. No breakers on the panel were tripped. Strange.

Nothing looked amiss. But this faint smell of sulfur, like when you just light a match, caught my nose. Something just didn't feel right. I turned off the main A/C breakers on the boat. And in that moment, I somehow instinctively popped that strap on the fire extinguisher and headed topsides. I opened the lazarette that contains the back of the electrical panel and smoke came billowing out. I didn't see flames but the smoke kept coming and the smell...like burning matches and plastic and something else I just can't describe...it was awful and I knew something was very wrong. I flipped the breakers off at the shore power pedestal and went back to the cockpit, standing over the open lazarette. I didn't want to just randomly spray the fire extinguisher in there. The smoke seemed to be dissipating, but with all the PFDs and sails in the lazarette, what if something was smoldering out of sight? 

I wasn't quite sure who to call. Someone like TowBoatUS will claim a percentage of the boat's value for salvage if you're sinking or on fire. The fire department would likely fill the boat with foam that would destroy wiring and systems. But something was seriously wrong. I called a friend who's a very experienced boater. He answered very conversationally, "Hey, how are you?" I quickly and bluntly said "I'm kind of freaking out right now. I'm standing here in a bathrobe with a fire extinguisher and there's smoke coming out of the lazarette near the electrical panel. I'm not sure who to call." He reminded me he's in Delaware. "Yes, yes, I know you can't come help me, but I figured you would know who I should call." He suggested I go disconnect the shore power cables from the boat and pedestal as well and turn off the batteries. 

Both shore power cables show damage from arcing

When I unplugged the cables from the shore power inlets on the boat one inlet had a blade that was black and scorched. The cables were clearly damaged from arcing. The smoke seemed to have stopped. I didn't see any obvious damage on the electrical panel, which has a clear Plexiglass cover. But all that smoke came from somewhere. Now all power on the boat was off, no A/C from shore power and no D/C from the batteries. So, no heat, no lights, no propane stove because it requires an electric solenoid for safety. The water around the boat is iced over. We were at least going to need a way to heat the boat.

My friend suggested I call a marine mechanic he knows to see if he could come take a look, but he wasn't in town. That guy gave me the name of another mutual friend of theirs, Rob Simkin. I explained to Rob that while whatever had burned appeared under control, I couldn't wait to address the issue because I live on the boat with pets and we need to get the boat safely heated. Rob really came through; here I was a perfect stranger, kind of freaking out, but he gave up his Sunday afternoon and was at my boat in less than 90 minutes.

The shore power inlet that was on fire

Rob removed the shore power inlet that looked damaged. The guts were scorched and melted. I complained about how awful that burning smell is and he explained that there is a lot of smoke under the coaming, so the smell probably won't go away soon. The other inlet looked OK, but since it was older and rather than take any chances, I agreed we should replace them both. While I went to West Marine (twice) and Fawcett's to find the parts, Rob went over the electrical panel to check for damage, tightened up loose wires, and replaced some old connectors. He also began tracing the wires for the battery charger since I have long wanted to move it over to the "main" shore power line in case I am in a marina with only single 30 amp service; then I can forgo the water heater and HVAC that run on the secondary line and have all my "core" house systems on the main line.

The plan at West Marine was to pick up two new inlet assemblies and one or two new shore power cables. Each of those is about a hundred bucks; yep, ouch. I found that instead of having to buy the entire assembly, including the metal casing and closure, I could buy just the "guts" of the inlet. The price difference is substantial: $90 versus $30. The problem was that the guts-only package didn't include the white end cap. I got them anyway, and then headed to Fawcett's to see if they had the end caps. They didn't, but they had sets of the guts with a cap included. I bought two of those, and returned the others at West Marine. I also picked up a new "Eel" shore power cable at West Marine. For the second cable I'm using a short cable I already had, but I will replace it shortly with a longer one because if the tide falls too much and it "tugs" at the connections I may be back to standing there with a fire extinguisher.

Note half the guts are just gone or melted

As it turned out, the inlets I had bought at West Marine were Marinco and the ones from Fawcett's were Hubbell. It'd be way too easy if these fittings were standardized... so of course the Hubbell ones and the Marinco ones do not have their screw holes in quite the same spots. They're off just a smidge enough that they can't play nice together. And it turns out that one of my inlets was Hubbel and one was Marinco. Sigh. And so, I headed back to West Marine (trip three). I tried fitting the white backing cap from the old assembly onto the new inlet guts, but the cap was too melted on one side, so I sucked it up and bought the $90 complete inlet assembly for the Marinco inlet.

