My boat exploded

Last Saturday we were out at the river, we put some gas and went for a ride. The engine was doing some weird noise so we decided to go back to the dock.
But before arriving the boat exploded! I don't know what happened but the three persons inside (including me) got ejected from the boat...thank god no one got injured.
The boat is totally destroyed now, but i don't care cause we are OK.
Does anyone know how could this had happened? I know that the gas tank exploded first...it was an old I/O.
Not a funny thing at all...trust me.

Wow Lucho. I have no clue, but WOW! Glad to see your still around.

Wow, my guess would be fuel vapor's.

Got any pic's?

Glad to hear everyone is ok.

Thank guys...i don't have pics right now cause my camcorder, photo camera and my cellphone were inside the boat.
The only thing that survived was the hull, and my Marius fins(i don't know how, ofcourse they are useless). My marius platinum, a friends transcend, everything got burned.

Turn on your blower when you start the engine.

Turn on your blower BEFORE you start the engine... run for a few minutes if your boat is old and rusty.

wow.... that sure is scary.... sue somebody...

It's interesting that the boat blew up after you already started the boat and drove a bit..

Makes me think maybe a broken fuel line or something then fire going into the fuel tank?

seems odd.....

I think we'd need a little more play-by-play to get a better understanding..

Boat is replacable... thank god everyone is ok.. people can't be replaced.

something having to do with overheating leading to igniting vapors of some kind?

sorry to hear, but glad all are fine, what a rush, but not a totally good rush

I first started the engine and everything was OK.
Then i fully loaded the tank. I restarted the engine and it started but not with the regular noise(i don't know how to explain it)...we drove a bit and it started to slow down. The rest it's history, the fuel tank exploded just in my feet so i got ejected, and a friend that was lying down on top of the engine got ejected faaaar away from the boat.

That sounds like BS

Do you have any enemies?

Were you doing any powerturns recently?

You are suppose to run the blower any time you are at idle speed or sitting still,or open the engine compartment. Glad you are all ok.
Sounds like a gas leak somewere.

I'm gonna take a guess since this could have possibly happened on my buddies VLX but we caught it in time. He had a short on one of the fuses for the fuel pump. We were stuck where we were riding and needed to get back to Disco Bay. So we jerry-rigged a fuse using the tab to a beer can (stupid I know but it worked). Well the ampacity for an aluminum tab is much higher than a 10A fuse so we ended up melting the fuel pump inside the gas tank. Since the boat blew up, your fuel pump is probably melted anyways but thats something you might want to look at and see if for some reason the pump got too hot or sparked inside the gas tank somehow.

(Message edited by norcalbordr on December 24, 2008)

Nick...you are an a$$ and you know it.
LOL i don't have enemies...or i think i don't.
Thank you for your words guys...i'm just really glad my friends are fine.
I previously had problems with the fuel pump, may be it had something to do with it.

That sucks glad everyone is ok!!

Dude. Not cool. Glad everyone is ok.

Definitely could have resulted in a disastrous and sad Christmas. something to be cheery and thankful about this year!

If someone was laying on the engine when it explodes I don't think they would be A-Okay.

Why would he make up something that extreme? I am glad to hear everyone is alright.

Because it's the internet.

did you smell fuel? at all?

what was the motor doing? sputtering? describe it.

It is a weird story though. we want ALL the details.

I am also glad that you and your friends weren't killed, sounds like an extremely close call.

Yes i smelled fuel, but it always did when refueled.
I don't know what sputtering means...but it was going very slow, and the noise was something like a deaf noise (if that makes sense)...anyway this weekend i'm going back to the lake where i hope to take some pictures, if theres anything left.

you may have had old cracked rubber fuel lines from the gastank to the engine that were leaking or cracked in half completely which would fill your bilge with fuel and KABOOM.

sputtering would be like coughing, cough cough sputter sputter, power loss motor going off and on, kind of like it was not getting fuel...possibly due to cracked or broken fuel lines which poured gas in the bilge area down under everything...then any spark can set it off gas fumes are very extremely combustible(kaboom)

thats why the other comments said to run the blower fan which might have blown the fumes out into open air...but it sounds like you were getting raw fuel spilled in quantity into the bilge area....

thats some scarey stuff, most boats that burn have something like this, or some variation of it as the cause.

Andy...that is pretty much what happened, it was like coughing.
If only i knew at the moment.

This is more common than you might think. I got in the habit of leaving my blower on all the time back when I was offshore fishing. I'm not as crazy about it as I use to be but I still run the crap out of it. I also open my engine cover and give it a sniff test every time I launch.

