Did I remember to turn off the gas?

[JumbleDuck]

I'm sure I've read about using a bucket, just as if 'twere water...

A neat and effective way of producing an explosive mixture faster than natual processes would, but otherwise more theatre than practical. I think the idea may have originated in The Art of Coarse Sailing.

 

[Gary Fox]

A large pair of bellows would be ideal, perhaps with an extension tube.
You can get sparkproof 12v engine-room fans quite cheap, most gin palaces have them.
A fore-hatch wind scoop, as used by tropical cruisers, would also work pretty well.


It's a good idea, joking aside, for skippers to have a Prior Plan for when/if you do get a boat stinking of gas.

 

[TernVI]

Just open all the hatches and give it time.

 

[JumbleDuck]

It's a good idea, joking aside, for skippers to have a Prior Plan for when/if you do get a boat stinking of gas.

Take sprouts off the menu.

 

[Beelzebub]

Yesterday in Guernsey:-

Boat blaze at QEII Marina

 

[penfold]

Unlikely to be anything to do with gas, they tend to explode rather than burn.

 

[Beelzebub]

Unlikely to be anything to do with gas, they tend to explode rather than burn.

Granted but it is vaguely on topic

 

[Barnacle Bill]

It's a good idea, joking aside, for skippers to have a Prior Plan for when/if you do get a boat stinking of gas.

Good advice. My manual bilge pump does move air/gas reasonably well - as evidenced by the fact that it's able to prime itself over about 10 feet of large diameter hose, uphill, when pumping the bilge; but his won't be the best solution in all cases.

My real gripe is with the gas alarm I was forced to fit for coding. I don't think this device ever made a genuine discovery of leaked gas, but it had a habit of going off when the battery voltage dropped a bit, say at 4am with the anchor light on. The only way to get rid of the alarm (and let everyone get back to sleep) was to turn it off, i.e. do exactly what you're not supposed to do in the event of a gas leak, operate an electrical switch!

 

[zoidberg]

I sailed intermittently with a friend who acquired a new-to-him boat, which was then propped up in a boatyard. He asked me to help prep the boat for launching and moving to his preferred moorings. On the two occasions I joined him for a 'fettling session', whenever he switched on the shore power, the gas alarm sounded off.

The sensor was located deep in the engine bay. His reaction was to turn off the alarm.

I suggested, more than once, he get the yard to have a qualified employee sort out the gas leak. He declined.

I made my excuses and left.

 

[Gary Fox]

I sailed intermittently with a friend who acquired a new-to-him boat, which was then propped up in a boatyard. He asked me to help prep the boat for launching and moving to his preferred moorings. On the two occasions I joined him for a 'fettling session', whenever he switched on the shore power, the gas alarm sounded off.

The sensor was located deep in the engine bay. His reaction was to turn off the alarm.

I suggested, more than once, he get the yard to have a qualified employee sort out the gas leak. He declined.

I made my excuses and left.

Quite right, either a faulty sensor or presence of gas. And a careless attitude to your concerns!
Also my tangential 2d-worth is: buried deep in the engine bay is a good place to mount engines and bilge pump suctions, but nothing which needs checking regularly..

 

[Gary Fox]

Good advice. My manual bilge pump does move air/gas reasonably well - as evidenced by the fact that it's able to prime itself over about 10 feet of large diameter hose, uphill, when pumping the bilge; but his won't be the best solution in all cases.

My real gripe is with the gas alarm I was forced to fit for coding. I don't think this device ever made a genuine discovery of leaked gas, but it had a habit of going off when the battery voltage dropped a bit, say at 4am with the anchor light on. The only way to get rid of the alarm (and let everyone get back to sleep) was to turn it off, i.e. do exactly what you're not supposed to do in the event of a gas leak, operate an electrical switch!

Yes it is vital for alarms of any kind to be accessible, checkable and generally user friendly or they will be neglected..

 

[capnsensible]

Yes it is vital for alarms of any kind to be accessible, checkable and generally user friendly or they will be neglected..

