The sight of this guy making repairs to the stern of an ARC boat in Saint Lucia sent shivers down my spine. Using 240v power tools near the water is just so, so dangerous.

That little loop of electrical cable hanging down near the water… It would only take the wash from an unseen boat or a bit of a slip and – I can hardly bear to think about it.

It’s so long ago now that people have forgotten or never heard of Lizzie McMullen. But it is this tragic story that always makes me think of the dangers of using power tools on a boat.

She she was helping her husband Mike prepare the trimaran Three Cheers for the 1976 OSTAR and was electrocuted and died while polishing the boat. Mike McMullen started the race, as he believed she would have wanted. but was never seen again.