I might be off a bit but if I remember right 1/4 cup of gas with the right air mixture equals 1 stick of dynamite. A little gas vapor and a bad ignition wire and you have the makings for a fairly large bomb. This is also why you should only run a marine alternator.

I'm glad to hear everyone was ok.

I am going to guess the obvious "fuel vapors" or possible something slightly less common... fuel in the oil. Fuel in your oil creates a rather large bang. Did the motor blow up or the engine compartment?

(Message edited by gregtay on December 24, 2008)

fuel leak

The guy that was laying on top of the engine did he get hurt in any way at all? No scrapes bruising etc? i know that when I get a couple feet of air when I am riding by the time I get home I have convinced myself I could have won the Parks double up contest Just saying

Exactly.

The guy laying on top of the engine was a girl, and she has some bruises in the left arm and the belly. Me and other friend got some hair burned.
So with the dimension of the explosion, it's fair to say nothing happened to us.

what kind of boat ?

Like Walt, I always do the sniff test, but I rarely run the blower as I should (habits of years of boating with boats that did not have blowers).

Lifting the motor cover does two things, allows you to smell for gas fumes and release them if they are there.

Like others suggest, I would guess your filler hose leaked gas into your bilge, then you had a backfire through the carb which ignited the gas vapors.

Here is my question - did you have a spark arrestor on top of the carb?

Sorry for your losses, the important thing is that nobody sustained a significant injury. You are a very lucky guy considering the circumstances.

Clint...The boat was an 1980 I/O made in Brazil.
Mike...I didn't have one.

Now i'm looking for a new boat, maybe an outboard. I know it's not the best option to wakeboard, but I can't spend too much money, and an old I/O it's not an option any more.
Do you think you can get a decent wake with an outboard?

Sorry but I throw the BS Flag.

WCW is right.. Gasoline is highly explosive. Gas is common, so most people either are desensatized or do not know how explosive it is. I have seen some weird stuff with gasoline explosions: weirdest of all was burning trash at our dump site.. We used gas to start the dump pit on fire (to much I guess), we lit it, the fire sucked in underneath the garbage, my grandfather tackled me to the ground, ka-boooooooom, garbage was scattered up to 100 yards away, and we were picking up garbage the entire next day. We did not use more than a couple of gallons to start the pit (pit was about 8' deep, and about 20 yards long by 10 yards wide), so I'm sure it would not take much gas in the right circumstances to blow a boat out of the water..

I bought my first extended pylon from a guy who's boat had exploded. From what I understand, his Waylon was the only thing that survived the explosion.

Now days he owns Glass & Powder in Richmond. I'm sure he can tell you how this is possible.

It's not uncommon for I/O boats to blow up around here because boat manufacturers dont follow any kind of safety regulation for these.
Specially those old I/O Inboards, also marine parts are rarely available so everyone goes with automotives wich bring hazards chances way up.

There's also this sort of negligence from old boat owners who dont mind checking the condition of the electric or fuel systems on their boats.

Lucho I'm glad you're ok, hope this doesnt drive you away from inboard boats but serves as a hard learned lesson.

Bill - are you telling me the pylon in my Sea Ray was out of a boat that exploded? glad I dumped that thing years ago! ;)

My aunt was in a boat that exploded due to fumes in the engine compartment 15 years ago or so, and she was the only one in the boat who survived and was in the hospital for weeks with third degree burns all over her legs. You are very lucky.

Hehe, ya got me Graham. Yea, that Waylon used to belong to Scott from Glass & Powder..... I guess it wasn't in the boat at the time when his boat blew to kingdome come.

For what we each had into that boat, it did OK & probably taught us both a lot. Good to see you grew up into something bigger & better.

I just remembered another one..... one of the guys out at Canyon Lake in SoCal blew a mid 80s 2001 Nautique up after doing come carb work on the old 351 Ford. Must have had a fuel leak. It burned that boat to the waterline on the back lake.

(Message edited by bill_airjunky on December 26, 2008)

Good Ole Waylon.They made a great product.I used mine in my I/O for 10years trouble free.

Years ago we had an old GlasPly I/O. It used the starter as the generator once running. The case was very close to a 12 gallon tank (18 on the other side) and the battery. We had the starter go bad and overheat to the point of turning the side of gas tank going black... We notice charging issues 1st and started to check things out before things got hot enough to ignite the tank. After we fixed the unit we removed the gas tank in that side for safety and lived with the shorter range of just 18 gallons.

I have been in an I/O that had something go bang. It was enough force the whole rear seat/motor cover jumped up and the padded cover vented the fire backwards. Scary.

OK, got back from the lake.
Here are some pics taken with a very old cel.

And finally, the BEFORE...I miss that boat.

