Boat fire , Cowes YH, overnight

Was the fire on a boat on the hard? The reports don't seem to say but that looks to be the case from the pictures

The report in Island echo says, "The vessel, which has been severely damaged, is stored out of the water for the winter season."

Obvious I'd have thought from this picture

teenburntboatfirecowes_009.jpg
 
The burnt out boat was at the very back corner of the yard immediately behind the Mountbatten Hospice charity shop. As of an hour ago it appears to have been removed and replaced by a police van surrounded in crime scene tape. Doesn't appear to have been any other vessels affected (thankfully including mine)
This is the second time my boat has narrowly missed a fire in Cowes... the first being in 2016 in the Medina yard fire when she was in David Heritage's shed getting resprayed. Time to leave Cowes methinks before third time unlucky takes effect !
 
Bloody hell you lot, let's all be grumpy and point fingers and worry about our boats, right?

Of course it's possible that the teenager had been working on his or a family member's boat, slept aboard, and a heater malfunctioned. It's also entirely possible that he wasn't, but either way there's someone's son airlifted to a burns unit hundreds of miles away who is presumably in a pretty bad, and very painful, way.

Let's all hope for a satisfactory outcome first and foremost, eh?
 
The lad may be the owner's son or have some other perfectly innocent reason for being there at midnight, but my nasty suspicious mind is thinking arson, just a bit more effective than expected.

Certainly what early reports hinted at. Nevertheless, in light of the serious nature of the injuries it’s probably best to wait until the police have properly sorted out the facts.
 
You're right, so let's make this purely hypothetical. A 16 year old deliberately sets fire to your boat, destroying it, but suffers life changing injuries as a result. Do you press charges?

1. He's a local scrote with a list of convictions as long as your arm

2. He's never been in trouble before.
 
You're right, so let's make this purely hypothetical. A 16 year old deliberately sets fire to your boat, destroying it, but suffers life changing injuries as a result. Do you press charges?

1. He's a local scrote with a list of convictions as long as your arm

2. He's never been in trouble before.

I wouldn't in either case - it's an insurance job for me and my boat and no harm to me or my family.
 
You're right, so let's make this purely hypothetical. A 16 year old deliberately sets fire to your boat, destroying it, but suffers life changing injuries as a result. Do you press charges?

1. He's a local scrote with a list of convictions as long as your arm

2. He's never been in trouble before.

As I have no influence over the CPS I guess it wouldn’t matter what I thought, and as the insurance company would assume all claims against third parties via subrogation rights I’d have no say there either!

But I know what you mean, human emotions would certainly be very different in the case of overt criminal damage vis-a-vis a poor as a church mouse youngster seeking shelter from the cold.
 
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