What would you have done? Incident in the Solent yesterday.

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z1ppy

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I am not convinced this is the right move posting here but if someone else gains from our experience then it has to be worth my personal embarrassment. (sorry for the long post)

We had an impromptu weekend away with the boat this weekend. Planned to go out for lunch and ended up staying with friends and coming back the following day.

So the forecast for Sunday was not great, we got up early to a beautiful sun rise hoping to get back before the weather came in. Called the lock, no answer, phoned the duty mobile. no answer. then called again, "oh sorry sir, we dont man the marina 24 hours, first lock out will be 8.00 today)

This put us back a bit but locking out at 8.00 with very dark grey skies we set off. down to end of the river past Cowes and opened up onto the plane heading on our usual path. Wind was south westerly and 4 / 5, (we were heading for Hythe) we with little traffic, we headed across towards Calshot at a leisurely 28 kts on a route we have done hundreds of times before. Just as we were crossing the main shipping lane i felt the engine surge and splutter, immediately i could feel something was very wrong and we were down on power.

I turned 90 degrees to the shipping lane with a view to getting as far out of it as possible before the situation got worse. By the time we were roughly 200 meters west of Calshot Spit bouy we had no forward drive although the engine was still running and the alarms had not started yet. (around 30 seconds after the first sign of problem)

With the south westerly blowing, this was pretty much the bumpiest part of the Solent at the time and we were drifting fast... my first mistake, ( i hear you shouting) was considering the wind conditions, i should have attempted to head east at the first sign of trouble so to get us out of the channel and when drifting, pushing us away from the channel. Looking back now i can see thats the case but at the time, i didnt think that logically.

At that point, we were not in immediate danger, there was little in the way of leisure traffic and at that time, no commercial traffic in sight.

I called Sea Start immediately who were excellent as usual and advised that their engineer was just getting to the boat (based in Hamble) and would be dispatched immediately, i gave visual reference position at the time and offered lat and long but they were happy they would be able to find us without.

By this time i had chance to review the situation. Engine "check engine" alarm was now sounding and despite a "reboot" something was clearly not right. i tried to keep the engine in gear to give us some headway and steerage but the vibration at tickover was significant and i didn't want to cause more damage.

We were now around 5 minutes from the first sign of trouble and it was clear that within another 5 minutes we would be drifting into the shipping lane. (still no sight of commercial traffic). at this time, i felt it prudent to call Solent Coastguard on the VHF and advise them of our position and situation and whilst not requesting additional assistance at this time, situations can of course escalate very quickly.

SCG responded immediately in a professional and assured way. no reputation of questions, no asking seemingly irrelevant questions. i informed type of vessel, persons on board, current position and current drift rate, nature of problem and actions already taken. They confirmed they had Eyes on us through NCW and that they had informed VTS of our position and situation, they also confirmed they had Seastart on AIS and could see it was en route to us. they confirmed they would keep a watch on us until the situation had resolved and if we needed any further assistance to request immediately. I told them i would remain in contact with them until such time the situation was under control.

Now around 15 minutes after the first sign of trouble we were pretty much middle of the shipping lane, we could see a large gas carrier coming west past Hamble and Redjet coming North from Cowes, again, SCG confirmed that they had notified all parties and it immediately became apparent that the Gas carrier was able to turn and pass us to the west (upwind) whilst Redjet slowed considerably and passed us to the west (downwind).

We could see Sea Start in the distance and with the weather closing fast (by this time we were in heavy rain and vis down to around 2 miles (as a guess based on not being able to see the island at this time) it was a very welcome sight,

Quick tow rigged and we started making around 7 kts out of the main shipping lane.

Now at this point i need to disclose a few things.

We are a 8 meter rib with single outboard. The engine is serviced regularly by a highly reputable mechanic. i am not mechanically gifted but i do not, for one second place any blame on the engine maintenance programme.

We were two persons on board. Both with life jackets on.

We carry a Coastal flare pack on board as well as a laser flare.