They need to be very well engineered and reliable with back ups if they are in the reactor compartment though. ?

 

[Gary Fox]

Quite right, either a faulty sensor or presence of gas. And a careless attitude to your concerns!
Also my tangential 2d-worth is: buried deep in the engine bay is a good place to mount engines and bilge pump suctions, but nothing which needs checking regularly..

To add to my own post, perhaps your pal had read of the heavier-than-air properties of LPG, and mistakenly thought the sensor had to be under everything else.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I sailed intermittently with a friend who acquired a new-to-him boat, which was then propped up in a boatyard. He asked me to help prep the boat for launching and moving to his preferred moorings. On the two occasions I joined him for a 'fettling session', whenever he switched on the shore power, the gas alarm sounded off.

The sensor was located deep in the engine bay. His reaction was to turn off the alarm.

I suggested, more than once, he get the yard to have a qualified employee sort out the gas leak. He declined.

I made my excuses and left.

Pilot Gas alarm sensors, if that was the type, are easily damaged with chemical vapors, especially from solvents. This is noted on the instructions.

I replaced the head on mine this year as it was acting exactly like you mention, despite no gas. Replacement solved the issue.

 

[graham]

Pilot gas alarm on our boat is permanently on unless both batteries are isolated.

I test occassionally with a gas lighter.Tiniest amount sets it off. A small plastic bag and rubber band can protect it from paint fumes or whatever. Failure to do that cost me £40 for a new detector head.

 

[zoidberg]

But was he aware that the gas bottle locker wasn't gas-tight, as it should have been?

It's a bit difficult, 'pvb', to ask him that question now, as he's long gone to Fiddler's Green. From my memories of the man, had he the slightest inkling that the structure AS IT WAS THEN was in any way deficient, he would certainly have seen it remedied.... as would most if not all of the very professional and conscientious JSASTC's skippers and mates I knew 'back in the day'.

 

[sgr143]

Attached for your amusement, our "leaving checklist". We cross each thing off only when it is done. The below-decks one gets done in sequence, so that the seacocks are not closed, and the bin not emptied, while they might still be needed in the clean-up. The list comes home with us in my pocket, so when, a few miles up the M27, I think... "did I switch off the gas? / switch off the electrics? / close the hatches ? etc. ", I can look at the list, see that that item is crossed off, and go on my way rejoicing.
Several items have been added only after bitter experience: the "check in oven" for food items was added a couple of days ago after we realised, luckily only about 10 miles into the 80-mile trip home, that we had left half a pasta bake and several baked potatoes ready to fester away in there.

 

[zoidberg]

Attached for your amusement, our "leaving checklist".

I like that, but.....

.....I'm getting to the stage where I'll need a string tied around my finger to remind me to look in my jacket pocket - which has a similar piece of string tied to the zipper - which holds a Post-It Note reminder of where I put the checklist.

 

[pvb]

It's a bit difficult, 'pvb', to ask him that question now, as he's long gone to Fiddler's Green. From my memories of the man, had he the slightest inkling that the structure AS IT WAS THEN was in any way deficient, he would certainly have seen it remedied.... as would most if not all of the very professional and conscientious JSASTC's skippers and mates I knew 'back in the day'.

There were so many faults and evidence of non-compliance on the Lord Trenchard that it was an accident waiting to happen. Boats owned by the Crown aren't required to comply with the regulations affecting lesser boats. Maybe this should be changed. But, in any case, all it needed was a totally incompetent crewman to have the job of attaching a gas bottle, and "BANG".

 

[capnsensible]

There were so many faults and evidence of non-compliance on the Lord Trenchard that it was an accident waiting to happen. Boats owned by the Crown aren't required to comply with the regulations affecting lesser boats. Maybe this should be changed. But, in any case, all it needed was a totally incompetent crewman to have the job of attaching a gas bottle, and "BANG".

A reminder to you and everyone else then, that you are only a moments lapse away from an accident. Go careful out there. You wouldn't want anyone to think you are totally incompetent...