Boat Fire

[DRH]

A yellow and black boat (a Donzi, I believe) was destroyed by fire this afternoon at approximately 4:00 PM between Ship Island and Minge Cove. Fortunately, no one was injured. The Alton and Gilford fire boats came and extinguished the blaze. The boat was then towed to Marine Patrol headquarters for examination.

http://www.metrocast.net/%7Edhughes/BoatFire_1.jpg

http://www.metrocast.net/%7Edhughes/BoatFire_2.jpg

http://www.metrocast.net/%7Edhughes/BoatFire_3.jpg

[trfour]

Wow!.. Lucky no one was injured. It pays to have automatic heat sensing fire extinguishers onboard. Could have prevented this from getting out of hand.

Thanks DRH.

[Rinkerfam]

We discovered a major fuel leak on our boat this past Sunday. We returned to our marina after fueling up due to another mechanical issue. The tech. said that we had an extremely dangerous situation in the bildge and that we were very lucky that the boat hadn't exploded. It turns out there were two separate leaks that led to several gallons of fuel being dumped into the bildge. I had mistakenly attributed the gas smell to the recent fill up. After seeing these pics and thinking about the boat that went up right in front of the MP Headquarters two weekends ago, I am feeling very fortunate.

[fatlazyless]

Maybe, all that black smoke was how Cigarette Boats originally got their name in the 1920's? "Oh Zelda Dearie. but it smokes just like a cigarette. Oh Scott Daring, why lets name it The Cigarette, how swell!"

[Lake Lady 6]

Wow! What great pictures DRH. We saw several MP boats headed in that direction and later the MP towing a yellow boat north past Rattlesnake Island. Glad to hear that no one was injured.

[Rose]

The fire made the channel 5 newcast in the Boston area...did they use your photos, Don?

[Woodsy]

FatLazyLess.... thats not anywhere close to funny!!! Some poor guy has his boat burn from under him and you gotta make a joke?

trfour... if its the boat I am thinking of (it was at Gillan's for a year and just got sold this spring) it had an automatic fire supression setup in the enginge compartment. Obviuosly it was not enough to put out this fire....

Woodsy

[DRH]

The fire made the channel 5 newcast in the Boston area...did they use your photos, Don?
Rose - a neighbor told me Channel 7 also broadcast photos of the burning boat this morning, but I didn't see either newscast so I don't know if they used my photos. (No news agency contacted me about using the photos I posted here.) I did see some photos of the fire on Channel 9 (WMUR) news last night, but they were someone else's pics.

[mcdude]

...from the Citizen (http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/CITIZEN0107/107270050/-1/citizen0107) using an AP photo by Jim Cole. The Associated Press was on the lake??? Glad there were no injuries!

[ApS]

"... if its the boat I am thinking of (it was at Gillan's for a year and just got sold this spring) it had an automatic fire suppression setup in the engine compartment. Obviously it was not enough to put out this fire...."

While looking for radial-engine-equipped Warbirds, I found this "semi-automatic fire suppression unit"

This pre-WWII, PBY Catalina "Flying Boat" has radial engines -- 1200HP each. (And a range of 3000 miles). Lake Winnipesaukee could use one, based on the boats that became "toast" this summer.

The first photo is how this "suppressor" fills its water tanks. (The engine's props are turning slowly, but are "stopped" by the camera's shutter).

The second photo -- of a different Catalina "fire-suppressor unit" -- is self-evident.

[Dave R]

I have always loved those planes. Thanks!

[jrc]

The pilot would need to exceed the proposed 45 MPH speed limit to take off. So you won't see this or any other seaplanes on Winnipesaukee if the speed limit passes.

[BroadHopper]

JRC is correct. A amphibous vehicle is technically a boat when in the water. Once on land or air it follows plane/car rules and regulations. That is why amphibous vehicles have to have all the safety equipment set forth by the CG/Dept of Safety. Trouble is the MP will have a tough time catching them once they are in the air!!!! :eek:
A Lake Amphib does not get airborne until they reach about 60 mph.

[ApS]

I have always loved those planes. Thanks!

I had no choice: My dad flew a PBY in the Pacific during WWII!

I waited for the anniversary of Pearl Harbor (today, Dec 7th) to post a picture of a PBY in the black color of the PBY he flew out of Hawaii, Australia, and New Guinea. (Wingtip floats extended in this photo). He and other crew members were selected for their excellent night vision, and formed the "Black Cat" squadron, VP-11.

While mostly assigned to night reconnaissance and surface-rescue missions of downed pilots and sailors, PBYs were also equipped with quad 50's in the nose, and torpedoes or bombs under the wings.

It was a PBY that sighted the Bismarck, the greatest battleship the War had seen up to that time. (Later, the Japanese had a few bigger -- immense -- battleships in the war, like the Yamoto).

The PBY was built as an amphibian (Having an "A" after its designator, e.g. PBY-5A), or as a "flying boat". (No "A" -- no wheels).

During the Pearl Harbor attack, many PBYs were sunk, anchored at mooring fields. Some entire amphibious PBY squadrons went unscathed at some airfields on Oahu! (Or O'ahu, as they spell it now). One hundred reconnaissance PBYs were requested by Army General Kinnick (sp) prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, but not delivered.

My dad recently posted his WWII logbook on the Internet. I found it by searching "VP-11", the only reference he ever made to WWII!

I learned that upon returning from one reconnaissance mission he was fired upon. The co-pilot next to him was shot dead. (By P-40s -- "friendly fire"). I never heard this, nor did I know he'd even kept a logbook! The appearance of this logbook has made a devoted WWII student out of me -- with some help from WWII History magazine, and some Veterans around Winnipesaukee. I'll never understand how we actually won WWII. (And neither do most of the Veterans I've spoken with).

The logbook also reported -- several times -- that one #3 engine had an oil leak. As pilots were rotated through several PBYs, it took a month for him to get that same plane again. During which flight, the #3 finally caught fire, and the plane had to be crash-landed. (And lost -- so many were lost).

I've seen pictures of PBYs picking up rescued sailors. They couldn't take off due to overloading, needed "unloading" themselves, and the Pacific waterline was up to the cockpit windows!

Another PBY pilot was roundly "dissed" publicly by an Admiral for damaging a PBY while strafing (at night) a Japanese destroyer with his quad-50s -- four machine guns with the ½-diameter/50-caliber bullet. (The pilot had carried off the destroyer's radio antenna with his wingtip, damaging it). The Admiral then pinned a medal on the pilot's uniform!

A book on Pacific PBYs has a photograph of my dad standing on his flat-black, and thoroughly beaten-up PBY refueling at Sepic River, New Guinea. While we have a personal copy of the same photo, ours was cropped to remove the dozen headhunting-native men standing around totally naked!

Hmmm. Time to check in on the "Nude Beaches" thread again!

Well, Don, I've rambled. But "IF it floats...you can discuss it here!" :)