Boat has a fixed VHF with plotter. We also had 2 x portable VHF and a handheld plotter.

Usually all our wet weather gear is in a dry bag on the boat. As we were only planning to be out for a few hours, we had didnt take it. (major mistake)

Throughout the entire incident the engine continued to run in idle but would not provide any drive. VHF Comms were via the fixed VHF set with aerial mounted on the A frame.

Sea start continued the tow up to Hythe at 7 Kts, took us through the lock and put us on our berth.

Speaking with the Seastart engineer as we rigged the alongside tow he was most apologetic that he had not been to us any faster, and that considering the conditions he felt he was unable to transfer SWMBO onto his boat and into the dry cabin. Something i entirely agree with and although by the time we got to Hythe, we were soaked to the skin, it was still the right decision.

When back on berth we dumped the boat and jumped in the car, fortunately we live 5 miles from the boat so we could get home to warm up. I returned to the boat to tidy up later that afternoon. engine started and provided drive in gear but with significant vibration at in gear throttle position. There is no damage to outboard leg, prop / skeg. Engineer is looking on Tuesday, we have out suspicions but until he has seen it and plugged the laptop in, we are in the dark as to what caused this...

So... what would you have done?

i appreciate i am leaving myself wide open for criticism here but as i say, if others learn something from the experience (as i have) then its worth it.
 
The only thing I would have done differently is drop the anchor to prevent the drift into the main channel. It would have also pitched the boat so the bows were into the weather so maybe more comfortable.
That said you confirmed there was no immediate traffic and SeaStart were on route with a short eta do no big issue.

I don't think you have anything to be embarrassed about.

I don't think I would have considered the wind direction either if I'm honest . Now you've mentioned it I might in any future sutuation so thanks for that.
 
It all sounds as if it was well handled, nothing to be embarrassed about there.
The depth in that area quickly drops off to 15 or 20 metres, so anchoring might not have been easy.

The thing I'd consider for the future might be to fit a small auxiliary engine (maybe 6hp or so) if it's possible to do so.

.
 
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Sounds like it was all handled fine to me, maybe drop the anchor to stop the drift, but im not familiar with the area,so dont know if its too deep to do that. Apart from that it seems like it went as smoothly as it could have done. Go boating often enough and engine issues are inevitable,so just get it all fixed and get back out.
 
I have to second all of the above comments. A trying experience handled well. The only thing I would add is maybe storing a couple of those plastic waterproof ponchos onboard for emergency use. They don't take up much space and would have helped with the wind and rain.
 
You don't have much luck H. Hope Mrs Z1ppy isn't too un-nerved by it.

Two obsvervations. I would have called SCG to tell them what was happening before Sea Start. Or asked crew to call Sea Start in parallel to skipper calling SCG.

Second, not having the oilskins on board, you wally!
 
I did think about the anchor and but my thought process for not deploying was,

By the time we had called sea start and notified CG of our situation we were into the shipping lane. At a rate of drift around 2 kts as it was, i figured considering little traffic, we were better drifting and as it happened, we were drifting at around 75 degrees to the channel (rather than long its length)

In all honestly (and something i will address) i think the water would have been too deep for us to anchor effectively at that time. I cant recall noting the depth but we have 10 meters of chain and 20 meters of warp on board. (although we could have extended this with other lines if the need arose.
 
mlines said:
I would have dropped the anchor even if it was too deep on the belief that the swinging weight would have provided at least some drag to keep the bow into the weather, is this belief correct?
Click to expand...

interesting, i hadnt considered that, as it was, we were reasonably comfortable stern to the swell and whilst not ideal, the boat has a outboard well so the water remains outside at all times. had the conditions been worse that would have been a significant factor although of course are are lucky we have a giant inflatable ring!

Siochair said:
I have to second all of the above comments. A trying experience handled well. The only thing I would add is maybe storing a couple of those plastic waterproof ponchos onboard for emergency use. They don't take up much space and would have helped with the wind and rain.
Click to expand...

