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Approx 540 words
A Boat Fire in Alaska
The fishing villages of Alaska often experience a number of accidental boat fires with the resulting cost in lives and property. Recently my neighbor had stepped aboard his 34 fishing foot boat and attempted to start the engine. There was a terrific explosion which blew him through the top of the cabin. Fortunately he landed in the water alongside the dock which extinguished his flaming clothing. Weeks later when he returned from the hospital burn unit I asked what had happened. He replied "Well, I pushed the start button and everything started but the engine". His humor caused our local fishermen including myself to think more about safety, especially those of us with gas engines.
A few weeks later I slid open the door to my fishing boat "Klondike's" cabin. There was a strong odor of gasoline! I thought, Oh no! that carburetor float valve is stuck again! My twenty six foot gillnet boat had been lying at anchor in a small lagoon overnight with a strong wind blowing. Her shallow V bottom caused her to roll constantly and with a stuck float valve every roll squirted a small amount of gasoline from the carburetor into the bilge because of it's gravity feed.
Klondike's four cylinder Universal gas engine was reliable but this had happened before under similar circumstances and was a real safety concern. I had always solved the problem temporarily by rapping on the carburetor with a wrench which freed up the stuck float. During a conversation in a local pub another fisherman who had a Universal gas engine mentioned that I should build a small shelf above the engine, fill a gallon jug with carbon tetrachloride or other fire extinguishing liquid and secure it to the shelf with a piece of grocery store string. The idea being that a regular fire extinguisher didn't have enough volume to put out a gasoline fire while a deluge of a gallon of carbontet might be more effective.
I thought it was an excellent idea and installed a shelf directly over the engine and placed on it a gallon glass jug full of carbontet which was then available. After opening Klondike's cabin door that morning I waited a few minutes for the fumes to dissipate then stepped into the cabin, picked up a wrench and leaned over the engine to whack the carburetor. I was still smoking then and had a Ronson cigarette lighter in my shirt pocket. As I leaned over the engine the lighter fell out and landed upside down on the engine base. There was a small spark, an explosive "whoomp!" and a gush of flame as the fumes in the bilge ignited.
Reacting to the heat and flames I shielded my eyes with my arm while reaching for the jug on the shelf. Giving it a pull to break the string, I dropped it on top of the engine where it shattered, instantly snuffing out the fire. Unlike some of my friends who survived boat fires, I was fortunate to get away with only singed hair and eyebrows and a
mess of broken glass to clean up. I then decided to (1) Replace the carburator and (2) give up smoking.
Alaskan stories
Aprrox.498 Words
Copyright © 1989
THE HAWAIIAN STOWAWAY
(An Alaskan Vignette)
A winter gale was plastering the snow horizontally against the windows of our isolated home on the eastern shore of Orca Inlet in Prince William Sound. It was our first winter in Alaska and our first big storm. The howling of the wind was punctuated by the soft snores of Penny, our cocker spaniel sleeping by the stove. I was deeply engrossed in a mystery novel while my wife was sewing something for our new baby, asleep in her crib. It was a peaceful domestic scene in the Alaskan bush on a stormy winter night.
Suddenly the peace was shattered by a prolonged scream of sheer terror. My heart pounded with the sudden rush of adrenalin and my first thought was for my 30-06 rifle which was on the other side of the room. Penny dog flew straight up in the air from a deep sleep, landed with four on the floor and stood there shaking with fright, looking confused. What in the world was the danger that was threatening my family in the wilds of Alaska? Glancing at my wife, I saw that her face was white as a sheet as she stared in horror at a great black hairy Hawaiian spider in her lap. A Hawaiian spider in Alaska? Strange things happen 'neath the midnight sun.
Before moving to Alaska we were living in Lanikai on the windward side of the island of Oahu. Among the varied wildlife of Hawaii, along with scorpions and mongooses (mongeese?) are a species of arachnids that are huge black hair covered creatures. Although they look ferocious and deadly, they eat only mosquitoes and are very shy and harmless. A large one lived above the latticed window in the shower at our house in Lanikai. I'm sure she did an excellent job since we never got bit by a mosquito while taking a shower. She may have heard about the zillions of mosquitoes in Alaska and decided to join us on our voyage to Prince William Sound.
Among the things my wife had packed in Hawaii was a box of sewing material. It was in this box that the huge spider had been residing from May to November. The heat from the stove ended her hibernation and reminded her that she had not eaten for seven months. She jumped out of the material into my wife's lap, looking wildly around for some of those Alaskan mosquitoes. My wife's reaction was a blood-curdling scream, frightening both the dog and I out of our wits. After we recovered I offered the idea that we should keep her as a pet until the next summer when the mosquitoes would be plentiful but my wife would have none of it. The last I saw of Miss Spider, she was being ignominiously swept out into the snow as quiet returned to our new Alaskan home.
Capt. Jim USMM (Ret.)
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