A test run in a homemade boat went badly wrong. Maryanne Twentyman reports
A Tamahere couple were forced to leap into the Waikato River yesterday after the motor of their home-made aluminium jetboat burst into flames.
Ken Fensom and his wife, who asked not to be named, were taking their 4.5-metre boat for a short ‘‘test-drive’’ near Narrows Landing when ‘‘something went amiss’’.
‘‘We slowed down and then it all went bang – so I threw the missus overboard and took a look under the motor cover – but there was nothing I could do so I jumped out too,’’ Mr Fensom said.
The pair made it to the riverbank wet and cold but otherwise unharmed.
‘‘We can both swim so that was all right – life’s a bitch and that’s an uninsured boat worth around $45,000 down the gurgler,’’ he said.
The Times was alerted to the burning boat by Narrows Lane resident Israel Bai who sent in photos of the floating inferno within minutes of the mishap.
Up river Mr Fensom contemplated jumping back in to see if he could reach his boat and pull it to shore.
‘‘But it was going pretty quick and I couldn’t keep up – the blackberries were holding me back and I couldn’t really leave the mssus, could I?’’ he quipped.
Mr Fensom had been building his ‘‘labour of love’’ since November and said the short trip up the river was a final jaunt to make sure ‘‘nothing rattled’’ before insulating the aluminium craft.
‘‘If there is a positive, the fuel tank was designed so that in the event of a fire it can’t explode – which it didn’t.’’ This was just as well with 75 litres of fuel on board.
A Hamilton fire engine was sent to the scene. Fire-fighters in full breathing apparatus were transferred by the harbourmaster out to the burning jetboat where it took just one large extinguisher to douse the fire.
‘‘I had an extinguisher on board but there was no way it was going to be big enough to put out the initial fire,’’ Mr Fensom said. ‘‘The funny thing is the harbourmaster is my mate Kim Mckenzie and he was the first one there to help us out.’’
Last night Mr Fensom, who manages a stainless steel company, was back at his Tamahere home assessing the damage – and thinking of how to tell his son that the $1500 Lexus motor he had borrowed from him was now toast. ‘‘I doubt there will be much to salvage – I think it will end up being sold as scrap.’’