Naturally, for one of the inlets the wire was a few inches short after cutting off old connections. So, Rob headed to West Marine for that trip since he knew exactly what wire was needed. The entire process (replacing the inlets and moving the battery charger over to the main line) took a little over four hours. The last hour we were there in the cockpit as sleet/hail then turned to fluffy snow. Rob patiently explained to me what he was doing and why, pointed out key aspects of the electrical panel for me, and explained certain things prior owners had done that I'll likely want to change as I upgrade the system. I probably need to make a sketch and then jot notes about what everything is.

By the time everything was put back together and I could turn on systems, and heat, again, it had fallen to 40 degrees inside the boat. The pets were about ready to mutiny. I gave them all kibble, and having only had a string cheese and a yogurt all day myself, I headed down to the pub. My dieting/running has been going very well. I'm down a reasonable and safe seven pounds in six weeks, and down 2-3 inches everywhere that matters. But I decided that on days that you have a boat fire you get to eat and drink whatever you want without guilt. The burger and fries were exactly what I needed, but the nachos a couple hours later and copious amounts of beer... yeah, not so much. I took the melted inlet with me in a ziploc bag so I could play show-and-tell with the other liveaboards at the pub. After that near miss, and knowing I dodged a scary bullet, it was good to be able to decompress and commiserate with liveaboard friends. It's really nice to know that if I'm in a jam I have friends I can call for help.

I definitely feel that something was telling me that the shore power needed attention although there weren't any outward signs that it had a problem. It's eery that I had been concerned with arcing and the fire extinguishers just the day before. It's eery that I had this gut feeling I needed to stick around the boat that morning. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have a boat, or two loving cats, or a tail-wagging pup dog right now. When I'm tucking myself in the v-berth for bed, telling the pets goodnight and that I love them, I put my hand against the hull and tell the boat we love her, too. I know it's not good to become too attached to a particular boat and that it's not a child, a lover, or a pet, it's an object. But at the same time, I do love her; she is our home and in many ways my salvation. We rescued her, and she rescued us. So it may sound like so much mystical jibber-jabber, but I think she was telling me something was wrong and it saved her life and ours yesterday.

If you're an Annapolis-area boater and need electrical or yacht management help, check out Simkins Yacht Management. Rob is a USCG licensed captain and an ABYC master technician. Good at what he does and "good people." A big thanks to Rob, to Fred and Steve for recommending him, to fellow liveaboard Jay "Thumper" at West Marine, and to the liveaboard ladies at Fawcett's.

fire and water

At last, I have fire and water aboard! I took the old water pump (pictured below) to Bacon Sails to find a new one, replace a horribly kinked length of water hose, and pick up some Trident sanitation hose for the starboard vent line off the holding tank.

I wasn't able to find a used pump that seemed to be the right size and electrical draw, so bought a new one for $100. I was told I may be able to rebuild the old one, so that will be a project down the line so that I'll have a working spare to use in an emergency. I wanted to do as much of the work on this as I could or at least observe and assist, but as we always seemed to be working on this project as snow or rain were about to start or as the daylight waned, I watched as much as I could and asked questions, but ultimately let the guy I hired do the work so we could just get it done. The fittings on the new pump were smaller than the hose, so I had to wait a couple of days for my handyman to have time to get nipple adapters to connect the fittings to the hose without leaking. Finally, yesterday we managed to do that, used my hairdryer in lieu of a heat gun to soften up the hose ends enough to fit the nipples, and at last I have water flowing aboard again. The pressure is better in the galley than it was before, but still not what it should be, so we will end up disconnecting the hose to the galley sink and checking whether there is a problem there or in the sink fixture, but for now I can wash dishes again. And whereas the old pump would run continuously, (which probably burned out the motor), the new one's pressure-sensitive switch works so it only comes on when it senses I have opened a faucet. I'd still like to install a foot-pump in the galley as a back-up in case of emergency.

Although the propane is not yet mounted off the transom, in the interim I can now use it with the tank in the cockpit and just disconnect and re-connect the regulator which is in the lazarette. In the not-too-distant future, my handyman will help me build a base for the tank, drill a hole from the lazarette through the transom, and mount the tank below the aft rail. We'll make a teak or fiberglass box to protect the regulator from the elements. Today I need to go buy a tea kettle so I can boil water for coffee and tea. I'm very excited to be able to cook and bake again and not be dependent on the microwave, which is a strain on the electrical system and limited my on-board dining options.

When friends were over yesterday to help me get the propane stove going, Maximus slipped out and took a stroll on the deck. He quickly hopped right into a friend's dinghy tied alongside my boat.

What a trouble-cat! But it was he and his brother's tenth birthday, so I cut him some slack. At least the flock of ducks was not right there to tempt him to jump overboard.

