Must be the time for boat fires. I never remember hearing of so many is such a short period of time. And, we are all sorry to hear of Captain Sonny Middleton’s hip problems. Sonny is a true friend of the cruising community, and deserves our prayers and good wishes.

It is sad to report that a sailboat caught fire on the Dog River Marina transit dock last night. The good news is the fire was isolated to a single boat. The exact cause is not known but reports are the newly purchased boat was in transit from Florida to Kentucky by a Mississippi owner who moved the boat from Florida to Mobile and returned back to Mississippi leaving the boat unattended and tied to the dock. The weather has been unseasonably cold – below freezing – and several electrical heaters may have been in use which overheated and caused an electrical fire which ultimately caused the boat to burn to the waterline and sink at the dock. Thanks to skilled first responders, the harbor patrol and fire department the fire did not spread.
Please make sure your electrical heater(s) are plugged into a properly sized outlet for the heater wattage with proper size circuit protection.
One final comment – several of the liveaboard owners sleep through this multi-alarm fire – every marina should post a fire response plan and a marina “status” board (i.e. watchman cell number, freezing weather water turn off date/times etc.) – responsibilities need to be assigned, i.e. as simple as the dock staff going boat to boat and make sure no one at risk sleeps through a fire. Preparation is critical to mitigating the unthinkable consequences. If there was a marina fire – how quickly could your boat be underway to get away from the dock? Seconds count.
FYI – Sonny Middleton, owner of Dog River Marina fell yesterday and broke his hip – he will be in surgery today. Our prayers and wishes are with him.
Douglas Pohl
GREY GOOSE