It's lent, care to confess boating errors?

[Rocky Lou]

One of the ways to avoid future errors is to review what went wrong. I've been a big fan of the Blue Angels ever since John 'Gucci' Foley spoke at my company and talked about how they achieve near perfection in flying. When John is asked if flying at 1000mph at another aircraft with 3 ft. of separation is dangerous, he replies, 'no, but, it's inherently unforgiving'. He told us that the Blue Angels have a rigorous review process that is the key to staying safe.

So here we go, this is one of two of my major screw ups that has happened in the last 40 years or so of boating:

• Last September, BlueFin Tuna fishing was on here in the SF Bay Area. I planned to take a couple 'young guys' along since hauling in these giant fish is tough duty for septuagenarians. The night before we talked about live bait without any conclusion, but, in the 0dark30 hour the guys showed up with some lovely live mackerel. FM owners will know that you need to swap out the grill and set up the live well, which I proceeded to do half awake and not planning to do so.
• As I was about 3 miles offshore heading for the HMB buoy that's roughly 20 miles out, I asked the guys to come forward as I was having trouble keeping the bow down. I kept using trim tabs and other methods, without success to right my keel. Not sure at what point I realized that something was seriously wrong and opened the bilge area. Yup, it was 2-3 ft. deep there and the fwd and aft bilge pumps were ineffective, one was dead and the other was on life support. Of course, I turned off the live well, spun and headed back with the weak bilge pump barely helping. Back at the dock, I realized the 3 position bilge alarm was OFF (not happy with the design) but I'm still to blame. As you may now have guessed what happened, when you pull the grill, you need to plug the hole that the cord runs through or the live well pump goes straight into the bilge.
• So what got damaged and how much to repair? TLDR: very expensive but would have been three times as much if I didn't find a moonlighting mechanic and work along side him. Total cost: about $7k vs. $20k+ if I dropped it off.

1. PowerSteering failure: connector was badly corroded. The pump did pretty well being submerged, but, the connector did not. UFlex's answer was to replace the entire pump unit that costs about $2500. What I actually did was spend hours with a pin and other small tools cleaning the female side that connects to the pump, then, replacing the cable with male connector that runs to the helm controller since, somehow, a couple pins had broken off.
2. Kiase Inverter: dead, I'm now on inverter #3, the first died a natural death. The only bright side is that I get good discounts, more each time, from Kiase and I've learned to do it myself. Before #2 died, it made a few attempt to revive itself, then flatlined.
3. Stern Thruster: this was, by far, the big ticket item since I was stuck with moving from Gen. 1 to Gen. 2...I've written volumes on the topic and hope to stop thinking about how bad that was: https://www.tugnuts.com/threads/anyone-replace-lewmar-stern-thruster-lately.22672/#post-155812. The 'waterproof' IP casing had cracked and water killed the thruster. The Gen. 2 migration requires changing just about everything in the bow/thruster system.
4. Generator: never one to be overlooked, the Westerbeke shot off a variety of error codes: my mechanic first changed the starter motor that was badly corroded; I changed my oil, that looked like honey, and filter. Then the butterfly froze and the engine speed indicator came on. Luckily, my mechanic was able to take the unit off and repair it, rather than replacing another $2K part. Because the generator is in such a bad place, basically the bilge, it always has some salt water exposure and I put loads of CorrosionX on it...next I'm painting it with a primer than turns rust into a paintable surface.
5. Solar Controller: I'm really not sure it this was caused by bilge flooding or not since mine is located high up in the starboard lazarette, but, I replaced the controller since it was not working.

Well, now I can get back to spring cleaning and the 'fun' stuff. I'm just hoping that the next major screw up will again be in forty years, so I won't likely be around to see it;-)

 

[venajeff]

