kill switch for diesel, one up sailing....

A stop solenoid may work in 'pos' or 'neg', ie, when you turn the key the solenoid closes and enables the engine, or it is enabled until you switch off and it closes to operate the stop lever. It should be simple to use an outboard kill switch to break the circuit to a solenoid that is working positively. Failing that Mike Fleetwood on here can make you a radio controlled engine stop.
 
fisherman said:
Failing that Mike Fleetwood on here can make you a radio controlled engine stop.
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A radio controlled engine stop would require active intervention from the distressed party - i.e. while floundering around in the water get the remote control out of a pocket and operate it, assuming it works after immersion and the boat has not chugged off out of range of the transmission. Using a YAPP crew watcher with the output connected to a stop solenoid requires no user intervention, doesn't rely on still being in transmission range nor working while wet, so fail-safe. One of the devices I made for someone was put to exactly this use - a single hander wanting the engine stopped if he went overboard.
 
Daydream believer said:
Useless & possibly dangerous
What if one were motoring into a difficult rocky entrance in a strong wind
the fender or rope catches on a large clump of weed & stops the engine.
there are enough hazards as there is without one more
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Disagree - fortunately its a free world and if you don't like then feel free not to utilise. However for me the idea has considerable merit under certain circumstances. I was not thinking about when close inshore but for longer offshore passages, the more I think about it the better I like it.
 
Oh it is is all very scary:-(The safest option is to just not go to sea). But seriously, I did a round the Mull of Kintyre single handed trip last weekend, carefully timed between weather systems, and taking account of strong tidal streams and associated overfalls. This required a 0130 departure from Gigha in the darkest conditions I can recall ( I already knew that the moon was not out to play). I donned a safety harness, and clipped on near the companionway hatch, this allowed me to just reach galley, helm, autopilot, heads.... perfect! I was under engine MD2030D (not fly by wire), so accepted that if overboard that would be the end of it. Still alive. I have sailed for 40 years and not fallen overboard yet, but always trying! Seriously, if fall overboard especially single handed, I accept this is probably the end of me:-(
Angus
 
I replaced the pull stop cable on my diesel with an actuator made from a car wiper motor so can use an outboard kill switch and normal key on-start switch.

As for stopping my boat under sail and having hydraulic steering I have a plan to have an actuator to put the helm hard over to either port of starboard depending on which tack the sails are on sensed by using tilt switches.

Best is of cause don't fall overboard.
 
Shearwater said:
.... I fully understand the wisdom associated with a power boat having a kill cord on the motor. Easy peasy for an outboard but what can us yachties do when trolling along quite happily, hour after hour, but when a horror occurs what can we do, in advance, to kill a chug chug chug diesel engine? All my controls are down below. The engine stop pull cord is abaft the cockpit wall not convenient for a direct pull from astern. If I went overboard, alone, the boat would go on for one liitre an hour for 20 plus hours. Not ideal.
Any ideas????????
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A good life jacket and a mars bar.
 
A bit of thread drift ... at about 2 knots, which is faster then you can swim with lifejacket and foulies on ...

Clipping on. Using a tether which is clipped on to a jackstay. With the way these things are normally arranged, it's likely that if you fall or slip, you will be either:
a. dangling below deck level but above water level. Unless you have superhuman strength there's no way back to the deck. Or;
b. being towed alongside the boat. Not a happy position. Again, you can't get back to the deck.

Of course, you could unclip and swim to the boarding ladder, which you can deploy from the water and which then has a rung well below water level (if there isn't such a ladder, your next job is to fit one). But see above, on drifting and swimming speeds.

Once you have fitted a boarding ladder, maybe your next job is to install jackstays in a sensible position, rather than along the outside edge of the deck as they usually are ...
 
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There was, several years ago, an article in PBO by a skipper who had rigged a towed line which not only gave him something to grab (should he find himself with an unaccustomed view of the transom) but stopped the engine, yanked the windvane over to make the boat heave-to and released lifering, etc. Mind you, the attachments had to be tacked along with the sails and there were a few more lines in the cockpit, but it was only intended for use offshore where tacking would be entered in your diary - event of the week. For a weekend outing, such systems have both pros and cons and don't forget that if you use a kll switch with lanyard attache dto your person, you can't leave the helm at all without stopping the engine. That can cause enough problems in a RIB workboat, but on a raggie you really couldn't manouvre, so again only suited for offshore use.

Rob.

Rob.
 
yotter said:
I have sailed for 40 years and not fallen overboard yet, but always trying! Seriously, if fall overboard especially single handed, I accept this is probably the end of me:-(
Angus
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Actually in the area where you sail there is a good chance that if you are clipped on & can survive for a while there is a good chance that the boat might run aground. In my opinion the most dangerous times for a SH sailor are:-

1 Leaving port, Hoisting sails& putting away fenders & mooring lines
2 Leaving the cockpit & going on deck for some reason or other
3 Lowering sails & rigging fenders & mooring lines & entering port
4 Celebrating on a successful trip by getting drunk in port--- & falling in the dock on the way back to the boat


Number 2 & 3 are the most dangerous because you might be tired & the weather has taken a turn for the worse. If you fall over on 2 then that could be bad, but falling over on 3 ,I would suggest that one should not panic but try to assess the situation & try to protect oneself from injury & conserve energy. With a bit of luck if you are heading for shore you might actually be able to walk away.
As for number 4 --Well !!!!
 
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