Man Found Dead In Life Raft

[Badsanta]

If diesel fuel is so explosive how come you don't have to use a fan blower before starting like you do with gasoline?

[El Pinguino]

With propane we* normally think of a loud bang and a boat in bits.

Last one I had dealings with was about 8 years ago... she was a few days behind us... alloy... propane explosion followed by propane induced fire ... boat sank in shallow water... all radio comms and epirbs etc destroyed either in explosion and fire or when she sank... crew survived and got ashore... her ( 60's) with bad burns.... he ( about 84) with a heart condition but otherwise OK.
It was about 4 weeks before they rescued.....

Same scenario with a GRP boat would see her burning brightly until she sank....

*Royal 'we'.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

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

Right??? Tell this news to the guys who spend frustrating days of posts begging for help to bleed an engine that was just running!!! Atomization is really the key to burning... Think heaters n stuff... Splosions??? You need pressure/heat or a terrorist with some barrels of cow poo... You could argue this to death, but we all know gas is far more volatile than diesel... flash points from wiki: Gasoline (petrol) −43 °C (−45 °F)[3]
Diesel (2-D) >52 °C (126 °F)[3]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

With propane we* normally think of a loud bang and a boat in bits.

Last one I had dealings with was about 8 years ago... she was a few days behind us... alloy... propane explosion followed by propane induced fire ... boat sank in shallow water... all radio comms and epirbs etc destroyed either in explosion and fire or when she sank... crew survived and got ashore... her ( 60's) with bad burns.... he ( about 84) with a heart condition but otherwise OK.
It was about 4 weeks before they rescued.....

Same scenario with a GRP boat would see her burning brightly until she sank....

*Royal 'we'.

Icky Stuff... Elated that they lived to tell the tale....

[delmarrey]

All this bad talking fuels.

For all we know it could have been an electrical fire that started all this. One shorted/arcing battery cable can heat up pretty fast, and if you don't shut the power down it'll last as long as the batteries. Another scenario for not send out a distress on the VHF.
Ask knottybuoyz about cable fires. I had one on a car many years ago.

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

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.

Am I the only one who noticed that the gym teacher owned a 58' boat? Those gym teacher jobs must pay better than I thought.

[s/v Beth]

I will try not to deviate further- but boat propane explosions happen all the time, usually with a hole in the supply tubing, while I have never heard of a diesel explosion on a boat. The stoves are usually smoky and require a stove pipe, as propane does not. Electric may be the way of the future, with a windcharger and solar. I will just have to crunch the numbers.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/ar...o-propane-tank

[SaltyMonkey]

or a bomb

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

If diesel fuel is so explosive how come you don't have to use a fan blower before starting like you do with gasoline?

First off, I never said diesel fuel is explosive. Secondly, because they don't make carbureted diesel engines.

LOL

[Jim Woodall]

The linked article is extremely poorly written. There are so many contradictions that it likely coveys as much ( or more ) misinformation than accurate information.

Certainly the authorities should consider all possibilities, but based on other information I've seen, this appears much more likely to be an accident than a homicide. When investigating a death, (with no witnesses or evidence directly linking another person to the death or death scene) as a potential homicide, investigators look first at those with the closest relationships to the victim. That's why spouses and significant others are the first suspects in a potential homicide investigation. Investigators work out from there unless there is evidence to sent them in a different direction. I tell people quite frequently that if your spouse, a family member or close friend doesn't murder you, the chances of being a homicide victim are about like the odds of being struck by lightning.

Unlike TV and movies there are very few elaborate murder plots ever developed or executed. You really do see most of them on TV or at the movies because those type of murders are extremely, extremely rare and therefore intriguing enough to captivate an audience. The vast majority of homicides (90% or more) are spur-of-the-moment, poorly planned if planned at all and clumsily executed.

If this gentleman is a victim of murder it is of the very rare, very well-planned, very well-executed variety. It may be possible, but it is highly unlikely. If a local person was involved, especially a person or person who did it as part of a robbery, to send a message or for retribution they will talk about it and the authorities will hear about it. If one commits a crime to be a "tough guy", he has to tell someone to get street cred. Unless it were done to coverup a robbery the explosion seems a bit too much, not a typical thuggish crime.

A proper autopsy will answer most of the questions posed here.

It's just very unlikely this is anything more than a very tragic accident.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Jim Woodall

It's just very unlikely this is anything more than a very tragic accident.

Yes, it's just very unlikely this is anything more than a very tragic accident…

…with a bomb.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

Am I the only one who noticed that the gym teacher owned a 58' boat? Those gym teacher jobs must pay better than I thought.

WTF??? Maybe he saved his money. What's his job got to do with the size of his boat?

Nothing sounds sinister, probably just a propane leak from a bottle left open, gas filled the cabin while he was on deck, something sparked like the starter motor or alternator, then boom! Always close the propane bottle when it's not in use.

The news article is ridiculous... Like anyone is really going to bomb their own boat in order to avoid paying the VAT tax.

Just an accident with an unfortunate, tragic end. RIP

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

Am I the only one who noticed that the gym teacher owned a 58' boat? Those gym teacher jobs must pay better than I thought.

Yes, I think You are the only one, because the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 is hardly 58 footer, and my bet is most of the members here can recognize the boat

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Yes, it's just very unlikely this is anything more than a very tragic accident…

…with a bomb.

It's all that brow sweat pressure man.... It ain't child's play!

[zboss]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Yes, it's just very unlikely this is anything more than a very tragic accident…

…with a bomb.

or PIRATES covering their tracks.

[SaltyMonkey]

Dumb pirates, burn in da most expensive thing they pirated. Could be nicey nice pirate ship!