Fitting a spirit stove

Some years ago I was working on my boat, ashore in the yard. I felt, rather than heard, the explosion and by the time I’d scrambled the few yards to the mooring pontoon I was confronted with what was left of a Westerly Centaur. The whole deck assembly, including the mast and spars, had been blown the height of a three-story building before landing back on top of the remains of the hull.

There had been one person on board and of course he was rushed to hospital, fortunately with relatively minor injuries. It seems that having been at the centre of the explosion the shock wave rushed away from him.

The experience left me with a permanent concern about explosives in boats. As most skippers are aware, gas and petrol fumes are heavier than air and will sink into the bilge from where there is nowhere to