Buccaneer |
| Posted by Merlin (Merlin) on 5th November, 2006 |
Trust members Susan and Roger Woodcock had a narrow escape when their 21ft Carvel wooden motor cruiser Buccaneer, was involved in an explosion at Hest Bank sanitary station Luckily, they both escaped with only minor injuries.
The boat had obtained its Safety Certificate in January 1998 and the only gas appliance on board was the cooker. Despite this, the most likely explanation for the explosion was a gas leak. After the incident, the gas testing point and gas bottle were checked and both found to be in good order. A gas alarm had been fitted in the bilge and was switched on, but did not sound until after the explosion.
Common practice is to fit a gas detector at the lowest part of the boat, the bilge. As propane is heavier than air, it would sink and collect here if there was a leak. However, as the bilge is damp, this may cause a decreased sensitivity of the detector impeding its effectiveness. The Woodcocks would like to stress the necessity of fitting not only one gas detector in the bilge, but installing a second at a higher level.
Susan and Roger bought Buccaneer in 1991, after finding it in a poor state of repair on the Llangollen Canal. She was built in 1906 as an open bay shrimper with an oak ribbed hull covered by larch. The super structure was added in the 1950s by Taylors Yard at Chester and this was remodelled in 1994 by a qualified shipwright operating from the Windermere Steamboat Museum using original oak beams and mahogany.
Ironically, the original petrol/parafffin Kelvin engine was taken out for fear of explosion and replaced with a Yanmar 16hp diesel engine serviced in February 1998. The boat had a forward galley and dining area, a midship wheel house around the engine compartment and an aft sleeping cabin.
At 8am on the day of the explosion, Susan Woodcock was to make the morning coffee in the forward cabin. She did not smell gas and their dog Bill who had been sleeping in the galley area, did not appear to be suffering from any adverse effects if a gas leak had occurred. Susan turned on the cooker burner, pressed the gas lighter and was aware of a muffled boom accompanied by the sensation of warm air rising up her body. A few seconds later she opened her eyes. She had not been moved by the force of the explosion but was now looking at the outside world where before there had been a mahogany roof. This and the cabin sides had been blown out.
Roger was in the aft sleeping cabin and cannot fully remember if he heard the boom, but saw a blue and yellow flash travelling towards him. He vividly recalls sailing through the air and surfacing in the canal by the starboard aft quarter of the boat. Like the roof and the sides of the boat he had been physically blown by the force of the explosion into the water. Bill the dog was later found, alive, but with a slight limp, by firemen on the canal bank at the other side. It is believed he too was blown out of the boat, over the canal, landing on the opposite towpath.
Currently, it is not compulsory to fit gas detectors in boats and their installation is not necessary to pass the Boat Safety Certificate. A British Waterways Technical Advisor said that SF Detectors manufacture gas detectors for use in houses to British Standard 7348. However detectors for use in boats and caravans do not have this same mark. They are manufactured to the same high standard, but there are technical problems which have to be ironed out before a mark can be given and before BW make the installation of them necessary to pass the BSc. Such technical problems include bilge dampness affecting the gas sensors, and dual sensors occasionally being set off by alcohol and/or diesel fumes. This would lead to the cry wolf syndrome, where the response to an over sensitive alarm would be one of frustration and irritation, rather than alert and caution. BW and SF Detectors are In discussion to try and produce gas detectors more suitable for boats.
The shipping and petrochemical industries use hand held battery powered detection units and the Woodcocks are currently investigating the possibility of such gas detectors being available commercially for the public to buy. Although they have lost a unique and versatile boat the Woodcocks realise how fortunate they were to survive this explosion. They are therefore promoting awareness concerning the dangers of using gas in boats and stress the necessity of fitting both high and low level gas detectors.
Last changed: 5th November, 2006 at 3:29 pm
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