Not a good day in Boston

[South of Heaven]

3 boats caught fire and 2 sank last night at Constitution Marina in Boston. They have the largest winter wet and liveaboard community in the area. Not good.....

https://www.wcvb.com/amp/article/fire-jumps-from-boat-to-boat-at-charlestown-marina/25829621

 

[Westiculo]

We could smell it down at our marina last night. Didn't know what it was till today. Now the marina is harassing everybody for their insurance info and there's fire dude's inspecting the docks. Glad your boat was fine!

 

[twistedtree]

Uugg, that sucks.

 

[South of Heaven]

We could smell it down at our marina last night. Didn't know what it was till today. Now the marina is harassing everybody for their insurance info and there's fire dude's inspecting the docks. Glad your boat was fine!

Wes, I'm at Marina Bay for the winter not Constitution.

 

[Westiculo]

Wes, I'm at Marina Bay for the winter not Constitution.

Oh I forgot that, were you at Constitution during the summer?

 

[warfdog]

So sorry to hear of the loss. It must take a huge amount of power to keep those boats warm and dry in the Boston winters when kept in the wet. I keep a small heater going on my boat here in San Francisco and it adds quite a bit to the slip fees with temps in the 40-50F's. Need to get my hydronic diesel system working again.

Glad you're safe.

 

[South of Heaven]

Oh I forgot that, were you at Constitution during the summer?

No. I thought about staying there but after 2 seasons here I really like it.

 

[South of Heaven]

So sorry to hear of the loss. It must take a huge amount of power to keep those boats warm and dry in the Boston winters when kept in the wet. I keep a small heater going on my boat here in San Francisco and it adds quite a bit to the slip fees with temps in the 40-50F's. Need to get my hydronic diesel system working again.

Glad you're safe.

Not really. My December electric bill was $47.

 

[EYS]

Slow lane, saw your boat was for sale when i was down on the dock. if you want more exposure on the MLS happy to give a fellow jdock member a break on costs.

 

[South of Heaven]

Pm me your info. Btw, I'm on Yachtworld.

 

[TJM]

Any body know what the root cause of the fire was ?
We are liveaboards in CT and only use one 30 amp power cord.
We do not rely 100% on electric for heat.
It sure is a tragedy.

 

[South of Heaven]

Any body know what the root cause of the fire was ?
We are liveaboards in CT and only use one 30 amp power cord.
We do not rely 100% on electric for heat.
It sure is a tragedy.

No, I never saw the details of what happened.

 

[Westiculo]

Never saw anything on it either.
A friend of mine has a coast guard buddy - said there was a small propane leak that ended up collecting and was sparked by a space heater. That fire caused the propane tank to go which got the whole boat raging.
Of course this is all second hand, so take it with a grain - but he was pretty specific.

 

[EYS]

They were in my marina. a hotplate caught fire. So electrical. i use electric heat too, just make sure to not max out on your ampage... and check your cord. does it feel hot? is the inlet black?

 

[South of Heaven]

They were in my marina. a hotplate caught fire. So electrical. i use electric heat too, just make sure to not max out on your ampage... and check your cord. does it feel hot? is the inlet black?

Thanks for the clarification.

I didn't need heat yesterday. It was 62 degrees!

 

[jrs1958]

Had no idea people lived on their boats that far north!
How do they keep the water from freezing? I’m from Fl so it’s foreign to me. Sorry for the losses!

 

[South of Heaven]

Had no idea people lived on their boats that far north!
How do they keep the water from freezing? I’m from Fl so it’s foreign to me. Sorry for the losses!

Well JRS: Most marinas in New England aren't equipped for winter liveaboards and don't allow them. But there are a several in Boston and in the Boston area that are well suited for them. (I'm sure there's many other NE cities that welcome liveaboards but I'm only speaking about my immediate area).

My marina has heated water lines and water bubblers. Water tanks are able to be filled in the winter.

The water bubblers (about 3 feet below the surface) circulate the water near the boats and do a decent job of keeping the surface flowing and breaking up any ice.

I also run an engine block heater.

If you're a true liveaboard and monitoring all your systems and the boats wellbeing then you'll be fine.....HOWEVER, if you're just leaving the boat in the water unattended and the boat is not winterized then you could potentially run into major problems.

Unattended boats with shoddy electrical work and an overall lack of ownership pride is what can potentially be catastrophic to a boat and a HUMAN. Not cool.

Here's a video of the water bubblers from my marina from a few weeks ago.

 

[South of Heaven]

We got like 7 inches of snow yesterday at the marina. Not fun.....But life goes on!

 

[Nomad Willy]

“like”?
Got teen aged kids haha

 

[Nomad Willy]

Had no idea people lived on their boats that far north!
How do they keep the water from freezing? I’m from Fl so it’s foreign to me. Sorry for the losses!

Lots of folks living on boats in SE Alaska.
More than anywhere else that I’ve seen.

 

[Seevee]

Wow, I'm freezing here in St. Pete.... hope in the jacuzzi twice a day to warm up.



Don't know how you guys up north do it. I spend a few miserable years in Minneapolis and hated it. I had no clue any place on earth got that cold.




Hell, it got down below 60 last night..... brrrrrrrr

 

[boatpoker]

Had no idea people lived on their boats that far north!
How do they keep the water from freezing? I’m from Fl so it’s foreign to me. Sorry for the losses!

Toronto since 1994

 

[BandB]

Wow, I'm freezing here in St. Pete.... hope in the jacuzzi twice a day to warm up.



Don't know how you guys up north do it. I spend a few miserable years in Minneapolis and hated it. I had no clue any place on earth got that cold.




Hell, it got down below 60 last night..... brrrrrrrr

Wifey B: We had a couple of nights in the 50's and high today only 72 or so. Meanwhile crossed this morning to Bimini and only 70 here. We fastened side curtains and rear curtain on boat and wore sweats and such for the trip. Almost turned the heat on but didn't. Still a beautiful day, even if cold. Sweats and such off now.

 

[OldDan1943]

Ummm, do bubblers keep the people inside warm? SMILE

 

[OldDan1943]

Think "global warming". LOL