Warning for Boaties

 An incident on Lake Wakatipu at the weekend should act as a reminder to all boaties, particularly with summer on its way, Queenstown Lakes District harbourmaster Marty Black said.
“On Saturday at around 1pm a local man with over 20-years boating experience, fuelled his rebuilt, 44-year-old jet boat at the Frankton Marina,” Mr Black said.
The boatie had idled out 100-metres to buoys, when the motor backed fired.

“Quite a major explosion followed which blew the engine hatch 10-metres in the air,” Mr Black said.
The owner managed to put the fire out with an extinguisher, which he had to hand, and avoided major damage to the boat.

“It was just fortunate that he was not hurt, although his dog didn’t fare quite so well, he was sporting singed whiskers after the incident,’ Mr Black said.
Mr Black, who attended the incident, said the cause of the explosion was a fuel leak in the boat.
“There is a warning here for everyone, it pays to always check any boat before and after refuelling. In this case I think man and dog were pretty lucky,” Mr Black said.
ENDS