DianaDisaster on the High Seas..... (LINK)
May 4th 2008 02:45
Aren't those boating accidents awful? First in Sydney on Thursday, six people killed and others horrifically injured when 14 youngsters 'joyriding' collided with a fishing boat.
Then yesterday morning in Melbourne, right under the Westgate Bridge, a cruiser explodes, killing famiy members and injuring others! Explodes, for crying out loud!
Can you imagine the horrible-ness of that? Newly purchased that morning, the older-style boat is filled with fuel and then, with a click of the starter button as the excited new owners get ready for their maiden voyage, the damn thing ignites like a petrol bomb.
Now, don't you think it is time there were safety procedures in place for these type of boats and re-fuelling situations?
Coming from a boat-savvy family, 'cept we grew up with yachts not power boats, we have often observed these enormous cruisers re-fuelling at jetties. They take a lot of fuel, trust me. (by the way, for a great free day of entertainment, try hanging around a busy suburban boat ramp: priceless fun!) They also have a lot of people on board who don't know much about what they are doing. I am not insinuating that those poor people yesterday did not know what they were doing, but they were sitting ducks (and so was anybody else around) for anything that might go wrong.
To have an old boat which 'probably had or has a lot of fuel leaking down inside, dripping away..' don't you think you would have checked that out first? Or have laws in place which mean it has to be checked out first before pumping in the fuel and whoo-hoo, let's go??!!!!!!!
Tis is God-awful and a total horrible disaster and my heart goes out to the poor people involved.
Still, my younger brother is going out today to buy a Sabre for his and our kids to learn to sail on: think we'll try to keep them interested in wind power and not worry about big cruisers!
Then yesterday morning in Melbourne, right under the Westgate Bridge, a cruiser explodes, killing famiy members and injuring others! Explodes, for crying out loud!
Can you imagine the horrible-ness of that? Newly purchased that morning, the older-style boat is filled with fuel and then, with a click of the starter button as the excited new owners get ready for their maiden voyage, the damn thing ignites like a petrol bomb.
Now, don't you think it is time there were safety procedures in place for these type of boats and re-fuelling situations?
Coming from a boat-savvy family, 'cept we grew up with yachts not power boats, we have often observed these enormous cruisers re-fuelling at jetties. They take a lot of fuel, trust me. (by the way, for a great free day of entertainment, try hanging around a busy suburban boat ramp: priceless fun!) They also have a lot of people on board who don't know much about what they are doing. I am not insinuating that those poor people yesterday did not know what they were doing, but they were sitting ducks (and so was anybody else around) for anything that might go wrong.
To have an old boat which 'probably had or has a lot of fuel leaking down inside, dripping away..' don't you think you would have checked that out first? Or have laws in place which mean it has to be checked out first before pumping in the fuel and whoo-hoo, let's go??!!!!!!!
Tis is God-awful and a total horrible disaster and my heart goes out to the poor people involved.
Still, my younger brother is going out today to buy a Sabre for his and our kids to learn to sail on: think we'll try to keep them interested in wind power and not worry about big cruisers!
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