Very good idea, i will get some and put them in the grab bag! thank you.,

burgundyben said:
You don't have much luck H. Hope Mrs Z1ppy isn't too un-nerved by it.

Two obsvervations. I would have called SCG to tell them what was happening before Sea Start. Or asked crew to call Sea Start in parallel to skipper calling SCG.

Second, not having the oilskins on board, you wally!
Click to expand...


Mrs Z1ppy was remarkable! she was extremely calm and composed throughout. as we got back to the marina she was clearly very cold but nothing a warm shower and mug of tea wouldnt sort. had we been in mid winter it would have been different but of course we would have had out offshores on!

And yes, i am kicking myself for not having our wet weather gear on board. we have so much storage on that boat there is simply no reason not to!! Plan for the worst and hope for the best and all that.



Would just also like to thank the guys on the yacht that stopped to offer assistance. I believe it was a Hallberg Rassy 34 (ish) who took the time to circle us to ask if we were ok and offer assistance. i didnt get chance to see the name as i was on the VHF at the time but your offer was very gratefully received and although we did not take you up as assistance was on the horizon, its was a very kind offer.
 
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You did well and all are safe - this is good!

Couple of "learning from" ideas......

When I snapped a drive shaft on a single engined boat not more than a few hundred yards from where you were (but about 10 years ago) , I wasn't in the shipping lane. I never run in it and cross at near 90 degrees even now. Why ever run in it when there is so much water outside it? That is one less stress when the fan gets grubby.

Despite the good response you got from from solent cg (which seems to be 50:50 at the moment) that isn't who I called - I went straight to VTS on 11. No need for a middleman here, the ships need to know where you are and VTS know where they are.

Finally stash some TPAs, they are cheap and way better than nothing if you forget your oilies again.
 
Good Points Mark,

I did call VTS before CG for the same thinking as you but was unable to get a reply. Although our aerial is mounted on the a frame it is still not more than 2 meters above the water line and suspect this is one reason why.

I specifically requested SCG to notify VTS during my initial broadcast to them and they confirmed they had done same as a matter of course.

I cant fault the response from CG. calm, assured and direct. No hesitation. the lady responding was first rate in my book for which i am very grateful.
 
Just chalk it up to experience, no need for embarrassment, not your fault that the engine started playing up when it did. Maybe the anchor could have been deployed, but that's all I may have done differently.
 
Only read the first few replies and find I'm just echoing everyone else :)

Handled pretty well, nothing to be embarrassed about, but I would certainly have been looking to anchor if I'd lost my only means of propulsion and was currently in a safe place (over the Calshot shallows) but drifting towards danger (the shipping channel). I'm a bit puzzled by the mention of depth; surely if you were to the west of the Spit light-float you were over the shallows?

If I hadn't anchored and was drifting through the channel I'd also have contacted VTS as well as the Coastguard - or possibly even instead of if SeaStart were on the way and there wasn't really much that the CG could do. I do also monitor ch12 in Southampton Water and the central Solent, which gives a heads-up as to what traffic is around, especially in murk like yesterday morning where you can't see them coming from miles away.

But overall, a minor problem well dealt with and no harm done :encouragement:

Pete
 
Most of us have been there,easier also to understand perhaps now why many of us "thing" about having some sort of backup propulsion system available,be it the second engine or back up outboard.
 
z1ppy, I agree that your actions were certainly sensible and prudent. Knowing that Seastart would take a while to get to me, I think my first thought would have been to put out a Pan Pan on ch16 before calling Seastart in the hope that another vessel in the vicinity could have picked up the message and towed me out of danger sooner. The Pan Pan would certainly have alerted Solent CG and VTS as well to your predicament without having to call them directly
 
prv said:
Would have alerted the CG, but do VTS routinely listen on 16?

(Genuine question; I thought they didn't but now I'm not sure.)

Pete
Click to expand...

From VTS website.

"VHF R/T
The Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Centre, Southampton, call sign SOUTHAMPTON VTS, guards channels 9, 12, 14, 16, 20 and monitors channels 71 and 74"
 
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