All my neighbors outboard of me have no reason to come down to the marina and two displaced boats have not yet returned from another dock. George is reassured and comfortable again. He ate his regular food and asked to be helped (arthritis) up onto our bed; whereupon he promptly went to sleep in his favorite place - no more motel room. He has a new annoying habit though, he runs off to the homes of lovely married women and stands in front of their front doors until they let him in. Then everyone falls in love and I eventually get a call saying that they have my George. He does stick to the neighborhood, though, and he has made new human and doggy friends like Eldon and Lu Lu - I am not kidding. This began the night of the fire. Now, he only does this when I am talking to someone for too long and not petting him. Boy, he can disappear fast!
Along with a few other boat owners, I discovered that both the boat end of my shore power cable and my port and starboard inlets were internally burned. That did it! I went to West Marine and ordered a SmartPlug kit on Wednesday and we installed the inlet and plug on Friday. I do not want to catch on fire nor do I wish to be the source of a marina fire. Other folks are changing out or repairing their cables. We suffer too many utility caused momentary and prolonged power outages here (Tideland Electric.) Perhaps these contribute to the problem. Oh, and yes, I used dielectric grease in the past. I'll report back as time goes by, but the new method of attachment is impressive and the incorporation of a thermal breaker encouraging. Many owners did not have insurance - it is quite expensive except from the perspective of the day after a fire (just got my quarterly bill.) A few think that they are covered by the marina's insurance - I am not kidding. Others, have had their lives changed. We have lost some extraordinary classic wooden yachts: a 53' Trumpy, a 72' Grebe (just restored) a 53' Chris Craft (just restored) and a 1925 Elco. But, there could have been 6 people instead of just one sleeping in the shed Thursday night and the normal number is 4. Only Captain John, who spotted the fire's ignition on the boat next to his had a good chance of escaping and he was the only one aboard that night and he was awake. The rest, if they had had early warning of a fire, might have been able to go overboard into the 37F water and make shore at least 60 yards away in 25F weather. The one person who jumped from a boat outside the far end of the shed was treated overnight for hypothermia. The people here are quite subdued and, at least for awhile, changed. Some of us were in "combat" together. We don't exhibit the "100 yard stare" but we shared 10 hours of cold fear and the experience of watching selfless volunteers fight the fire while we stood by - impotent. I shall not forget that those volunteer firemen never retreated. One man's face shield melted, but they stood their ground 5 slips from my boat and stopped the "beast's" march towards my home. I will not forget their efforts and what the Bunyan Chief said to me at 0300, "We are here to support you." Ron Rogers
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