What put you in trouble at sea and how did you deal with it.

[Baddox]

Our tidal marina is accessed through a lock, which is where many interesting antics occur, usually to the newer skippers.

Coming into the lock one day I swung the boat towards the inner floating pontoon and as usual went to straighten up at the same time as putting the brakes on by putting the engine astern. It was at this untimely point the throttle leaver dropped off the control unit while the boat still powered towards the pontoon and waiting boats ahead.

Faster that you could say “oh bother, how inconvenient!” I picked it up and more in desperate optimism than any technical appraisal, shoved the level back onto the shaft it came from. It worked, engine went astern and the boat moored without any drama visible from the outside.

The lever fitted on a splined shaft which is why it worked without the errant locking nut which was soon found and fitted.

 

[jbweston]

My experience seems almost trivial. I was taking our boat to Guernsey on our own for the first time. Everything went swimmingly until I decided to check our position on the chart. Opened the chart and started to fold to the correct section when...whoosh the wind ripped it out of my hands and into the sea
So here we were approaching some of the most hazardous waters I ever been to. All I was left with was a Motorboats and Yachting with a cruise report on the area. Still we made it successfully but it was quite a sphincter twitching couple of hours

It isn't trivial. Very frightening for you. The sort of situation where unsympathetic people who've never been in small boats say 'What idiot would be at sea without a proper map?' (as they'd call it). Answer, the sort of person that most of us are.

It's striking that there's a narrow dividing line between the comical and the tragic. The same incident can lead to a serious problem or a laugh-about-it-in-the-pub-afterwards story.

The last time I ended up in falling in the sea it was like Coco the Clown doing his Incompetent Crew course. We were in a Swedish harbour moored next to a single-hander with a long keel. Not quire rafted up, as we were all moored by bow lines to the jetty and stern lines to buoys, but with boats each side of us. He said his boat was unruly going astern as is typical of some long keelers. He asked if I would hold a long line from his bow to control it as he went astern out of the berth. Of course.

I stood on the jetty and payed out the line as he moved out. All was going well. His boat was moving back, I was keeping the bow in line as he did so, paying out the line as he went. As the end of the line came into my hands some idiot thought inside my head made me hold onto it rather than letting it go or throwing it towards his bow. From his point of view everything was going well, so naturally he kept going astern. It never occurred to him that the idiot (me) controlling his bow would continue to grip the end of the line as it pulled me off the jetty into the harbour. I popped up above the surface a few seconds later without my glasses and feeling very stupid.

No lifejacket (of course!) - as we were in harbour - there's a lesson there too. It wouldn't have been so funny if I'd hit my head on the jetty as I'd gone in.

 

[DavidJ]

Not quite on par with the scary sea tales above but…….
I “helped” a mate taking his new canal boat from the River Severn into the canal system at Tewkesbury
So just going into the first lock I put out the new fenders that I had recommended and my mate skillfully entered the lock only to jam it tight against the sides. No matter how much reverse we pilled on it was well and truely stuck.
Along came the lock keeper completely unfazed and said he would “flush” us out. So opening up the lockgate we were “flushed” backwards on the tidal wave.
I thanked the lock keeper and mentioned that his lock was a bit narrow and he replied “They are all like that sir”
Just goes to show not all “skills” are transferable

 

[oldgit]

There is one marina I avoid buying diesel as they have a history of issues and they are consistently expensive.
But really there are not too many other choices so there is always a possibility of requiring fuel from any one of the few available sources.

Probably the best source supplies a fishing fleet and the next best source supplies commercial vessels so their turnover of fuel is reassuringly rapid.
I tend to delay fuelling at some sources until as late as possible in the spring . These are the marinas that probably sell little fuel over the winter.

Fortunately RCC has its own 20,000 litre fuel tank, know the fuel officer personally.We also dose with a fuel treatment.
Rarely fill away from home and do try to only top up at places such as Ramsgate/ Dover or Brighton with a known high turnover due to commercial customers.

The incident which caused the loss of one engine involved the opening and cleaning out of the boats main fuel tank, not just all the filters .
Once bitten.

