![]() Always remove passengers from the boat, and reboard only after refueling is complete and the engine is restarted.This accident shows how important it is do a sniff test every time a boat is refueled." "Unlike a car, boats have fuel tanks and engines located in enclosed spaces which don't allow gasoline vapors to escape. "While it appears the owner did the right thing by having the blower on to safely remove any fumes from the engine compartment area, he may not have performed the "sniff" test - lifting the engine compartment hatch in an attempt to smell any lingering gasoline fumes," said Seaworthy Editor and BoatUS Director of Damage Avoidance Bob Adriance. While the owner had properly turned the engine compartment blower on - a required procedure anytime a boat is refueled - not enough of the explosive fumes had been cleared before an engine backfire ignited the blast.Ī simple sniff test may have prevented the tragedy. A newspaper reported that investigators found the recently purchased used boat, being refueled by its new owner for the first time, may have had a fuel system gasket, give way, or fail, which allowed gasoline fumes to escape and accumulate below decks. Saddest of all, the accident may have been preventable. All of the boat's remaining four occupants, as well as a fuel dock attendant was hospitalized. In an instant a 25-year old woman was dead. Moments later, after filling up, an explosion ripped through the boat - literally separating it into clamshell-like halves. It was the end to the Memorial Day weekend when a 32-foot motorboat with four people aboard pulled up to the fuel dock.
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