Over the years I have transited the California coast many times from SF to San Diego and back. One time about 20 years ago I learned that the sea doesn't really care about how much experience you have.
This was before the much better wind prediction of today, but we knew there was a low pressure front moving through so winds and seas were going to be bad. It was in the afternoon when we decided the wind and waves were to much and we ducked into San Simeon cove and anchored up. We had dinner and got ready to sleep when the winds died down completely. Not wanting to miss a window of opportunity we pulled anchor and headed out at about 9pm.
If you are unfamiliar with the area, this is the southern end of the Big Sur coast south of the Monterey Bay. It is a rather remote stretch of the coastline with no safe harbors for about 100 miles.
About 10 miles out we realized that we had made a mistake. The winds may have calmed down near the shore but they had not slowed at all offshore. Being hard headed we decided that we would just push through it.
The conditions that night went from bad to dangerous. We were on a 42 foot sailboat and it felt like a dingy. The winds were a steady 30 knots with gusts over 50. The waves were 25 to 30 feet, close. We spent the whole night making about 1 mph velocity made good.
Between the darkness and the sea spray we could see nothing out front, but the transom nav light would light up the waves behind us. Looking down the back side of the waves felt like standing on the edge of a 3 story building. The worst part was when we dropped down off of the waves and the entire boat would shudder with the impact.
I have never been as scared as I was that night and I contemplated many times giving up boating all together. It was a very long night. Cold, wet, tired, and mildly sea sick. Eventually I stopped wishing for the winds to calm or the waves to ease and just wished for the sun to come up.
Finally it did. We then decided to move more inshore, now that we would be able to spot the kelp. It was much calmer inside, still slow going but not scary. And with the sun up everything felt much better.
I learned many lessons that night.
Try to not boat at night, it can almost always be avoided.
Weather conditions where you are dont mean much of anything for conditions elsewhere.
When the weather is unexpectedly bad, if at all possible just turn around and wait for better conditions.
And, that the sun almost always eventually comes up.

 

[Submariner]

I used copper based anti-fouling paint on the lower unit of my Yamaha. Copper + Aluminum in an electrolyte (sea water) = galvanic corrosion. Had to trailer my boat (I don't own a trailer), drag it to a shop to have the lower unit and transom bracket sand blasted and completely re-painted using Trilux, the correct anti-fouling paint for aluminum. Fortunately, it only cost me $500 to fix and I had a friend who loaned me his trailer.

Johnstone Strait... 2-4 foot seas, 26knots of headwind. We took so much water over the bow that day. LaZina says she saw waters, gallons of water, fill the cockpit, slosh up against the door to the cockpit as the waves crashed overhead... Doghair had clogged my starboard scupper, causing seawater to overflow and run across the solar controller. It finally shorted out (blew an internal fuse). No harm to the boat. Cost me about $300 to replace the solar controller. However, during that time, all we knew was something electrical was smoldering, as the burning smell was unmistakable, while we were in 2-4 foot seas. But we didn't sink. 🙂 Before every trip now, I check the scuppers and make sure they're clear and drain (I use the raw water wash down and a couple of rags to blow water through them). Easy.

Petersburg, Alaska - The galley drain clogged. LaZina was trying to unclog it while I was working (my day job). She took the sink drain apart, had a large pot under there to catch the water. Nothing was working. I made a few trips to the hardware store trying to find something to unclog the drain. The pot under the sink filled up with water. I emptied it by throwing the water in the pot overboard, along with the gasket for the sink drain. One day when you run into LaZIna on the dock you can ask her how mad I was that day. No hardware store in town had anything even close to that size gasket. The drain was easily unclogged with a 1ft pipe cleaner from the outside of the boat. The clog was at the 90 degree elbow at the thru-hull and freed up easily from outside the boat. I used a full tube of Marine RTV/Silicone to form a gasket, to reconnect the sink drain, temporarily, until we got home a month later and I could source the right gasket from Fisheries Supplies. If the sink drain clogs, run a short snake on the outside of the boat, that's where the clog is, and it's easy to clear.

 

[venajeff]

That's a great idea to put one of those plastic hair decloggers on board. I like tools that don't use up much room and are light.

 

[Rocky Lou]

Over the years I have transited the California coast many times from SF to San Diego and back. One time about 20 years ago I learned that the sea doesn't really care about how much experience you have.
This was before the much better wind prediction of today, but we knew there was a low pressure front moving through so winds and seas were going to be bad. It was in the afternoon when we decided the wind and waves were to much and we ducked into San Simeon cove and anchored up. We had dinner and got ready to sleep when the winds died down completely. Not wanting to miss a window of opportunity we pulled anchor and headed out at about 9pm.
If you are unfamiliar with the area, this is the southern end of the Big Sur coast south of the Monterey Bay. It is a rather remote stretch of the coastline with no safe harbors for about 100 miles.
About 10 miles out we realized that we had made a mistake. The winds may have calmed down near the shore but they had not slowed at all offshore. Being hard headed we decided that we would just push through it.
The conditions that night went from bad to dangerous. We were on a 42 foot sailboat and it felt like a dingy. The winds were a steady 30 knots with gusts over 50. The waves were 25 to 30 feet, close. We spent the whole night making about 1 mph velocity made good.
Between the darkness and the sea spray we could see nothing out front, but the transom nav light would light up the waves behind us. Looking down the back side of the waves felt like standing on the edge of a 3 story building. The worst part was when we dropped down off of the waves and the entire boat would shudder with the impact.
I have never been as scared as I was that night and I contemplated many times giving up boating all together. It was a very long night. Cold, wet, tired, and mildly sea sick. Eventually I stopped wishing for the winds to calm or the waves to ease and just wished for the sun to come up.
Finally it did. We then decided to move more inshore, now that we would be able to spot the kelp. It was much calmer inside, still slow going but not scary. And with the sun up everything felt much better.
I learned many lessons that night.
Try to not boat at night, it can almost always be avoided.
Weather conditions where you are dont mean much of anything for conditions elsewhere.
When the weather is unexpectedly bad, if at all possible just turn around and wait for better conditions.
And, that the sun almost always eventually comes up.

