Marina filled the water tank with gas.

[roscoe]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

I would secure both the fuel and water caps with either locking caps, or zip ties. Pumping water into the fuel is just as bad.

 

[TheLucille]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

I like your calm and understanding attitude. We need more of that--and fewer lawsuits and fist fights over human error.

Agreed. It was a mistake, dangerous as it is but a mistake none the less.

1. NEEEEEEVER use your water pump to pump gas. Even the TANK that holds water is unsafe to store gas in as it can generates static electricity and is not grounded. Let someone else deal with it before you risk your life if it ever happens again.

2. Also, by doing this you distributed gas to parts of the system where it wouldn't have gotten. Gas floats on water, the pickup is on the bottom. Had you have not pumped it, it would have not went anywhere but the tank! Useless for you now, but remember it if it happens again

Gasoline should not get "stuck" in any of these systems. The tank may be porous enough to cause problems. I would thoroughly clean everything and see where that gets you.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

My parents sold one their first boats to an individual. They ended up seeing the boat a year later at the launch ramp with a whole new interior. Apparently, a gas dock employee filled up the boat with 100 gallons through a fishing rod holder. The fire department was called and filled the boat with fire retardant foam.

We were cruising up in the inland passage to Alaska one year. Heard calls on the radio of many boats dieing on the water. Apparently a marina got its gasoline tanks filled with diesel instead of gasoline. There were a lot of gasoline powered boats that got filled with diesel.

 

[Steve Mahler]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

I guess you never know until you blow up

But I have pumped out a few gas tanks in my boat restoration past, and I dont get all freaked out. Lots of ventilation, a spark-shielded fluid tranfer pump, and common sense. Perhaps luck.

I did recently visit a cabin cruiser with fuel problems, in the mid cabin engine room. The whole boat stuck of gas as the filters were off. Luckily, the wife had lit sweet smelling candles in the galley to offset the gas smell !!!!!!

I broke into a sweat when I saw that

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

Great to hear it all worked out. +1 on leaving gas where it sits versus using non-shielded/designed fluid pumps.

Also kudos to you for staying calm and same to your marina for stepping up.

I really like the idea of either locking or colouring the filler cap to add that one little extra memory-nudger.

Poor ergonomic design and human factors issues have killed more than a few folks and cost lotsa money.

A local airline here had a ground handler fill a their potable water tanks on a half dozen aircraft with gasoline by accident. And THAT happened because he had filled the water truck's water tank with gasoline when he had meant to fill the truck's fuel tank. Then he went merrily down the line, dispensing gas into the aircraft.

Unfortunately it wasn't caught til many of them were in the air. Cue diversions, return to base, stranded passengers, schedule havoc and cleanup hassles galore...

Contributing factors - similar filling ports, training, equipment changes, and on and on...

 

[Expidia]

Re: Marina filled the water tank with gas.

Glad it worked out for you.
But lessons can be learned here.
Now this is just me personally, but I'm anal with my stuff.
I would never hand off the responsibility for an attendant filling my boat (90% are just kids)and worse yet letting him possibly drag it along the dock (scratching it) to another slip and tying it up.

I flip out when I'm tied up while I'm dining in a restaurant and see some yokel just untie my rig and move it so he can tie up his rig. Or worse yet, they raft onto your boat without asking. I make sure I can keep my eye on it from my table.

My father was the same way with his cars. He would never let a parking attendant take his car and park it themselves. I park my cars myself away from the other cars.

I do the same for my boat. I won't let it slide off the trailer at the launch and expect a friend to tie it up. I jump out and tie it up myself, so the dock can't scratch the decals.

I've never let anyone fill any of my boats in 40 years.

Great ending for you though. But it was a bad move to drain it yourself. The marina could have denied it. But worse like another poster had pointed out . . . what if someone lit a candle or a cigarette after you left the dock

Moral is it may be cool to toss someone the keys to your boat and say take care of it . . . But I personally, could never do that