🔥!! Ft. Myers Day 2

Duncan Harding

After an uneventful night on anchor (around 250ft from the beach next to the Mucky Duck Restaurant on Captiva Island FL), we rose to a wonderful sunrise and a pleasant 8kt offshore easterly that promised an easy sail north that morning towards Venice. Overnight, the Air Conditioning System had (presumably) drained its dedicated battery system, therefore we decided to start the engine in an effort to partially recharge the affected battery prior to going under sail in the coming hour or so after breakfast. At this point, David and Duncan were sat in the cockpit with Lupe in the forward cabin and Heather in the rear starboard quarter cabin. Both cabin doors were closed. 2 mins after starting and setting the engine to approx 1,000rpm (just above tick over) thick grey smoke had filled the Saloon and was noticed for the first time as it was now blowing out of the companionway up into the cockpit, with Heather now simultaneously shouting out loud, as the smoke had also started to get into the rear starboard cabin. Over the next 30 seconds, in near zero visibility conditions within the main cabin, the engine bay became engulfed with an open flamed fire; thankfully, everyone stayed calm while David extinguished the fire with a powder extinguisher. (Upon later review the fire appeared to emanate from the alternator*) We incurred zero injuries to the 4 people onboard. We gathered ourselves and took stock of the situation. Everyone, while somber, remained in good spirits. With no engine, limited instrumentation (a wiring harnesses in the engine bay appeared melted) and no windlass, we manually hauled out 110ft of chain rode and set sail in favorable 11-14kt conditions on a port tack back towards Ft Myers. After approx 4hrs, we summoned SeaTow who put us under tow just before the Sanibel bridge for the 2hr journey up the channel and lastly in close quarters, under a hip-tow back into our berth in Gulf Harbor Marina ! Upon reflection, we’re all feeling very lucky that we noticed the smoke and managed to act quickly as the fire took hold EXTREMELY fast! Learning Points / check list additions. 1. We will recommit to actively seek out the location and operational familiarity of all fire extinguishers when initially boarding an unfamiliar vessel. 2. We will always have COCKPIT access to a VHF radio handset / handheld when the engine is running (in addition to when underway) 3. PFD’s, if not being worn, will be stored in a cockpit locker. (they were in this case but we’ve also stored them in spare cabins in the past as well 😐) 4. Familiarize ourself with alternative cabin/ saloon exit routes should the companionway become blocked. (Eg. Ensure deck mounted dinghy is not blocking forward hatch for example) My cell phone died after around 3hrs so the journey log back to the Marina has not been captured on the chart. We will be back - but woah… don’t ever want to go through this again!