Robin Manning lives aboard a 26-foot Tollycraft. It’s home, but it’s also a baby of sorts. The boat soaks up hours of tender care.
"An old wooden boat takes so much time. To lose it would be traumatic," said Manning, one of 213 live-aboard residents of the Everett Marina.
Manning couldn’t stay away after seeing fiery images of the Friday blaze that damaged or destroyed 30-some boats on Lake Union. She went to Seattle Sunday to see the charred marina.
"It made you want to cry," said Manning, manager of P.K.’s General Store, an Everett Marina Village grocery.
Discussion Monday focused on the time it took a Seattle fireboat to reach Lake Union. No fireboats protect marinas in Everett or Edmonds. Still, officials believe firefighting systems here would prevent losses such as those in the weekend blaze.
The Everett Marina has a standpipe system on its docks, Everett Fire Marshal Warren Burns said. A fire engine on shore can pump into it and take water from where it’s needed on the docks.
The Port of Everett owns the pipe system, and the Everett Fire Department trains regularly in its use, Burns said.
The port also has fire extinguishers every 75 feet. As for a fireboat, Burns said that would require "significant expense."
"We feel we do as good a job as we can. We’re not going to change anything as a result of the Seattle fire, but it’s certainly a reminder," Burns said.
"We work closely with the fire department," said Connie Bennett, the port’s marina director. She said the system’s pipes are dry lines, meaning they won’t freeze. "And the fire department can use foam in there as well as water," she said.
"Almost once a year we have a fire," said Bennett, who couldn’t recall a blaze that claimed multiple boats.
Manning remembered a sailboat catching fire several years ago on the marina’s C dock. "We were on B dock, and the mast fell across the channel," she said.
At the Everett Marina Monday, sailboat live-aboard Darrell Hill and racing sailboat owner Joe Walsh showed me red lines painted on the concrete docks marking the standpipes. "They could put out a fire here very well," Hill said.
The Port of Edmonds also has a sophisticated piping system, executive director Bill Toskey said. "The Edmonds Fire Department responds very promptly," he said.
About a dozen years ago, several boats caught fire under old wooden roofs at the Edmonds Marina, Toskey said. In 1994, an arson damaged several boats. Two years ago, an electrical failure was blamed for a Christmas Eve boat fire.
"We only have three live-aboards, so that’s a small issue with us," Toskey said.
At the Everett Marina, Walsh said live-aboards keep an eye on other boats. "If there’s any trouble, somebody is always here to help," he said.
It’s absent boat owners who worry Alan Grim, racing fleet captain with Everett’s Milltown Sailing Association.
"The same boat can stay for decades and not be cared for," he said. "It’s those kinds of boats, using batteries and shore power, if they’re not cared for, there’s a risk of fire."
"It’s good there are live-aboards down here who can spot something going on fast," agreed Ken Gepner, commodore of the sailing association.
Gepner mentioned unprofessional wiring, undersized power lines and unattended heaters as marina fire hazards. If fire breaks out, cutting loose a burning boat is no way to handle it.
"The fire department has told us over and over, never cut loose a burning boat," Bennett said. "That’s the natural inclination, but it’s better to get rid of the nonburning boats."
For live-aboards, the lifestyle is worth all the precautions.
"My wife and I sure enjoy it. We did the house thing for years, until the kids were grown," said Gepner, who lives on a 37-foot sailboat and cruises for a month each summer.
"It’s inexpensive, it’s fun. Other boaters offer you crab and beer," Hill said.
"And the sunsets are marvelous," Walsh added.
Sunset; there’s a blaze boaters embrace.
Contact Julie Muhlstein via e-mail at muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com, write to her at The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206, or call 425-339-3460.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
