Fire, on land and sea

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

This weekend, boaters need to come on up to Long Beach and visit

the 2003 International Sail & Power Boat Show at the Long Beach

Convention Center. I will be at the show with Capt. Chandler Bell in

the Discover Boating Area.

This Sunday, Capt. Eric Hovland will be calling to the KCBQ’s

studios during my Boathouse radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Stop by

the Boathouse booth, and who knows, you might be on the radio.

You can call (888) BOAT-INFO or go to https://www.SCMA.com for more

information about the boat show.

A major hot issue in Newport Harbor now is the validity of the

fire code as it relates to vessel berthing. As you have probably

read, the fire code states that a boat cannot block any other boats

in a slip, nor is rafting permitted (tying boats side to side). I

wrote about this in my Nov. 8, 2002, column, and I want to

reemphasize a few thoughts from that column.

From the beginning of boating, it was standard procedure to simply

push a burning boat out into the water for the boat to drift

downstream away from civilization, since marinas and buildings on the

water were few and far between to catch fire. That method is what

helped define today’s fire code, and it still might work in rural

areas that have limited firefighting resources.

Today in Newport, if a burning boat was pushed out it would drift

down on another section unless the harbor patrol was able to maintain

a towline. Also, once the boat is away from the dock, the available

shore-side firefighting resources have been dramatically reduced.

Another tactic is to move neighboring vessels away from the

burning vessel, and this is the primary issue of how the vessels are

berthed. The big is, does it really matter if boats are blocked in,

rafted together or separated by a few feet with a dock finger or if

the burning boat is in the end slip of marina? The fire code states

that it does matter, and those in the industry say it does not matter

-- cut free any vessels that can be released nearby and then fight

the fire.

Let’s use, for example, a yacht broker who has a 50-foot slip (and

Newport has the highest slip rates). It is within code to have a

50-footer in the slip, but not two 25-footers. In practicality, what

is the difference of two 25-footers or one 50-footer occupying a

slip? I have not seen any statistics nor any data that demonstrates

any difference. During past fires in the Pacific Northwest where the

boats were berthed, their individual slips still burned many vessels.

I think that we need to study the fire patterns, burn rates and

best method of control to help guide our own fire codes regarding

boats. I have full confidence in our harbor department and the fire

department, and past vessel fires in Newport have proven the fire

suppression was swift.

The issue is fire spreading from one vessel to another, but there

is a double standard between land and water storage of boats. It is

legal for the dry stacks on Lido Peninsula to store boats stacked

three high, with boats to either side. However, if I place these same

boats in the water two abreast and three long, it is now illegal.

Why?

It is common for a yacht broker to display boats side by side on

land, usually with the boats in cradles and abutting other buildings.

However, if you switch the asphalt with water, that exact same

configuration is now illegal. Why?

Also, it is very common for a 50-foot yacht to carry a tender that

can be lowered into the water. It is legal to have to the tender on

board, but technically, the fire code would not allow the tender to

be lowered in water between the yacht and the dock. Why?

I think the insurance industry will be the major player in guiding

the standards, as they are the ones to pay the tab in the end.

Remember, this is not just about the commercial docks but homeowners’

docks as well. How many homeowners have two or three boats at a dock?

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.