I'd say you and your friends are very lucky to be here.

what happened to the exhaust manifold?
somebody already stripping parts?
doesn't look like much is left to salvage...maybe the outdrive or at least parts of it.

yep lucky to be here still.

It looks like the manifolds and risers are still there Andy.

Andy, YES...the day after when we came back to take it from the water, there were some guys taking whatever they could steal.
I think the only part i can sell is the outdrive as you said.
I know i'm lucky...and i'm very thankful for it.

wow. glad everyone is ok.

Wow sorry for ever doubting your story obviously most of that is from the fire but crap man you are seriously lucky you werent hurt way more then you were. That is scary looking

I know someone here in Belgium, who had a X2 of 2005 (that was 3 years ago, so totally new). The boat was off the water at the garage and it exploded, apparently it was a problem with something around the starter that scratch with something else.... I saw the boat after, it was totally destructed like the one above.
Just to say that it dont just happen with new boat...

I still dont believe it. Those images are scanned and very out-dated, not from a phone. Some are cropped, some are rotated.

Well, I can truly believe it as I has a boat explode on me It was all fumes so the boat did not catch fire and burn, just blew off seatbacks and cushions (that where bolted down) and singed most of the bilge and engine bay area. I got the worst of, blew me into the water and let me with no facial hair and 1st and 2nd degree burns on legs, arm, face. Luckily I had T-shirt and sunglasses on. Oh, yeah, I got a helicopter ride out of it too!

If you look @ pic #5 of burned boat, steering wheel looks to be on left, if you blow up the "before" pic, wheel and throttle look to be on right side as usual. $.02

(Message edited by chpthril on December 28, 2008)

Here is the Marius fin that "survived"



Martin, ofcourse the pic is taken with the "scanned and very out-dated, not from a phone" cel phone.

picture number 3 shows the right side of the engine and there is no exhuast manifold...clearly can see exhaust ports, then other photos show the manifolds and risers in place...?


you aren't BSing us are you?

I really don't know why you would.

I don't really think you are but...?

I'm trying not to join the doubters.

whats the story on the steering wheel switching sides...?

Andy, not all the pictures are from the same day.
If you see, the boat it's not in the same place in all pics, so I guess some parts were taken off.

Then, the wheel was in the right side of the boat, the reason for being on the left in a couple of pics is that the person who found it just put it there. You are thinking to much.

I wasn't looking to make such a deal of it, just showing something that happened to us, that wasn't normal.
Not really looking to have a debate, and proving doubters wrong.

I can fix that.

kitewake - LOL "...my dad has an awesome set of tools."

One very important thing that peeps should realize is that lifting the cover will not help evacuate fumes. Gas vapors are heavier than air and lurk around the bottom of your bilge. In other words, run those blowers!!!!

that boat is totally fixable. I hope you didnt dispose of it.

There is a good chance this would not have happened if the carb would have had a flame arrestor as required in the US. If you don't see someting like this on your carb, get one.




(Message edited by mikeski on December 29, 2008)

this will see if he owned that boat or not....

ONLY LUCHO ANSWERS!

What kind of motor is that in the pics?

LOL...this is to much!

The motor was a V6 MERCRUISER 4.3 with 190 hp.

Jeezy peezy, sorry I doubted you, and glad everyone is okay

No problem....thanx man

i dont find it hard to believe that the girl on the engine cover escaped with bruizes. those engine covers are on held on with two mounts. more than likely the blast broke those mounts and sent the cover flying with her on top

Well Lucho, I'd say you have survived under the wakeworld microscope!

LOL andy, and it´s not an easy one!
Well, i have a new boat now, a 18 foot sea ray with a 135 hp outboard...the wake sucks big time.
Is there any way to improve it?
I have a couple of sacks and may be trimming it up a bit would make some close to a decent wake. oooor maybe not.

Man Lucho, that was a neat looking boat. At least you're back on the water and I bet this one's been looked over!

throw a fatsac in between the seats (600lbs)

Thats what we did with our old boat. worked great on the lake

About the "lift the hatch to get rid of gas fumes" solution- doesn't that only work with jetskis? blowers are a must %100 of the time on our boat.

Hey, if you look at the before and after pics that must have been one hell of an explosion to blow the steering wheel to the other side of the boat. Whats up?

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quote:

"lift the hatch to get rid of gas fumes"

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I do this to this to determine if there is a problem or not. Not to evacuate the fumes. If you don't lift your engine cover and give it the old sniff test you can be running around with a gas leak and not even know it until it's to late. IMHO it's a good idea to do this every time you launch your boat or every day (when you first get in) for the people that leave their boats in the water.

can someone please post the picture of the horse being beat about now.

Your right Andy. You were also right about the manifold. I missed that in the one shot.