Never understood why no swimming in marinas are not enforced. Too many boats with shorepower, too many cobbled wiring jobs, too many cords laying in water, etc.
Doesn't take much current. Just enough to paralize you where you can't swim and then drown.
Happened here last summer, private dock that had wiring issues, leaving 1 dead.

Very sad situations.

I would have honestly never imagined that when wired improperly it wouldn't have thrown the breaker of GF... I have heard of wiring problems in salt water eating props off and things like that but I couldn't imagine how horrible this must have been.

Condolences to all and thank for the warning... I guess the kids won't swim off my dock any more!

incredibly scary... a couple years ago we went diving in our yacht club looking for a prop. found out a couple days later they were having a stray current issue.

Thanks for keeping the thread going. I hope this gets the message out on the issue. Yea, I would have thought a breaker or GFI would trip??

All, I'm pasting in an e-mail notification for a webinar by Kevin Ritz that I got from ABYC if anyone is interested:

ABYC Hosts FREE WEBINAR Electric Shock Drowning....the Invisible Killer

Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Time: 1:00 PM Eastern
Presented by: Kevin Ritz
Location: On your PC or MAC. At your Desk, in your Office or in your Home! Audio will be through your computer speakers.

Click here to register: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/jxqrard60e3b

Additional Info: In response to the recent multiple tragedies, Kevin Ritz, ABYC instructor and Electric Shock Drowning expert, presents an updated and FREE Electric Shock Drowning Webinar to alert the unsuspecting to the dangers of this Invisible Killer.

This is an essential and educational webinar covering the basics of electric shock drowning unfamiliar to many marine professionals. Topics include: real life stories/examples, the mechanics of electric shock drowning, detecting electrical current in waterways, and prevention. Who should attend? Marina owners/operators, electricians both land and marine, boat owners, insurance companies, investigators, first responders such as fire, rescue, coast guard and anyone who spends time on, in, or around fresh water.

For upcoming ABYC education courses and events check the ABYC calendar.
http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/index.cfm

There seems to be one of these every year. All I have to say is hire a licensed electrician. Do it once, do it right.

Only problem is did the person before you hire a licensed electrician? I picked up my daughter yesterday from her friends house. When I got there they were on the lake wake boarding so I was watching for a little while. Then I started looking at the wiring to the boat lift and receptacles (non GFI) so I assumed it was feed from a GFI breaker. He just bought the house from a short sale (no pun intended) and was showing me around a couple of weeks ago. He wanted me to come back and find out why he had all these switches that didn't do anything. When they came back in we looked in the breaker panel and sure as $hit they were feed from a regular breaker. Thanks for the heads up on the FREE WEBINAR I just registered and will make my other electricians watch it also.

ABYC is having a follow-on seminar:

ABYC Hosts FREE WEBINAR!

Part II - Electric Shock Drowning...The Invisible Killer - Marina Electrical Safety

Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Time: 1:00PM – 2:45PM Eastern
Location: At your Desk, in your Office or in your Home!
Presenter: Chris Dolan

Free Registration Click Here: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/migokhxo2iro

Notes: Following an overwhelming response to Kevin Ritz's recent webinar, ABYC has teamed up with the Association of Marina Industries (AMI) to bring you the land based side of this tragic accident scenario. Through ABYCs second free webinar, AMI will be providing information tailored for the marina by Eaton’s Chris Dolan. Part I thoroughly addressed the aspects of the shore to boat connection; Part II is in response to many waterfront property owners and marina managers asking what can I do?

The Webinar speaker will be Chris Dolan who is an application engineer with Marina Power & Lighting and Eaton Corporation since 2000. He oversees the design and development of over 600 marina plans per year. He is a member of the editorial board for Marina Dock Age magazine, regularly speaks at the University of Wisconsin's Docks and Marinas Conference, and wrote the utilities portion of the newest American Society of Civil Engineers marina design manual.

Please visit the ABYC Education Calendar for upcoming Webinars and ABYC Education Courses! http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/index.cfm

Thanks for the update....I sent it out to all my friends/family w/docks & power.

Pete,
I believe houses are the most DYI tinkered with, just before boats; however boats may be on top. I am a non-electrician, so will ask you how much of that house/dock situation will you be allowed to 1. evaluate and 2. bring up to standards?
Will the owner really pay for the proper job, which might be a total overhaul of his house/dock, or will you be asked to simply throw a few GFI plugs around? I am making no accusations, just trying to understand and keep the subject in all of our minds.

When we get to boats, the subject gets very complicated with two systems aboard and interracting.
As I understand, much of the ESD danger comes from the accidental crossing of the 120 and 12 v systems. I can immagine that this could be caused by vibration wearing wires through, ignorance in installation of some component, etc. The "etc." is most likely a much larger area than I can immagine.
Boat shops sell lots of battery chargers: are they installed properly? It is 12v so not really critical, I can do it, or is it very critical and should have expert attention?
Shore power cords come in with ends burned. "This failed, and it is only 2 years old", is the montra. To what was it connected and how was it connected? How many shore power cords have we seen that are covered with algea, and how did that happen?

Thank You and your experience for getting involved with this problem. As boats get larger and older, we will see much more of this tragedy. Seriously, it is not recognized much of the time. One post last week was concerned with the erosion of outdrive hardware. Three days in water and was very noticeable.
Electricity in the water Should be the First thing to look for. That dock Should have been closed off until checked by qualified people.
One fatal event seemed to have been caused when a battery charger kicked on and energized a system that fed power into the water. So up till that moment, swimming was great fun, then it was NOT! Talk about Russion Roulette on an invisible scale, or Invisible Alligators, just for screaming sake.

The larger boats with generators and inverters carry their ESD DANGER around with them.
Those drownings at the stern of boats blamed on generator exhaust may have had assistance when something kicked on and electrified the party.

Thank You all for listening, I hope you all can keep this going and talk about it with your friends.

John