 

[Farmer Piles]

I may have posted this before but.....
I have KAMD 44 Volvo in my boat and and the Diagnostic light was flashing a sequence - I misread it as being the throttle needed recalibrating. I downloaded the instructions from Volvo and went through the procedure - press button, then throttle all the way forward and press button and so forth - and felt very pleased with myself.
Next time of using the boat was to actually have her lifted out, my wife and a mate onboard. He dropped the mooring and I gave her a kick astern but it felt like she nudged forward. Can't have done. Another kick astern and she did go forward and wrapped the pick-up buoy around the prop. We secured the stern to the mooring and I stripped to my boxers and jumped in. Luckily it was only gently wrapped around and no harm done. But a lesson learned.
I motored carefully around to the slip with the lever forward for astern and backwards for forward.
It took another four attempts of diligently following the instructions before it reset properly.

 

[DrSpock]

Check your Volvo main harness to the ECU - corrosion can trigger this a lot.

 

[Farmer Piles]

Thanks for that. She is now in my grain shed so I will pop up and check her over tomorrow.

 

[Ed Weiss]

My experience seems almost trivial. I was taking our boat to Guernsey on our own for the first time. Everything went swimmingly until I decided to check our position on the chart. Opened the chart and started to fold to the correct section when...whoosh the wind ripped it out of my hands and into the sea
So here we were approaching some of the most hazardous waters I ever been to. All I was left with was a Motorboats and Yachting with a cruise report on the area. Still we made it successfully but it was quite a sphincter twitching couple of hours

I'm wondering is "Sphincter twitcher" is a suitable boat name?

 

[dpb]

Out in Poole Bay overheat alarm went off, cut engine and saw that the auto bilge pump was activated.
Lifted engine hatch to see water was a foot deep in the bilge.
Lifejackets put on for me and the dog.
Straight on the radio with Mayday.
Mudeford lifeboat tasked with coming out to me.
Two boats on hearing mayday came over and stood by.
Then noticed that bilge pump had stopped.
Raised engine hatch again to find bilge empty.
Reached for radio to cancel mayday but they were already only few hundred meters away already.
Found caused was jubilee clip had broken allowing cooling hose to come away from fuel cooler.
With engine on water pumped into boat faster than bilge pump could expel it but engine off no ingress at all.
Explained situation to Lifeboat crew apologising profusely.
Worked out that I could fix by using clip from a toilet hose.
This worked and the Lifeboat crew accompanied me for a mile or two to make sure all ok, which it was.
They were fine about the call and the way I had gong about things though this did little to reduce my own embarrassment.

 

[Rum Run]

This is the saga of a man who'd earned the money to indulge himself a bit and fancied sea fishing from his own boat. Not me I might add, but an old employer. He didn't know much about boats either.
He bought an all-mod-cons fast boat on a big trailer. The vessel had an unsinkable cathedral hull, single inboard and leg, small cabin with radio, fish finder and chart plotter (some kind of rich-man's magic in those days of the last millennium). He had the boat fully serviced by the dealer, loaded up his mates (not me, I was just an employee), some beers, lots of expensive tackle and set off for Dover to launch on a day trip.
The launching, just after high water went well, and off they roared into the Channel chop. A few miles out, someone mentioned that the boat was slowing down and wallowing a bit. Looking into the engine bay showed that it was filling with water! Alarmed, they put the boat back towards the beach before it could sink under them.
They put the boat back onto the beach, but now the tide was lower, such that the shingle bank was steep, and breaking waves were sweeping over the stern and into the cabin. After much shouting and panic they were able to drag the bedraggled vessel onto it's trailer using a power winch and swearing.
Being a successful business man, the old boss set about the important tasks of apportioning blame and making a claim. It transpired that the "full service" did not include tightening certain hose clips, so pumping cooling seawater into the boat. No one on the boat had the wit to investigate at the time before the destructive beaching, but his claim was successful and the expensive boat was fixed again, and proudly sat on it's trailer in front of his house in the countryside.
That winter, a tree fell on it and drove the trailer chocks through the hull.
The End

 

[jrudge]

I used to have a light aircraft with 2 others. After maintainence I would spend about 45 mins on the pre flight ( typical normal pre flight maybe 10 min max ). I told my co owners to do the same. One time after it has landed when they collected it I found 2 loose panels and a loose exhaust. Mechanics playing with things make mistakes and very few have anyone else to check their work.