Son of What Now Skip (WNS) November

[timbartlett]

Well folks, here it is -- November's What Now.

You left Plymouth this morning, on board a 40 ft flybridge cruiser, intending to refuel at Brest before heading on "round the corner" into southern Brittany tomorrow.

The passage is going well: the sea is smooth, the engines haven't missed a beat, and for the past three hours, the chart plotter has been showing steady progress.

But suddenly, there is a dull but ominous thud, and the starboard engine slows and stalls. The port engine seems to be OK, but within seconds, a glance over the back of the boat has revealed the problem: a mass of thick polypropylene fishing net trailing astern.

You're about thirty miles from the nearest port, with a strengthening west-bound tide, and the fuel gauges showing rather less than 50% fuel remaining

What now, skip?

All the usual rules apply -- most particularly that although I would like to reproduce every one of your words of wisdom in MBY, I can't do so , so I may have to edit them (sometimes quite brutally) to fit the space required. But I will always try to preserve the sense of what has been suggested.

I'm sure some of you must be thinking "I could do better than that". If so, then please, be my guest! But if you want it to appear in MBY, then please run the idea by me first. Contact me by private message in the first instance.

 

[Wiggo]

Go astern to see if you can clear the net, and try to snag it with a boat hook and free some of it that way as well. Assuming you have insufficient crew and/or equipment and expertise to dive to clear it, shut down the starboard engine, set the fuel cocks to allow the port engine to draw from both tanks and head for the nearest port on one engine.

If you logged a passage plan with the CG, call in to advise the situation, and if the weather deteriorates, consider calling the CG or even a Pan Pan in case someone nearby has a diver.

Having just completed a 35 mile run on one engine, I can confidently say it will take about 5-6 hours, as at any more than 5-6 knots you start to get problems steering (well, we did). In 6 hours, the tide will have turned, so you can pretty much ignore that west-bound set: by the time you arrive at a save haven, the tide will be running easterly, or be slack.

I'm getting to be quite the expert as single engine manouevring...

 

[hlb]

Same as wiggo, except, if you drop the trm tab on the engine that is running, you get the steering back, so 8/9 knots ok.

Tip. Put the tab back up before attemping to slow, or manuver, else all hell will break loose.

 

[Wiggo]

Same as wiggo, except, if you drop the trim tab on the engine that is running, you get the steering back, so 8/9 knots ok.

Tip. Put the tab back up before attempting to slow, or manoeuver, else all hell will break loose.

YMMV. Tried that and it made bugger all difference on our boat.

 

[ash12]

restart starboard engine and try to hook the net with the boat hook so that it is far away as possible from the port prop and stay in neutral on the port engine. when that is done try to alternate between astern and forward on the starboard. If the freeing is unsuccesful cut away as much as possible so it is not in as much danger of going into the port prop which is your only hope of getting to safety, so basically damage limitation. Diving is probably a bad idea as any swell will bring the boat down on your head and could render you out of the action aswell, which wont help, again damage limitation.

 

[gjgm]

Any 40 flybridges not on shafts? If on o/drives, you could of course lift the drive, attach the serated breadknife to a pole, and see if you can cut the net off.
If you arent lucky, I would guess you will have plenty of fuel at 6 knots to do the 30 miles, but its probably worth checking the streams so you know what sort of progress you are going to make. You'd better hope the power steering is on the working engine- although if not, can you run the obstructed one in neutral anyway?
May as well inform CG.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I think most of what needs saying has been said but I'd add a couple of things. Firstly a sudden fouling of the s/b prop could have damaged the P bracket and sterngland so have a good look around inside the bilges for any leaks. An increase in water dripping through the sterngland would certainly merit a call to the CG and as you're 3 hrs out of Plymouth, this would likely be picked up by the French CG. If the leak gets worse, then definitely consider a Pan Pan.
Secondly, there aren't many all tides ports in Brittany so you need to check that your chosen port of refuge has access at your ETA and if not, whether it has a safe anchorage nearby sheltered from any forecast wind where you can sit it out and wait. Obviously, you will also need to take account of the strengthening west going tide as punching a 3kt tide at 6kts to reach the nearest port of refuge might be less sensible than heading for a port further away

 

[Nick_H]

We had exactly this happen en route from St PP to St Quay Portrieux. I agree with Mike, check for damage first. If you're taking on any significant water then the situation becomes a lot more serious, and a call to the CG is in order. There was no damage on our boat. We had diving gear on board but there was no way I was going under the boat in open water, that could all too easily turn an inconvenience into a tragedy with a blow to the head. You have plenty of fuel, so if you can't clear the net with the techniques above, then just head to the nearest sensible port on one engine, taking account of tides/access. We headed for a nice sheltered bay on S coast of Jersey, cleared the net with diving gear, then went on our way again.

 

[timbartlett]

Any 40 flybridges not on shafts?

Good point. I had assumed shafts, but omitted to say so. Sorry.