Many a day I arrive at a flat Half Moon Bay, then, as soon as I make it out of the main harbor, the rolling starts up. By the time I make it to the jaws, there's 6-8ft. seas. Of course, you can see it these days on Windy.com, but, it wasn't always so easy.

 

[croakz]

We're moored at Des Moines Marina and are lucky to have covered moorage. Came home when it was raining yesterday and was able to unload under cover. Awesome.

Yesterday I forgot to drop the VHF antenna, smashed it when coming in, and now need to install a new one.

 

[Submariner]

We're moored at Des Moines Marina and are lucky to have covered moorage. Came home when it was raining yesterday and was able to unload under cover. Awesome.

Yesterday I forgot to drop the VHF antenna, smashed it when coming in, and now need to install a new one.

We've done that twice. Didn't break the antenna though. But we've hit the roof of a covered moorage slip. It's an awful sound, and the worse thing to do is to back up when it happens. Yikes! 🙁

 

[JunieBird]

We trailered our C-288 up for service.. Took a tight turn into the dealers lot, between tight gate posts.. the rear trailer tires cut the turn onto the grass and slipped into the drainage ditch. All three wheels stuck in the ditch and trailer frame resting on the ground... The spare tire likely kept the boat from continuing over on it's side..Luckily, we had 'road coverage' with our Progressive boat policy. 3 hours later, a full-on tractor trailer wrecker pulled us out of the mire. Lesson learned- I stop on the service road and let Pocket Yachts get their surplus 'yellow gear' yard tug to negotiate the driveway! Good Times!

 

[venajeff]

We trailered our C-288 up for service.. Took a tight turn into the dealers lot, between tight gate posts.. the rear trailer tires cut the turn onto the grass and slipped into the drainage ditch. All three wheels stuck in the ditch and trailer frame resting on the ground... The spare tire likely kept the boat from continuing over on it's side..Luckily, we had 'road coverage' with our Progressive boat policy. 3 hours later, a full-on tractor trailer wrecker pulled us out of the mire. Lesson learned- I stop on the service road and let Pocket Yachts get their surplus 'yellow gear' yard tug to negotiate the driveway! Good Times!

When I am towing our boat, an R27OB on a triple axle, I take corners ridiculously wide. I think to myself, this is just silly, I am way over doing it. And then I look back in my side mirror and I clear the curb by just 3 inches.

 

[Todd Tugnut]

We're moored at Des Moines Marina and are lucky to have covered moorage. Came home when it was raining yesterday and was able to unload under cover. Awesome.

Yesterday I forgot to drop the VHF antenna, smashed it when coming in, and now need to install a new one.

I broke my antenna (8’ Shakespeare) right at the base. While I was figuring out how to install new one, my wife asked if I couldn’t re-glue it. Sure enough, cleaned out the socket at the base, made a fresh cut, marine epoxy, and works great. It’s two inches shorter, but radio checks confirm proper operation. Side note, couldn’t return the new antenna. Make me an offer.

 

[Submariner]

We're moored at Des Moines Marina and are lucky to have covered moorage. Came home when it was raining yesterday and was able to unload under cover. Awesome.

Yesterday I forgot to drop the VHF antenna, smashed it when coming in, and now need to install a new one.

Whenever you need help spending your money, not to worry, I got your back... 😀

 

[croakz]

Whenever you need help spending your money, not to worry, I got your back... 😀

Yeah, why stop helping me spend money now 🙂

I'll probably go with the Shakespeare QuickConnect antenna, so I don't have to mess with wiring the next time I break this thing..

 

[Rocky Lou]

Wow...iights;-) There really hasn't been much innovation in VHF antenna in a very long time. It would be nice to see products that used satellites or some other technology to greater improve, 'loud and clear'.