Explosion on yacht at Newport

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9357993/Massive-explosion-heard-affluent-Sydney-suburb.html

Heard a large bang earlier looks like somebody's yacht has exploded.

Just read about it. 57 year old woman on board alone, lying on a bunk got shrapnel in her lower legs. She got off the boat OK, but it sank. The explosion also blew the windows out of surrounding boats. No word on what caused it, but I'd like to know.

It sounds like gas doesn't it. Being in a marina she would have been on shore power, gas in the bilge then the fridge kicks in. Boom. She'll be OK, but what a frightening experience.

The fumes collecting in the hull from incorrectly stored outboard fuel could also cause a similar situation. Scary stuff.

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saltiest1 said..
I used to teach gas supply at TAFE and would pour lpg from cup to cup then throw in a match in each to prove the point.

That's rather scary Salty.
I just did a confined spaces safety course, it was very sobering to say the least. Even without the fire risk, I didn't realise how precise the oxygen content of air needed to be (19.5-23%) to be classed as safe, nor did I really understand how some dangerous gases can displace oxygen in different vertical layers and finally nor did I know how quickly you can succumb, in some cases it was mere seconds.
I feel rather embarrassed that up until now I wasn't aware how dangerous it can get. My only consolation is I finally did do a course which is a small tick in the good karma column .