Thank my lucky stars

[Twister_Ken]

Leaving a marina berth yesterday, going out astern, all lines let go but one crew still on pontoon ready to step aboard, when the engine stopped. Asked the person ashore to keep hold of the boat and pull us back in - easy. 30 seconds later and we'd have been adrift between a bunch of fairly expensive kit, with no motive power. As it was no harm done, except to wallet.

Cause - exhaust elbow had sprung a leak, filled the engine space with exhaust smoke and I think the engine died through asphyxiation.

Lesson, look in engine space before letting go lines.

PS - water was sputtering out of exhaust outlet, as normal.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Glad you got away with it, but I guess it spoiled a day sailing.

Worse things happen at sea - exhaust fumes in confined spaces are not healthy to the average human being.

 

[Magic_Sailor]

Funnily enough my SWMBO reported some exhaust smell in our cabin this weekend - so I'll shck this out.

Errrr....how do you check the elbow - mines about 6 years old?

cheers

Magic

 

[Slow_boat]

Going out astern? In a twister?

How do you do it?

 

[lw395]

You are lucky it was the negine that died! A scary reminded about carbon monoxide. I think diesel engines have a higher tolerance to it than we do. I guess the engine space does not breathe that freely into the cabin in many boats.
I have had a flexible exhaust hose chafe through, we noticed that due to water first of all. It was on a long cross channel and one crew was seasick. I was advising him to go below, because I thought he was getting cold, perhpas it was lucky he stuck it out on deck?
What colour does carbon mon turn you? How does that mix with the green of seasick?
Time for some mid-season check-overs methinks!

Take care everybody.

 

[Twister_Ken]

"Going out astern? In a twister?

How do you do it?"

There are some techniques that have monetary value. If you think I'm giving them away for free here...

 

[Paul_G]

[ QUOTE ]
What colour does carbon mon turn you? How does that mix with the green of seasick?
.

[/ QUOTE ]

Carbon Monoxide poisoning turns you bright red. It stops the red blood cells carrying oxygen around the body.

Dont know how that mixes with green though

 

[Twister_Ken]

"Errrr....how do you check the elbow "

Visually, I'd suggest. Look for pits, splits, deep surface corrosion. Maybe tap lightly with a hammer and see if it dissolves in a cloud of rust.

In our case there was no obvious smell of exhaust before it happened, so guessing it was a sudden split that appeared.

 

[Oldhand]

Another good example for not following the current trend of all crew being onboard before departure, which I presume is taught by sailing schools?

 

[Twister_Ken]

"Another good example for not following the current trend of all crew being onboard before departure, which I presume is taught by sailing schools?"

Yes indeed - in fact we'd just watched a school boat depart with three guys slipping lines (there was a breast line as well), one steering, and one wandering about with a spare fender. Made me wonder how they'd cope when they find themselves on their own boat with just the missus for company.

OTOH my little Twister is pretty much at step on height. Some modern boats you'd need crampons to get aboard once they're moving off.

 

[davidfox]

I bought a B&Q carbon monoxide detector a couple of years ago for a few quid looks much like a smoke detector, I keep in about chart table height and check that the flashing light which says its working is operating whenever we are down on board.

 

[fireball]

[ QUOTE ]
Another good example for not following the current trend of all crew being onboard before departure, which I presume is taught by sailing schools?

[/ QUOTE ]
How do you make that out? What are the chances of the engine failing between starting the engine and all the crew getting aboard as you've left the pontoon? It's just as likely that the last person could be onboard and you're in the fairway when it goes tits up ...

TK - how long did you run your engine for before it died? I've run the engine on the pontoon just after launch and maint - we wanted to check it was ok - after 20 minutes it died ... just as well we didn't just launch and go!!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Running for 10+ minutes, I guess.

 

[ChrisE]

Oh sorry, that's tosh. What's the point of making a leap onto a moving boat when you can double up the lines and not have to bother?

At the weekend, it wouldn't have mattered two wossits, it was flat calm. When it's blowing some, leaping onto a moving boat is downright dangerous (and mine isn't a modern design with high sides)

 

[Twister_Ken]

With a Twister, and yer average marina pontoon, snot a leap it's a gentle step across. And she doesn't exactly come off the pontoon like an F1 car leaving the starting grid.

 

[ChrisE]

Put a bigger engine in then....

 

[James_Calvert]

[ QUOTE ]
... when you can double up the lines and not have to bother ...

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot less bother just to cast off and step on board amidships I think. Especially if you are two handed. And it's easier from the pontoon to give the bow a tug or a nudge to counter the initial prop walk, if you're reversing out of a finger berth.

However circs differ eg I'd want all on board if I was springing off into a crosswind.

 

[fireball]

[ QUOTE ]
However circs differ

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly - not one method is always right ...

 

[ChrisE]

I have to admit to being deliberately provocative on this, 'cos I can..

But there was a serious point, and it is to do with size of craft, one smaller (say <30') then jumping and nudging work well, I use this on my 23', 1.5 ton, fishing boat.

However, on the 38' and 10 ton of my Rival this sort thing only works in calm conditions, one just isn't strong ehough to counter the forces imposed by even a slight wind. Hence doubling up....

 

[jb2008]

[ QUOTE ]
However circs differ eg I'd want all on board if I was springing off into a crosswind.

[/ QUOTE ]
Presumably you'd have wanted all on board if the one not on board hadn't managed to hold on as well...