Free Yacht Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on fire.

Step 2: The Burned Out Extension Cord that Saved Us

Here's what the end of the extension cord looked like after it saved our boat.
The two prongs in the connector dipped into the bilge water and shorted out, boiling the water making lots of smoke, fog, and stink.
This alerted our neighbors that our boat was malfunctioning.
Fortunately the seawater resistance over this gap was high enough that it didn't just blow the circuit breaker.

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rbbiggs says: Apr 19, 2010. 4:39 AM

A marine shore power cord and an electric bilge pump would work for next time.

Smeeon says: May 28, 2009. 5:14 PM

now I'm not a boat owner or anything, but wouldn't it be wise to put something like a water level detector circuit which can probably be found somewhere on here and wire it to an annoyingly loud siren to get neighbors etc to complain enough to get you out to your boat? just a thought.. probably a <$20 project.

dagenius in reply to SmeeonSep 2, 2009. 3:41 PM

Ah, but the real problem was the battery stopped working. So Even if there was a siren, it wouldn't work for lack of power.

altontoth in reply to dageniusApr 19, 2010. 12:08 AM

And yet there was electricity for arcing and burning? I see a bit of a discrepancy here. By the by, those type of cords have only one use: taking up space in a trash can. Even in a house.

TikiTime says: Mar 30, 2009. 11:12 AM

Are you kidding? why are you not using a marine grade cord ? this kind of cord has NO place on a boat. I know this is done on the cheap, but Please.. PLEASE read Nigel Calder's fine text on boat electrical systems. P.S. Kudos on being resourceful & putting a boat together for cheap. Use your savings on safety first though, K thx

Del in reply to TikiTimeApr 1, 2009. 6:02 AM

"I know this is done on the cheap, but Please.. PLEASE read Nigel Calder's fine text on boat electrical systems." Heh. Two things: 1) if Tim hadn't had that cord, he might have lost the boat (which he mentions) 2) It's cool to see a web-reference to someone you know; Nigel's an interesting chap. Sounds what Tim really needed was a marine version of the Leak Frog, often seen over at www.woot.com during their wootoffs.