Late in the day on Memorial Day there was a fueling accident at the YC down the bay from ours. A long time sailboater aquaintance decided to go over to the other side and purchased a 32' Wellcraft powerboat. He had the boat for a week, this was his second tim eout, first time fueling. The report is that he filled one tank, then started filling the second. The attendant at the fuel dock reported difficulty in filling, the nozzle shutoff kept activating. After fueling was completed, the owner reportedly ran the blower as required, tried starting the boat twice without success. On the 3rd try the engine backfired igniting the gasoline vapors in the engine compartment. The resulting explosion blew the deck off the boat, tragically the wife of one of the guest couples on board was killed instantly. The owner, his business partner, and the husband of the woman killed suffered severe burns and were airlifted to a special burn hospital in Pittsburgh. The owner's 2 year old son suffered two broken legs and burns, he is also in Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital, the teenage fuel attendant(common summer job at the YC) was also burned and is in Pittsburgh.

The investigation was extensive, involved several local and federal agencies, "security was provided by the USCG". The results of the investigation were just released........"gasket failure". The story is that a gasket which was intended to keep fuel vapors out of the engine compartment failed. Although the blower switch was found to be on, this gasket failure would have required that the blower be run for several more minutes to clear all the fumes. It appears that the non-boating public accepted this story and boaters were cautioned to use extreme caution when fueling. A few of our club members were interviewed by the local press on proper fueling procedures.

Having owned more than a couple of boats, I am curious as to the actual location of this gasket. I have been through all of our boats from one end to the other and can't recall a gasket of any sort that has the purpose of keeping fuel vapors out of a bilge?? Tanks on powerboats all seem to be welded metal with welded hose fittings for filling and venting. No gaskets there. The only possible answer I can come up with to explain the lame explination is the fuel sending unit gasket?

The funeral for the young wife was yesterday.