Timoneer Engine Room Fire – Friday 11th July 2008
At about 15.15 on Friday afternoon the engine room fire alarm went off due to a short in the forward generator. The power was shut down and the fire was fought with a fire extinguisher without success. Penny had meanwhile contacted 911 and the Fire Brigade, Harbour Master and Coastguard were all on hand in less than 10 minutes. All air intakes to the engine room had been shut down and the fuel supplies shutoff which stopped the generator. The fire was under control in a fairly short time although there was considerable damage as can be seen from the accompanying photos. The crew have had regular fire drills and this all paid off in the end – it could have been far worse.
We will now stay in Nantucket, tied to the dock until the beginning of September when we will go into a shipyard for repairs. One Generator will have to be replaced completely plus a lot of equipment that was nearby and melted. The water maker control panel was one of the worse hit but also the airconditioning was badly damaged. Of course the whole engine room has smoke damaged and this will be the biggest task for the shipyard. There will be a lot of repainting to be done.
We are planning to be out of the shipyard in mid November in time to be in Antigua for the Super Yacht Cup on December 10th.
We will resume these reports once the yard period is over and we get back to sea.
