Electrocution drowning

[ripler]

I posted my July 4th experience in another thread, In that post I mentioned that someone had drowned. I found out today that the 23 year old died from electrocution while swimming near the docks. It could have been a lot worse because when another person saw the guys body he put on a life vest and jumped in to save him. When he jumped in he also got electrocuted, but the life vest saved him from drowning. The river current eventually pushed him out of the electrical current and he was pulled onto the dock. The original guy wasn't wearing a life jacket, if he was wearing one he might have lived. The guy that jumped in to rescue the first guy was hospitalized, but he's going to be OK. We went out yesterday and the local news was all over the place and tried to interview me on camera, but I refused. I told them instead of chasing tragedies why don't they do a story at the beginning of each boating season outlining boating and river safety, since everyone I talk to have no idea about the dangers.

Another thing I want to mention is that out of my own curiosity I contacted an inspection agency a few years ago asking if marinas are required to undergo some type of electrical inspection at the beginning of the boating season since in our area the docks are removed and reinstalled every year. I was really surprised that marinas don't need to have an inspection done at the beginning of each season, at least here in PA.

Link to story, it's not up to date about the electrocution.

Investigation Underway After 23-Year-Old Man Was Pulled From The Monongahela River – CBS Pittsburgh (cbslocal.com)

 

[anmut]

DAMN, that sucks. I imagine at a marina that was probably 220v at least. It's very surprising that there was no breaker on that line that tripped?!

 

[Bluewater272]

I hate hearing these stories. I've fallen into the water at marinas twice, and every time just about have a heart attack on the way in.

 

[Wake_Dude]

That's horrible!

Every trip we see so many people (especially children) swimming behind their docked houseboats it drives my wife and I nuts. Especially since there are signs everywhere not to swim within 100 "yards" of the dock.

 

[Julian]

We have idiots swimming in our marina all the time. In fact one guy on a houseboat apparently takes a morning swim every day (Darwin will catch up to him).

 

[spatty99]

If you do end up in the water at a marina, keeping you body more vertical than horizontal can slightly lessen the voltage potential your body sees.

 

[ripler]

DAMN, that sucks. I imagine at a marina that was probably 220v at least. It's very surprising that there was no breaker on that line that tripped?!

The stray voltages travel through the water so you are never in contact with anything to trip a breaker. Most of the time the issues are with the boats that are plugged into the shore power and not the marina wiring.

 

[zipper]

Never swim at a marina that has shore power. Even with gfci breakers in a pedestal that trip at 30mA of current leakage. Breakers can fail and sometimes it can be the boat leaking current. Our current marina, new in 2018, has signs stating no swimming. Every Spring the electrical distribution system is tested by the fire marshall and must be approved before boats are allowed to dock. New permanent and transient boats plugging in are tested before they can plug in.

The first sailboat we had surveyed tripped the whole dock, not just the breaker in the pedestal, when shore power was turned on, all the way back to the distribution panel, they are homeruns. We walked away on that one. We also left that marina, it's electrical system needed an upgrade.

This was what the batteries and charger looked like on that boat.

ESD & FAQ

WHAT IS ELECTRIC SHOCK DROWNING? Electric Shock Drowning (ESD) is the result of the passage of a typically low level AC current through the body with sufficient force to cause skeletal...

www.electricshockdrowning.org

Port Credit Marine Surveyors has a good website with a lot of information.

Hot Docks and electric shock drowning

www.pcmarinesurveys.com

Importance of Polarity Indicators and G.F.C.I on Boats

www.pcmarinesurveys.com

 

[AZMark]

So this exists at one of the lakes here. I believe there was an electrocution/drowning last year in another part of the marina.



Edit: The double drowning was actually at another marina on that lake and was attributed directly to the victims boat.
Still seems crazy to encourage swimming near the marina if this is such a dangerous issue.

Arizona News

Arizona Breaking news, local stories, and On Your Side investigations from the state’s largest television newsroom.

www.google.com

 

[anmut]

The stray voltages travel through the water so you are never in contact with anything to trip a breaker. Most of the time the issues are with the boats that are plugged into the shore power and not the marina wiring.

Well that's absolutely terrifying! I never even considered not swimming in a marine (aside from the fact that there would be a lot of boat traffic) mainly because we don't go to marinas.

 

[tabbibus]

So this exists at one of the lakes here. I believe there was an electrocution/drowning last year in another part of the marina.

View attachment 156050

Edit: The double drowning was actually at another marina on that lake and was attributed directly to the victims boat.
Still seems crazy to encourage swimming near the marina if this is such a dangerous issue.

Arizona News

Arizona Breaking news, local stories, and On Your Side investigations from the state’s largest television newsroom.

www.google.com

this looks like bad news for so many reasons

 

[WREKS]

DAMN, that sucks. I imagine at a marina that was probably 220v at least. It's very surprising that there was no breaker on that line that tripped?!

That is one of the problems; The leakage current could be many amps but if it is not enough to trip the breaker, it does not open. Often times, inexperienced persons will swap the hot and neutral in outlet boxes and set up such a situation.