59° North Sailingvideo
Ben Doerr // "Hose it or Lose it!"
19 May 2026 · 1h 25m · 210 views
What this video covers
An engine room fire erupts on a friend's boat one mile outside Cordova Harbor, Alaska, on the first day of a sail-to-ski trip in Prince William Sound.19:47 Ben Doerr, a Seattle-based sailing instructor who runs Sail Bainbridge, recounts the incident to host Andy Schell on the On The Wind podcast.7:19 The fire was electrical in origin, traced to wiring beneath the floorboards on a boat that had completed multiple Pacific loops, including a passage from Japan to the outer Aleutians.54:20 A nearby commercial fisherman handed over a two-inch saltwater deck hose and delivered the decisive advice: "hose it or lose it" — overriding Doerr's hesitation about putting water on an electrical fire.41:31 The crew pumped an estimated 300 gallons into the boat before the owner made a final solo push below in near-zero visibility black smoke and extinguished the fire.16:39 Coast Guard Sector Anchorage offered no practical assistance.45:47 Fishermen towed the disabled boat back to the dock and refused payment.52:30 Charred floorboards confirmed how close the fire came to becoming uncontrollable.53:53 The crew disconnected positive battery terminals after the fire was out.56:52 Despite the damage, the group got in skiing later that week.1:14:13 Hesitating to flood an electrical engine fire with water nearly cost the boat; overwhelming the fire with volume was the only thing that worked.
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