A hermit lives in this little shack

Right next to this million dollar home

 

Entering Charleston, SC harbor we encounter

some boats, real big boats!

 

Standing by, ready for us to call them about our fire!

Just colder than all get out!  All winter gear is on!

 

Got the wind generator going today.

Gives us 9 amps at 20 knots to charge the batteries.

Bird dock

 The start of the day was cloudy, blustery cold, windy,

we were tired, but by 1300 hours, the day turned into a real beaut!!

It got warmer, the winter pants and jacket came off.

The sun came out and the wind died.

The water became flat.

Ah!!

 

So just five minutes later Lynn ran outside,

"There's a fire in the engine room."

Wait, a minute, I just sat down!

 

I got down to the port stateroom

and popping and sparks flew about until --

Poof, a "little" fire broke out on the side of the engine.

Well, on a boat, there are no "little" fires.

Boats contain the perfect alignment of fuel, air, and

space between combustibles.  There is generally only one easy/safe

way in and out.  The engines on Storymaker are under the aft stateroom

mattresses.  We run with both hatches open so we can continuiously

check for any problems and the extra heat the engines provide doesn't hurt.

 

I grabbed the fire extinguisher (we have 7, only 3 are

 required by the Coast Guard) and put it out.

(we will get 2 carbon dioxide extinguishers for next time -

they don't leave a mess to clean up)

 

The culprit?

The metal air cleaner vibrated lose, partially came off and rested

against the positive leads of the starter.  The short circuit melted

into the air cleaner and started a fire inside the foam air cleaner.

The fire was licking the wooden hatch cover when I hit it

with the extinguisher.

 

Scary, scary, very scary.

It's all on you.  You can call the Coast Guard and 911

but by the time they get there, the boat will have burned

to the waterline.

 

By the time I hit the fire, I had to exit the stateroom

as I was beginning to be overcome by smoke

from this "little" fire.

 

Air cleaner burned

 

Air cleaner off the housing.

The starter is just below.

You can see the red highlighted positive wire.

All of the light-colored parts of the photo

is the ABC fire extinguishant.

But you don't think that would slow down the

Happy Hour do you?

Oh, no!

What another beautiful fall sunset!

The opposite side of the sunset!

 

We cleaned up from the mess, got 'er running again,

and enjoyed the crisp fall evening, with a beautiful

sunset, and flat water all around!