I Accidentally Set My Sunseeker On Fire

DEBBIE GREEN: I thought nothing of having a candle lighter on board my boat. But when I saw smoke billowing from the galley, I knew I was in imminent danger

- Debbie Green

Summer 2016, and I’d taken a week off to enjoy my Sunseeker 31 Offshore, Americano. I keep the boat in the Royal Southern Yacht Club marina on the Hamble, and as it was Cowes Week, five friends and I took the opportunity to visit the Isle of Wight and see what was happening during the celebrations.

We stopped for lunch at Yarmouth, picking up one of the visitor mooring buoys ranged just outside the harbour mouth. The Yarmouth Harbour launch took our fees as usual, and we settled down to a pleasant meal. After lunch, I brought out the Danish pastries and lit the gas stove, using the candle lighter I keep in the cutlery draw, to boil a kettle and make a cup of tea. Once it was lit, I dropped the lighter back in the drawer and slid it shut.

It was only when we were all back in the cockpit that we noticed smoke billowing from the galley. I immediately isolated the gas supply and put out a Mayday as we were in serious imminent danger with no means of abandoning ship.