Whilst walking in the marina I saw these 2 horrors

[xyachtdave]

Maybe a little voice in someone's head says "Sometimes a big burst of power will get you out of trouble"?

More throttle is often applied in these situations rather than less so that's a possibility.

I once saw someone hit a fortunately well padded dock in a fortunately inflatable RIB at speed that could probably do that sort of damage if it had been fibreglass and unfendered steel: turned out the gear linkage was not connected properly so remained in forward when the helm tried reverse. What do you do when going too fast ahead? You give it a blast of reverse. If gearbox is stuck then you actually go faster. What if your automatic reaction? More reverse!

Exactly that situation prompted my query! I've been on a boat with a fancy prop that was adjustable and feathered etc but it only gave forward propulsion coming into Eastbourne lock when some astern would have been useful to stop the boat. Had to get it lifted to resolve.

I might guess: a learner learning.

If that's the case one would assume the learner learning had an instructor nearby and within reach of the throttle? I wonder if one of the crew stood on the throttle or similar at the wrong moment.

 

[DangerousPirate]

More throttle is often applied in these situations rather than less so that's a possibility.


Exactly that situation prompted my query! I've been on a boat with a fancy prop that was adjustable and feathered etc but it only gave forward propulsion coming into Eastbourne lock when some astern would have been useful to stop the boat. Had to get it lifted to resolve.


If that's the case one would assume the learner learning had an instructor nearby and within reach of the throttle? I wonder if one of the crew stood on the throttle or similar at the wrong moment.

I was joking. But ifvyou want to be serious: not every instructor can react quick enough. Maybe the learner got nervous close to the pontoon and just accidentally put it for a short burst forward instead of back.

 

[KevinV]

Exactly that situation prompted my query! I've been on a boat with a fancy prop that was adjustable and feathered etc but it only gave forward propulsion coming into Eastbourne lock when some astern would have been useful to stop the boat. Had to get it lifted to resolve.

Ditto, I've been on a boat where the two-blade folding prop (no idea which make) was distinctinctly underwhelming in reverse - meaning big dollops of throttle required in reverse, a featherlight touch in ahead. Very easy for a beginner to go in too hot, and/or get confused between the two when stressed.

 

[Stemar]

Very easy for a beginner to go in too hot, and/or get confused between the two when stressed.

Especially if, as on a friend's boat, the throttle is fitted across the boat, so it isn't obvious which is which.

 

[xyachtdave]

Especially if, as on a friend's boat, the throttle is fitted across the boat, so it isn't obvious which is which.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster!

Reminded me of when a mate bought an old grot box thinking he'd got himself a 36ft boat bargain for about 9 grand. This had a crazy system I've never seen before or since. Looked like a standard morse lever but you could only push it forwards to rev the engine, you had to engage forward and reverse with another lever that was really clunky and not intuitive as to what gear or not you'd selected.

The process of getting from forwards to astern took about 30 seconds, hopeless for marina parking, especially as you were never 100% sure which way the boat would go when you throttled it up again.

He asked me to get it in and out of a lock and into a berth in a local marina, I had a play with it outside in the river and had so little faith in it I used the mooring warps to stop the boat instead.

 

[Sea Change]

That sounds like a recipe for disaster!

Reminded me of when a mate bought an old grot box thinking he'd got himself a 36ft boat bargain for about 9 grand. This had a crazy system I've never seen before or since. Looked like a standard morse lever but you could only push it forwards to rev the engine, you had to engage forward and reverse with another lever that was really clunky and not intuitive as to what gear or not you'd selected.

The process of getting from forwards to astern took about 30 seconds, hopeless for marina parking, especially as you were never 100% sure which way the boat would go when you throttled it up again.

He asked me to get it in and out of a lock and into a berth in a local marina, I had a play with it outside in the river and had so little faith in it I used the mooring warps to stop the boat instead.

Dual lever isn't that uncommon, I've seen it on fishing boats and work boats. It's a great way to destroy your drive plate by switching gears at high revs

 

[Stemar]

The mate's boat was, at least, labelled, but yes, it was easy to get it wrong when things are getting interesting, so it really mattered that you didn't.

My Snapdragon had dual levers when I bought her. They were horrible to operate and fitted too far forward to be easily reached from the tiller, and I was glad when they failed, allowing me to fit a single lever control in a more sensible place.

 

[capnsensible]

Dual lever isn't that uncommon, I've seen it on fishing boats and work boats. It's a great way to destroy your drive plate by switching gears at high revs

Used this a lot on older Trader motorboats. With not a lot of practice, it's reasonably straightforward.

More of a challenge was the bucket arrangement on Naval Whalers. Lots of handle winding to get from ahead to astern.

 

[Supertramp]

Dual lever isn't that uncommon, I've seen it on fishing boats and work boats. It's a great way to destroy your drive plate by switching gears at high revs

I have one of those. To protect the drive plates it will only allow the gear selector to operate at low revs. Which is all good until you try a panic disengage......

The answer is to do everything slowly and with forethought and without worrying if some pin has popped out and you are not in gear. Not an issue if you're motoring continuously for 6 hours.