Friday, October 09, 2009

3 Sept 2009




A WORST CASE WAY TO WAKE
by Bruce Parnham, S/V RPhurst

Thursday 3 September 2009, at about 4:00pm and lasting for about an hour, was the kind of excitement no one ever wants to see. No matter where you live you never want to be awakened by the smoke alarm. The normally active anchorage at Porlamar, Margarita, Venezuela was disrupted by a disaster in the making.

Jack, who had not been feeling well for a few days, was taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon and was awakened by his smoke alarm. He got out of bed, opened the cabin door and found the saloon filled with smoke and the beginning of flames. He shut the door and escaped through a deck hatch, thinking clearly enough to take his air horn and a bundle of important papers, that are always kept together, with him.

He sounded the air horn as soon as he was out, which was heard by Alberto on La Creature, who quickly picked Jack off the burning deck and kept him in the dinghy until more help arrived. Someone else saw the smoke pouring from every hole and put out a distress radio call to the anchorage. Within minutes there were several people on their way to help, some with fire extinguishers, others with buckets, yet others with cameras, still others circled watching the activity with interest.

More than half of the people trying to put out the fire were the local fishermen. Yes, the same fishermen that so many cruisers curse and fear as pirates, speedsters and drunks. They all worked very hard to put out the fire and are to be commended for their bravery and action. They did ask for compensation, in the amount of six dollars each, for the time they worked, as I am told is a local custom, as strange as that may seem. I could not see everyone working so I am sure I have missed several people that are not mentioned here, for which I apologize to those missed. It is hard to imagine the cruisers alone could have extinguished the blaze without the help of the fishermen.


I was on my way to shore, which is in the opposite direction from Arabella, who was burning, so I did not see what was happening. When I was told about the fire, I returned to my boat, grabbed a bucket and went to help. For the next hour I was standing in my dinghy, dipping buckets of sea water, then handing them up to a local on deck who threw the water on the fire, down the hatches and anywhere that looked like it might burn, then pass the bucket back down to be refilled. Phil of Ibote and others were doing the same thing on the other side of Arabella. The Jack, Robert of Iwi and Fabrice of Kewani were on deck, in and out of hatches working below, with the smoke and heat no one could stay below for very long. Everyone was doing their best to save her.

The policia marino boat carrying the officials, after dropping off Port Captain Senior Bolivar and a young policeman on deck, turned circles around the inferno, and kept some of the many parogues at a distance. There is something incongruous about a young cop, wearing his uniform, gun and handcuffs, standing in billowing smoke and throwing water from buckets onto a fire he could not see, he is to be thanked. The Port Captain also managed getting all of the fishermen paid for their time, adding to the list the names of each of the officials in the police boat.

By the time I arrived the entire cockpit was ablaze and smoke was pouring out of every hatch, dorade and vent, all converging into a huge plume of thick, dark black smoke billowing and rolling into the bright blue sky. The flames very quickly gave way to the water being thrown on them, but the hot spots did not want to die so easily and needed many additional douses with water. The fire extinguishers from several cruising boats were also discharged and must have been of some value.

The cockpit portion of the inferno was so intense it burned off the mainsail, UV cover and even melted much of the boom. Everything aluminum in the cockpit and around the stern was melted, including the self steering gear and wind generator. The entire binnacle mounted instrument array was gone, not a sign. The heat did not penetrate into the lockers enough to explode the propane tanks, but this was a legitimate concern for everyone that was close to the area. The interior was a chard and gutted mess, that which was not burned, was very wet.

Among the confusion of bodies on deck each trying to find a flat place to stand, out of the smoke plume and heat while still having access to a place to throw the water and the mixing of all the voices, many in Spanish, some in English, all trying to get the attention of someone else, mas agua aqui, more water here, get that out of the way, the scene was chaotic.

One real surprise was when a small explosion sounded, while everyone was looking around to find it's source, a small fire type light and plenty of smoke was coming from the bow of one of the parogues that was tied alongside. After a couple of buckets of water were unceremoniously dumped on the fire to extinguish it, I investigated, wanting to know what was incendiary in that boat. I found what I believed was Jacks flare launcher, which was later described by Jack to be his, I suspect it was picked up inside the boat, then dropped into the parogue, setting off the firing pin device and launching the flare. Jack commented later that many items disappeared from the interior of the boat. Some of which were seen being distributed among the fishermen as they were leaving. One noticeable item was a red lightweight jacket, which was seen to be worn by several helpers.

As the fire first destroyed the electrical system, none of the pumps were working, consequently all of the water that was being poured into the boat, stayed in the boat. This was about the time the local fire department showed up. They do not have a boat, so they hitched a ride, bringing no equipment at all with them. The locals then decided the boat was sinking and wanted to pull it into shallower water, the last of the flames were being extinguished as they dragged up the anchor and pulled with a fishing boat until the sail boat grounded on the bottom. Then set two anchors to hold her in place.

Two cruisers, Trevor of Norgal and Lars of Arubean Princess, offered to stand watch on the boat all night to discourage looting. During the night Arabella did not seem to get any lower in the water so there did not appear to be any water coming in anywhere and she was floating nicely in the morning.

If all of this is not enough, Jack's deflatable was tied behind with the outboard mounted. The heat of the fire was enough to destroy the tubes of the dinghy, which then let the outboard go underwater. It was towed to the Port Captains dock and stored there for the night. They were going to soak the motor overnight in fresh water and Charlie of Aeolus was successful in getting it cleaned out, dried and running the next day.
The fire may have been the result of using a recently aquired bread machine, which required running the engine for electrical power, all going through the inverter before powering the bread maker. Earlier Jack had noted the battery connections had gotten warm.

Today, right now, put down this magazine and go check your fire extinguishers, the needle should be in the green, do you have one by each the companionway, the galley, engine compartment and your cabin. At least twice per year you need to take down the extinguisher and shake, rattle and roll the cylinder to loosen the powder, which will cake to the bottom or sides and will not spray. When rolled along the edge of a table it should not be weighted on one side, but roll evenly. Do you have smoke detectors, they sense fire long before you can. People die in fires, so please don't be one of them.

Now the official headache begins as Jack had planned to leave for a trip to visit friends and family. He will not be allowed to leave Venezuela until arrangements are made for the hull.

The formerly beautiful Arabella seems to be a total loss, she was a beautiful 1987 Hans Christian about 45 feet in length and maintained in pristine condition by her skipper of four years. Cris Robinson, an insurance surveyor, from Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, arranged by his carrier seemed to agree. She now sits on the hard at Chacachachare awaiting her fate.