[PUP] sad news -- Passage of Time destroyed in fire

[je1449 at aol.com]

So, so sorry, what a tremendous disaapointment.

All you can probably do is be thankful no one was hurt.  Today a 
college kid riding his bike without a helmut, hit a pothole, had a 
terrible fall, struck his head and was literally writhing & convulsing 
in the road.  Have no idea what his prognosis is, poor kid, the first 
beautiful new england bit of nice spring weather...

Not trying to detract from your horrific loss & sadness, just trying to 
help ease you pain.  Hope I didn't goof.

JE

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Wagner <Wagner.Florida at verizon.net>
To: passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com
Sent: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:40:13 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Subject: [PUP] sad news -- Passage of Time destroyed in fire

Many of you have followed my design and construction of "Passage of 
Time," a
53' aluminum passagemaker Debbie and I dreamed up a few years ago and 
then
had Michael Kasten design for us.  This sight has been invaluable to our
search for the perfect boat and the many design decisions and choices 
that
must be made along the way.  We actually found the builder via the 
related
BST site and, of course, as we started building, we engaged T&T's very 
own
Arild Jensen to tweak our electrical design into a really cool set up 
for us


"Passage of Time" was set to launch and "hit the water" in late summer. 
 The
final welding was nearly complete; the carpenters and electricians were 
busy
at work, systems were on the way . . . .

On Monday disaster struck.

In what appears to be an incredible freak accident with a welding spark
bouncing off something, through a port hole, and into a small garbage 
bag
that had some trash insulation -- that immediately roared into a fire 
that
could not be contained -- "Passage of Time" was destroyed.  By the time 
that
the extinguisher was retrieved from the pilothouse, the smoke and flames
were too much to handle.  The fresh unfinished cherry wood caught on 
fire,
and that was all she wrote.  I will get pictures sooner or later, but it
will not look pretty.  The superstructure melted from the heat and isn't
there.  A portion of the deck itself melted away and/or collapsed into 
the
interior of the boat.  Apparently the cherry wood Debbie so loved burns
rather hot.

The fire marshal is testing the insulation to see if it conforms to the 
fire
retardant product described on the MSDS that was provided to the 
builder.
The foam apparently went up in flame very very quickly, even though 
painted
with fire retardant paint.

The boat is a total loss.

The insurance people are doing what they do best, crawling all over the
place, testing and surveying everything in sight.  The builder -- with 
whom
I have the utmost confidence and trust -- was as saddened as Debbie and 
I
were.  It was bad enough for us to hear about it, they had to watch it 
burn.
 It was terrible to think of our "baby" literally going up in smoke.
Thankfully, no one was hurt and we are most grateful for that.  We have 
come
to know and befriend the builders, welders, carpenters and the 
collective
group of people who, over the last 17 months, turned sheets of metal, 
wood,
and wire into the beautiful boat with which we were looking forward to
cruising to places frequently dreamed of.

We were really looking forward to our expected August or September 
launch.
Looks like that will be postponed a bit, as we must start over from 
frame
one!  The rebuild will probably go a little faster since the builders 
and
crew "know" the boat now and, as a little silver lining, the rebuild 
will
allow us to tweak a few areas that we believe can be improved having 
seen
the "real thing" as opposed to a 2-D plan.

Bummer. Time for a drink! Perhaps three.

Thank goodness I had not yet found a buyer for our current boat . . . . 
.


Alan Wagner
Tampa, Florida
"Morning Delight"  1978, 44' Gulfstar MC
Building "Passage of Time" -- Kasten designed 53' aluminum passagemaker
http://kastenmarine.com/valdemar52.htm
o;?
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