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| FAULTY WIRING AND WATER
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March 30, 2006. Every month in Bay & Delta Yachtsman, Kim Haworth writes a delightful romp of items and events she and her husband encounter in their live aboard life on San Francisco Bay. People in Kim’s columns often get special names. Her husband, for example, is Captain Sweetie, or just Sweetie. Kim’s brother and sister-in-law are Dahling and Lovely, and a dear friend is Divine Esther. Their grouchy shipboard cat is Noodles.
I mention Noodles because a few months ago Kim wrote of a live-aboard lady on another dock who brings her cat over to visit Kim and Noodles on the occasional afternoon, where they enjoy a glass of wine and have, as Kim puts it, a pussy party.
Anyway, in the March 2006 edition Kim tells this sobering story, which we repeat here:
"[The San Pablo Yacht Club] newsletter had a warning about generators. According to the newsletter, last July 4 three boats were rafted together at anchor, sharing electricity provided by one boat’s generator. Unknown to the boaters, [that boat’s] generator was wired incorrectly and was creating a powerful electrical field.
“With the genset running, and while dinner was being prepared, one of the party had to jump into the water to retrieve a dinghy that was floating away on the current. He became paralyzed as soon as he reached the water. His friend jumped in to save him and feeling the strange tingling feeling, shouted for someone to shut down the generator. Apparently, this savvy fellow had read an article on 'electrical shock drowning' and quickly realized what the problem was. As soon as the generator was shut down, the electrical field disappeared.
“Sweetie says that salt water is a better conductor of electricity than fresh, so take this into consideration.
“Thanks, PSPYC, for the warning. Hopefully, you will save a few lives with this report.”
We too read the original article, in the BOAT US magazine, if we recall. It warned against swimming around marina docks, where the chance of stray current is much greater.
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