Heading out for an after-work excursion on Friday for a walleye hunt resulted in a very short trip:  less than 10 minutes.

I wish I could report that I limited out and returned back to the dock with a mega smile on my face, but there would be no smiles today, just panic.

As I made my way through the no wake zone, I could smell something unusual.  I was near “Stinky Point” but that was not the culprit.  I could smell something burning.  I immediately did a quick boat check in the rear of the boat and everything was fine.  With a stiff north wind blowing down the river and into my face, I determined that it must be something ahead of me.  I scoured the landscape until I saw a plume of smoke.

The smoke was coming out of my control panel.  My boat was on fire!  Quickly, I made a U turn and headed back to the dock at Lakeside Park West.  During this time, I thought through my next steps.  Where was my fire extinguisher and where was my phone in case I needed to call 911?

Just the week prior to this trip, a friend was ticketed for having an expired fire extinguisher on his vessel by the Waupaca County Sheriff.  As a result of his citation, I had checked my “born on date” on my device to ensure it was not expired.   My extinguisher is always accessible and always in sight so anyone can find it at a moment’s notice.

Once at the dock, I sprayed the panel, as the smoke had progressed into a very small fire.  Seconds later, the fire was out and the damage was minimal, in my estimation.   I waited about 15 minutes before loading the boat, to make sure I didn’t re-ignite a fire with a moving boat, creating a scene from some action movie. The boat was then transported to my marine dealer for further inspection.

The moral of the story is that the safety apparatus on the boat is an extra expense, but a can be a life saving tool. I was lucky I had double checked the date on fire extinguisher, or this story might have ended differently.  Thankfully, my friend’s bad luck with the citation indirectly lead to my happier ending.  I write this blog in the hopes you will  make sure your fire extinguisher is on your boat, accessible, and still within its life’s expectancy.

Just a note that your extinguishers’ life span is roughly 6 years on a non-rechargeable unit, and about 10 years on the rechargeable type.