Man Found Dead In Life Raft

[delmarrey]

Propane tanks don't blow up unless they are super heated. The pressure inside never gets over 140 psi in normal outdoor conditions. They either have to be physically damaged (shoot with rifle) or put into a fire for them to blow up.

I had an alcohol stove on my boat that almost caused a fire, so I got rid of it first thing.

[SaltyMonkey]

yes but they or the line can leak.

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

What to replace it with? Kerosene?

Nope- diesel. The only use I currently have for propane is the stove. I can get a diesel stove and heater quite easily.
And its fumes don't burn (normally)

[Outwest34au]

Where there's smoke there's fire.

'Gas explosion' kills yachtsman | Yachting Monthly

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Nope- diesel. The only use I currently have for propane is the stove. I can get a diesel stove and heater quite easily.
And its fumes don't burn (normally)

Be careful with diesel. I spoke to a fuel systems expert, and he explained quite a bit to me. Gasoline fills a fuel tank with fumes, there is no room for air unless the tank ruptures. This is why they install fuel pumps inside gas tanks. Even though the pump creates sparks, the gas vapors won't ignite unless there is air to support combustion, again won't happen unless the fuel pump is running after the tank ruptures. Diesel has a lower (vapor pressure?) and will partially fill the fuel tank with a layer fumes, and the rest is air above it. Think of a diesel tank 1/3 full of fuel, 1/3 full of fumes, and 1/3 full of air (just for round numbers.) As the fuel level changes, the vapor level changes height and if there were a running fuel pump installed inside creating sparks, at a certain level the sparks would be at the optimum point between the vapor and air boundary to produce an explosive mix. He explained to me that this is why we see diesel fuel systems with suction systems, or an external lift pump, never an in-tank pump.

The same thing can happen if a few gallons of diesel leaks into your boat and an ignition source is at the same height as the air/vapor boundary. Big explosion. The good thing about diesel is you should be able to smell a leak, but then the same thing goes for propane, I've always been able to smell it long before the concentration reached explosive levels.

It seems no matter what fuel source you use, if it burns, it's hazardous in the right concentration. All electric cooking might be an option, if you have enough power generating ability, like solar panels and/or generator.

[SaltyMonkey]

Diesel explosions? Thats news to me. I thought it needed compression.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Diesel explosions? Thats news to me. I thought it needed compression.

Compression is one way to ignite diesel vapor. Any ignition source will do, as long as the correct air/vapor ratio is present. If you just dump a gallon of diesel on the ground, you'd be hard pressed to get liquid diesel to ignite even with a flare.

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

What to replace it with? Kerosene?

I'm now researching the possibility of of replacing the propane stove (only propane item on board) by electric induction stove. For the moment I'm quite sure it is perfectly doable for me, as newest induction stoves are really efficient. I will probably need some upgrades in the electrical system, but I think the boats safety is well worth to do it.

Cheers

Tomasz

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by Outwest34au

Where there's smoke there's fire.

'Gas explosion' kills yachtsman | Yachting Monthly

I think they all missed your reference to the Tax fraud scheme he was involved in. But as interesting as it is to speculate, where's his accomplice? If he set the boat afire himself (and it went wrong) he would have done so with another boat alongside.

Unless of course there are two wrecks at that site? Hmm... the plot thickens..or did I just 'stir the pot'? I get those mixed up.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Propane tanks don't blow up unless they are super heated. The pressure inside never gets over 140 psi in normal outdoor conditions. They either have to be physically damaged (shoot with rifle) or put into a fire for them to blow up.

I had an alcohol stove on my boat that almost caused a fire, so I got rid of it first thing.

You can't make a propane tank explode with a rifle, even with tracer rounds.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by DoubleWhisky

I'm now researching the possibility of of replacing the propane stove (only propane item on board) by electric induction stove. For the moment I'm quite sure it is perfectly doable for me, as newest induction stoves are really efficient. I will probably need some upgrades in the electrical system, but I think the boats safety is well worth to do it.

Cheers

Tomasz

This is how my boat is set up. The only propane aboard is on the rail for the BBQ and in the dinghy for the propane outboard, none in the boat.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

This thread is very interesting. The news stories very clearly state that there was only one person found in the water, near a life raft. There was no other person in the water, or in the yacht. His wife was already in Norway, having arrived a day before the fire/explosion.

So the questions I have are these:

How do people (including the local Inspector Clusoe) think the wife somehow triggered a fire/explosion from thousands of miles away? Did she take a Muslim terrorist course online and learn to make IEDs triggered by a cell phone call?

Why are people talking about a 2nd person injured/burned? Where did that come from?

Why are people mentioning the crime rate in the area and boat boys? Unless they were extremely good at faking the lacerations of an explosion, setting fire to the yacht and liferaft and throwing the go bag into the water (a very well thought out touch, by the way) and escaping undetected, I really don't see any connection between local thugs/criminals and this incident.

Based on his supposed past as an SAS instructor (how does one become an expert in that area as a civilian, anyways? Divorce court? The local Krav Maga school?) it seems far more likely to me that this might be some sort of a cleanup operation run by MI6 or perhaps an opposing intelligence agency to mop up loose ends from years past to ensure some previous operation isn't discussed after too many rum punches in a beach bar. This would explain the incident occurring at sea while he was alone, leaving his wife on another continent, safe and free from suspicion.

Unless she had a boyfriend with scuba gear...

This seems pretty far fetched, the article said he worked as a physical fitness instructor with the SAS. I doubt just being at Hereford as a gym instructor qualifies you for termination.

[oceannavigator]

Originally Posted by DoubleWhisky

I'm now researching the possibility of of replacing the propane stove (only propane item on board) by electric induction stove. For the moment I'm quite sure it is perfectly doable for me, as newest induction stoves are really efficient. I will probably need some upgrades in the electrical system, but I think the boats safety is well worth to do it.

Cheers

Tomasz

Pretty reactionary, IMO. You have a better chance of starving to death when the generator breaks on a passage than dying in a propane explosion. All you have to do with propane is be careful and maintain your system to current standards.

What if the generator catches fire while you are cooking and ignites the gasoline for the tender?

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by oceannavigator

You have a better chance of starving to death when the generator breaks on a passage than dying in a propane explosion.What if the generator catches fire while you are cooking and ignites the gasoline for the tender?

Thank You for Your concern about my well being.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by minaret

This seems pretty far fetched, the article said he worked as a physical fitness instructor with the SAS. I doubt just being at Hereford as a gym instructor qualifies you for termination.

Maybe he really wasn't just a gym instructor... <grin>

People truly in that line of work are going to have a background that makes it look like they were gym instructors, or librarians. I have no reason to think he was really a spy, but the newspapers will certainly never get told to print it if he was.

I'm just throwing out equally farfetched ideas, similar to his wife being a suspect while on another continent, or tax fraud, or boat boys somehow being responsible. As soon as logic and facts get overlooked, then the sky is the limit.