Dealing With The Half Crisis

[hlb]

Julies post about mayday got me thinking about the time I did send a mayday out, but also times when I needed help, but not in any great danger.

See the trouble with the coast guards, is they get bored. So any calls about anything other than radio checks get them in super efficient, all bells blowing mode. So you have to be very careful how you word your half crisis call.

Actually sending out the prescribed mayday call could end up with serious repercussions, if the result became the arrival of a helicopter at your marina berth.

Let me describe what I mean.

Once when going to Holyhead from the IOM after a sinking do in Ireland. The GPS was knocked out. But I figured that if I kept IOM behind me on the radar, then Anglesey should eventually appear in front. Well it didn't, IOM disapeared but nowt turned up. Wasn't over bothered about this, but thought I'd call the coast guards, more to hear a friendly voice than anything else. But no one answered, this went on for quite a while. Eventualy panic sets in. You start wondering all sorts of things. Like have I missed Wales completly and am now on my way to America!!

Eventually the radio crackles into life and Holyhead coast guards reply. They start telling me to count from one to ten and all sorts of stuff, so they can find my position. But by this time I've found Anglsey and they still had not found me. So then it was about light house flashes, but there light house did not flash in time to mine. Next it was, could I see a ship in front with a blue funnel. I said, yes but mines got a red one.

Next a yacht comes on and says he'll show me the way if I slow down. Course, by this time I can see holyhead harbour, so I tells him to bugger off. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'll think of another one later. But it's really really hard when things are just a little bit wrong.

 

[hlb]

Another silly half crisis was in Falmouth town marina.

We woke up about 6am to the sound of running water. Looking in the engine bay, theres a small waterfall coming from the forward bilge. I turned off all the sea cocks, but have no idea if I've stopped the leak or not. Course now is the time that the auto bilge pump has decided to break.. So gets the long wander hose from the manual one. Unbelievably that one breaks.

So WNS. I've no idea if we are still sinking or not and dont want to wait till stuff starts getting damaged. Every ones asleep.

I rang the HM but the office was closed. So thinking that he might have an emergency number. I reluctantly called the coast guards. Now trying to explain that your sinking, but it's not that serious really, cos in the marina is.................. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[jfm]

That happened to me. I was in an outboard boat, with my old Mercury tower of power, off southern Ireland. Cooling pump impeller broke, engine overheated. I was 1/3mile offshore, anchored safely, waiting for engine to cool, then would do that last 1/3 mile. I knew the area well. Knew I'd be 2 hrs late and had guests/kids on board. This was before mobile phones. So I VHF-ed coastguard and toldim the status, but said don't worry everything is fine. Next thing the frigging lifeboat, some 40footer, turns up. Like you, I toldim to sod off.

 

[hlb]

With the lack of replies, I thort it just me that got half crisises. Like you've found, just a small litte thing can blow up to be a full scale emergency with the CG.

Once read an artical in the bed side book of laughter, readers digest.

That was about a family with a fire in the chimney. They reluctantly rang the fire brigade, but then rang again to tell them not to bother. Long time since I read it.

But the end result was, they got three fire engines and dozens of fire men in the house. Spraying water all over the place.

 

[misterg]

[ QUOTE ]
That was about a family with a fire in the chimney. They reluctantly rang the fire brigade, but then rang again to tell them not to bother. Long time since I read it.

But the end result was, they got three fire engines and dozens of fire men in the house. Spraying water all over the place.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fred Drift:

A bloke I used to work with was a part-time fireman. He had a number of disasters (blew himself up lighting a furnace, after his first match went out and he went looking for another without turning the gas off, etc.) but his crowning glory was as a fireman. He was on a crew called out to a chimney fire, and volunteered to go up the roof with a hose so they could pump water down the chimney.

He didn't fall off, but he did manage to get the hose down the wrong chimney, and emptied a few hundred gallons of water into the living room of the house next door where the occupants were sat watching telly /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

(sorry)

Andy

 

[hlb]

Well you see the problem of dealing with the half crisis.

Dealing with a full one is easy.

Dealing with things that have just gone half wrong, arnt so simple..

The thing is dealing with the half crisis, is a dam sight more difficult to deal with than the real one

 

[thefatlady]

Too many years ago, on passage from Dartmouth to Southampton in a Sealine 255, about 5 miles west of Portland Bill, one engine stopped. I opened the engine hatch to clouds of steam and smoke. When it cleared and I could get down there, I found that an elbow in the calorifier circuit had blown, due to a manufacturing fault, and emptied the fresh water cooling system. I by-passed the calorifier circuit, refilled the cooling system and re-started the engine. So far so good.

However, the outdrive exhaust bellows had a hole blown in it by the hot exhaust and she was taking in water. What’s more, the hot seawater from the exhaust (and exhaust gas) was being pumped into the bilge. The bilge pump was working OK and we managed to get round Portland Bill. We pressed on to St Alban’s Head on one engine, but to get round the head, we started the other engine.

By the time we got round the Head, the bilge pump had decided it didn’t like hot water and gave up. We were well down at the stern and worndering what to do – do we call the Coastguard or press on?

It was Saturday afternoon and if we left the boat on a marina it would sink. I was dry-berthing at Woolston and decided the only place to get a lift-out was back at the dry berth.

SWMBO took the helm and went on on one engine while I baled out the bilge. Then I re-started the engine and we went flat out until the water in the bilge just reached the bottom of the drive belts. The water was boiling round the exhaust pipe. Then we proceeded on one engine while I baled again. We kept doing that until we reached Woolston.

I had quite nasty angina at the time and I calculated that I had shifted 3 or 4 tons of water. I was knackered. The yachties we passed gave us some strange looks when they then passed us and water was being thrown overboard, then we passed them again!

At Woolston, the staff didn’t believe my shout of “We’re sinking!” until I threw some water over the side, then they got us out fast.

The engine room was a mess. Everything was soaked and covered in oily soot. I spent the next day amongst the engines in my underwear with a paraffin compressor gun cleaning it down. The whole length of the boat bilges was contaminated.

Still, we lived to fight another day and didn’t call the Coastguard.