PWC explodes at Stony Point Bay Marina

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rommer

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I didn't see the event but saw the after effect. Saturday afternoon, a Kawasaki 900 PWC exploded when the person attempted to start it. I have heard that there was a gas smell in the area but it was thought to be another PWC.

The operator was leaning over the PWC when it exploded sustaining burns requiring medical attention and was taken away by ambulance. I have no other information about his condition.

The craft itself is severely damaged. The top was separated from the hull tearing apart at the rubrail. Extensive tearing of the upper fiberglass shell as well. There does not appear to have been any fire after the explosion as I could see no external burn marks. I'd say the operator is very lucky to escape with only the injuries received. I hope he will be OK.

We all tend to forget from time to time but as with all gas operated water craft a sniff test of the engine area is very important no matter what size the vessel is. Any smell of gas should be taken very seriously and the source located and corrected before attempting to start the engine or turn on any electrical equipment.
 
Good advice rommer the sniff test reminder , we were there yesterday and did not hear anythig about it , lets hope the guy is alright . Heading down there to meet friends at 10:30 let you know if I hear more. Jon
 
A few pictures. I was told that the ground actually shook and the shock was felt by people who saw the accident and they were several hundred feet away.

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None that I have ever owned or ridden have blowers. There is a venting system but it is passive and works only when underway.
 
Sounds like it is time for change (blowers become standard equipemt)? At first I thought, wow, one down, only a million to go. But then I didn't want to wish that on anyone. I hope the injured fully recover.
 
John,
Thanks for the post, I have a 2005 jet ski and stupid me, never thought about doing a sniff test. More important, never taught the kids that. Now my 20 year old daughter just got a hitch for her truck and will be using it quite often this summer, I must explain to her about the sniff test.

Thanks for the post.

Walter
 
I moved that jet -ski at about 11 am today they left it by the ramp dock it didn't look good , hope the guy is alright
 
Why would you move it Jon? Are you friends of the guy? Where did you move it too? Since it was on a jetski dock, not blocking anything, did the insurance people authorize the move? I saw you moving it and wondered what would happen to your PWC if the damaged one took on significant water. From where I stood it appeared you were taking on substantial risk to yourself, moving it single handily with another PWC. A better choice might have been one of the marina's work boats so a second person could cut the line if need be.

I know those questions sound harsh but I'm really curious why someone would move someones vessel because "it didn't look good"?

Walter, it's been a fair number of years since I've done a sniff test on my PWC's but I remember the water safety instructor discussing it 10 years ago when I took the course. I need to get back in the habit as this event clearly points out!
 
There's also a discussion on ATC - http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=115626

I unabashedly mention "Boating Class" and include the following -

When we cover fueling, we train on the differences between portable tanks, boats with built in tanks (including ventilation and blower) and PWC. We present PWC as a special inboard which does not have a blower and therefore has to be sniff tested after fueling. Comments usually include that nobody sees anybody doing that, at which we point out where we remind folk where they'll be seated if something goes wrong. Can be good to Take a Boating Class.
 
I was just wondering, what did the seat look like?

Anything with a gas fuel source has to be checked prior to starting. This should be one of the first and last things done prior to starting. A fuel line can leak at any time.
as I have always been told. The Nose knows when there is a problem. You never start any thing if you smell gas and never assume its someone else. Even if it is someone else you can still be the source of ignition!
 
Butch

The seat was no where to be found when I checked things out. I'm guessing it may have been removed by the marina perhaps or floated away.
 
I notice most people do not, after fueling a jet ski, remove the seat to expose the bildge to vent let alone sniff. If I fuel up at the gas dock I remove the seat cover while doing so.
 
surprised there is no blower on a PWC... first thing i'd do if i owned one of these woudl be to put a fume detector. i wouldn't own a gas powered craft (except outboard tender) without a $100 fume detector. not worth the risks!
 
Seem to me that would be an excellent comprise Pascal. The manufacturers should be required to add them to the machines before sale.

How much current do they draw? Electrical power on a PWC is pretty limited thou increasing that would be a small price to pay for staying alive.
 
rommer you saw someone elese... it was right on the southside of of the dock the oppsite side of where it was sitting in the pics . so I DON'T KNOW who you saw my jet skis are in my garrage and havent moved since last yaer. people were waiting at the ramp to launch, and so was I it was right in the way .
I just backed it up a few feet to the end of the dock plus whoever tied it wasn't around we asked and they just wrapped a line around the handle bars that was comming loose.
Some guys in blue uniforms were looking at it right after that , told one guy i mooved it back and tied it better , he said no problem and thank you .
but your right in this day and age TRYING TO HELP OUT IR DO THE RIGHT THING CAN GET YOU IN TROUBLE. But you got the wrong guy I just mooved it back and tied it better also freed up the ramp , was trying to help thats all.
 
Sorry, my mistake. I assumed you were talking about moving it from the jetski dock over on D dock to the ramp area.

Whomever moved over to the ramp area sure was taking a big risk. Using a PWC to tow another badly damaged PWC by one's self seems awfully dangerous for the reasons I mentioned above.
 
rommer no offenese taken , I'm far from perfict , hell I can barley spell but I would never do anything to intentioanlly to damage anyones vessel , this reminds me of a time a few years back when we had a storm and I tied re -tied a boat that was hitting another boat pretty bad , yea I GUESS i'd BE LIABLE if it came loose but I did it with good intention and hoped someone would do the same for me with the same intention no matter the outcome.
If I saw a car in an accident burning on fire I 'D try to help thats my nature , others might call the fire dept. and wait... if thats a crime then I guess I AM GUILTY, What can i tell ya ......best whishes Jon
 
What I find the most interesting about those photographs is that there is no apparent FIRE damage to the jetski even after it exploded. The force of the explosion blew it apart, consumed the gas vapor, and that apparently was it...

As you might recall, we saw the same phenomenon last year with that Chris Craft that blew up in the Rondout. The boat blew, the fireball erupted and injured the occupants, but then that was it - the curtains were still undamaged in the cabin! It proves that there is more to an ignition of a fire than meets the eye. Not that it helps much if you're in the face of the blast, though...

Probably the largest vessel ever doomed by a similar gasoline explosion was the 888 foot USS Lexington (CV-2) at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. The big aircraft carrier was hit early in the day by bombs and torpedoes, but the damage had been sealed up and she looked like she would survive with relatively minor wounds. But the jarring had cracked open her aviation gas tanks, and the fumes slowly permeated a very important part of the ship called Central Station (where all the communications and firefighting control was coordinated). All it eventually took was a spark...

BOOM!!!

What's interesting is that once the Lexington blew up, the damage control crews were able to WALK through the areas that had been damaged by the explosion. In fact, the nearby electric generators were still undamaged and still running despite the blast. What killed the ship's chances of recovery was the location of the explosion, which destroyed her ability to fight ANY fires that erupted, and after awhile things got out of control - she was basically consumed by uncontrollable fires, and more than one sailor remarked, "we're surrounded by all this !#$%! water and can't get a drop of it onto the fires belowdecks."

Taking to the water is still a risky business sometimes, regardless of the size of the vessel...
 
It's sorta the same thing as using explosives to put out an oil drilling rig fire Pete. The explosion consumes all the surrounding oxygen which without that things can't burn. Fire require fuel, heat, & oxygen. Remove any one of the three and there is no fire.
 
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