On Saturday I went up to the boat and cleaned.
While I was belowdeck I heard the Coastguard put out an alert in my immediate area, because I had the VHF on, not because I have superhuman hearing. A yacht was fiercely aflame and drifting upriver on a strong tide.
My heart goes out to the poor family who owned this boat; such a catastrophic experience for them. They all got off safely, which is really good news, but what a terrible shame.
Early reports are that the fire started in the engine bay; and the engine on sailing yachts has been the source of a lot of thinking (in these parts) lately.
There’s a couple who have an interesting YouTube channel called ‘Sailing Uma‘. They came to sailing (and Uma is their first boat) as a pair of complete novices, but they are both architects.
One of their early decisions when they bought Uma was to pull the diesel engine out and replace it with an electric motor. Now, I do realise that electric motors can cause the same kind of problems as diesel engines, but it’s still an interesting thing to consider. And, it’s fair to say, I’m considering.
Also, under consideration but only in a wildly impractical kind of way, is the total redesign that Dan (from Canada) and Kika (from Haiti) have done to Uma’s inside.
It’s worth a look, some of their design and build turns 60+ years of yacht design on its head
Anyway, here’s a gratuitous shot of Good Mood as she looked on Saturday morning:
That must be heartbreaking but, as you say, it was good that no-one got injured.
There’s something ironic about having a fire on the water.