Pup dog has had quite a challenge with winter aboard. I did purchase ice melt (and have shakers both in the cockpit and in the bathhouse ashore) to help us get down the finger pier, however the tides have also been a challenge. Until yesterday morning, she had not been ashore in forty hours (same length of time as during Sandy), due to extremely low tides from high winds blowing water out of the bay. The boat sat well below the dock and for a while was aground so I couldn't pull it closer to the pier; she likely could not have made the straight vertical jump almost three feet anyway. It's not been easy for me getting on and off the boat either; I had to stand on the toe rail and then swing my other leg up to the pier, grab onto the other side of the pier, and pull myself up. Getting back aboard I've often had to sit on the pier to reach the boat.

I already lost three mats (one coco-fiber and two carpet) into the water from the high winds; I won't be putting any more mats on the finger pier unless they are nailed or stapled down. While pup was stuck aboard, I bought a rubber-backed carpet door mat for the cockpit and an astroturf one as well, with the hope of teaching her to do her business on the astroturf. If she can learn to do that it will be safer during snow and ice or extremely high or low tides, rather than trying to get her ashore. It will also offer us more cruising flexibility to be able to anchor out and not need to get ashore; though she certainly will still want the chance to stretch her legs, a few days without that is not life-threatening the way a few days of "holding it" would be. I put "piddle pads" down in the boat and tried to convince her to "go" but she just wouldn't do it in front of me. But I knew if she really had to go she would use the pad if I wasn't around. So, while I was off buying the astroturf, she did at least piddle on the pad, and the next morning got a nice long trip ashore.

She wasn't willing to use the astroturf before I got her ashore, but when she was peeing on the grass I stuck the mat under her to catch some pee and "infuse" the mat with her scent, so I'll start trying to get her to use it aboard. I've read both success stories and ones of failure at this, but here's to hoping pup dog can adapt to this aspect of life as a boat dog.

I'd had no word from the floppy-haired sailor guy for just shy of two weeks and was quite heartbroken and worried about him. Losing a loved-one is so hard and I wish I could comfort him somehow. I finally got a brief message from him, so at least I know he hasn't gone overboard. There was a time he seemed so crazy about me. I'm probably a fool to hold on, but it's been years since anyone got inside my heart and I'm just not willing to let him go so easily. Studies show that happiness is not tied to money, success, or health. Across cultures the one key factor to happiness is finding that "one" to share life with. 2012 was the worst year of my life, so I am pleased to let it go and I am hopeful this year will finally be full of health and financial security, but most of all full of love.

storms keep a blowin'

Feeling overwhelmed by everything before me. Struggling to unpack my office, where there simply never seems to be space enough for everything; a similar challenge aboard, of course. Just want to feel unpacked, settled in, centered. Instead, simply attending to each little crisis as it arises and then crashing, exhausted--physically and emotionally.

Some five weeks feeling like camping is wearing me down. I cannot even store clothes where they need to go on the boat because I still have not managed to eliminate the holding tank odor that seems to comes from the vent line. Bought hose and hose clamps yesterday to replace the vent line, which I suspect is permeated. Hoping that will be a solution, but unsure of my ability to tackle this little project on my own.

No propane hooked up, (and me with no idea how to do it), so unable to cook. A pot of soup on the propane stove would also be my best and only source of heating the boat if today's nor'easter knocks out my shore power. Galley sink only generates a trickle of water, though pressure is strong in the sink head, so even washing dishes will be a chore. Fridge compressor did not seem to be running and was worried one of the few items on the boat that works had died. On the upside, the compressor was simply off as the fridge was plenty cold. On the downside, the canned beer and soda had frozen and several sodas had exploded; got to unload the entire fridge and clean up frozen diet Dr. Pepper everywhere.

Worried about finding a way to get the boat hauled, seacocks replaced, and main bilge pump serviced with the very limited funds I have left. Would prefer to learn how to do the work myself, but with the seacocks and bilge pump being the most important parts to keep the boat afloat, I am fearful of making any mistakes.

Bought an oil-filled radiator-style heater yesterday and that has helped to warm up the boat a bit. I am still very nervous about leaving it running when away from the boat. Several people have suggested it is safe to do so, and I hate to leave the cats and pup alone and cold overnight when I stay elsewhere or when I am gone for long periods during the day.

Deeply sad to see my floppy-haired sailor guy leaving town in a couple of days. Had hoped at least the last week would have been an opportunity to enjoy each other. Had thought there was something real and lasting afoot, and was foolish to let myself fall for him. I just want the days back when he wanted me to fall in love with him and we stayed up dancing together all night. Wish I could at least get time together to let him know he will be truly missed.

A marathon is on my calendar in less than 3 weeks for which I have not trained. Must soon decide whether to slog it out and try to make it to my ultramarathon in December, or whether to throw in the towel. I hate to quit; perhaps I can pull myself together and get out in the cold this morning for a run.