Whew!!! That was close!

5th Apr 2006
Whew!!! That was close!

This is why every boat needs to be fully insured!!!!

Received an email this morning from Mike, the manager of the marina in the BVI where our boat is currently docked. There was a fuel accident at the catamaran charter company that is located 2 docks east from where our boat is docked. A fuel truck exploded while filling the charter company's fuel tanks. The truck driver was critically injured and nearby buildings and cars were totally destroyed. I feel truly sorry for that truck driver; I doubt that there is a first-class burn unit located anywhere near Tortola.

Mike said they moved as many boats as quickly as they could, and used hoses to wet down those that couldn't be moved quickly. As the wind almost constantly blows from the east in that area, the burning embers were blown directly to the dock where our boat lies. Several boats had holes burned in their biminis, but Mike said that S/Y Security is fine -- just covered by a layer of soot.

We had already scheduled a haul-out to be done in St. Thomas on May 3rd. They are planning to acid wash and wax the boat before doing the bottom job/paint. So a little soot is really not a problem at all. We are so fortunate because the situation could have been much worse.

Only 3 1/2 weeks until we move aboard. As we have already sold our home and our cars and almost everything we owned, it would have been devastating if our boat had burned up now.