What do you do if you have engine failure?

BrentJones

BrentJones

Member
Oct 4, 2006
405
Fenton/Lake Ozark, MO
Boat Info
2005 240 Sundeck
Engines
6.2L
Fortunately I have not had this problem yet, but I know it will happen one day. What is the first thing you do if your engines shut down when out on the water (after you have figured out that you can not start them back up?)
 
I'm a new boat owner so I'm not going to be much help but this is what I would do.

1. Cry :smt089
2. Tell the wife to stop yelling at me I'll get us home.
3. Check and make sure the kill switch lanyard is in (done that before)
4. Look at the engine :smt017 Since I'm not a mechanic it will be just looking.
5. Radio for TowBoatUS :smt100

Now if I had 2 engines I'd return home slowly not to break the other engine.
 
Actually i am very short tempered and get anxiety fast and yell at anyone around me and say things i dont mean when im anxious, mad, or stuck in the middle of the ocean.. I think since my boat is brandy new i woule not get mad i would call sea tow (which you all should have) and take it back to the dealer (since i purchased the EXTENDED 6 year warranty which covers everything)
 
Morpheus said:
I'm a new boat owner so I'm not going to be much help but this is what I would do.

1. Cry :smt089
2. Tell the wife to stop yelling at me I'll get us home.
3. Check and make sure the kill switch lanyard is in (done that before)
4. Look at the engine :smt017 Since I'm not a mechanic it will be just looking.
5. Radio for TowBoatUS :smt100

Now if I had 2 engines I'd return home slowly not to break the other engine.
Click to expand...

(1) is definately true. Except the crying would quickly turn to loud and virulent cursing. :smt013

(4) I would always look at the engine. You would be amazed what glowering will do. It works 75% of the time. If this step doesn't work, I generaly would think that I would repeat steps (1) to (4). :smt021 before moving to step (5).

(5) I would not radio for TowBoatUS. I would use my cell phone :) I always carry one working cell phone. (in addition to the boat VHF and my hand VHF).

I have a twin engine boat. In my first week, I threw a belt on one engine. Turns out that this engine has the power steering pump, and the other does not have a power steering pump. It was a slow, sad ride home. Followed by a :smt013 phone call to the dealer.
 
What about NBOA towing???

I got a free membership through the SR owners club. Should I still get Seatow???
 
Well, say all the above does not work. You have tried and tried and can not get the engines going. So you called for a tow, but you need to make sure you are safe until the tow gets there because you are in the middle of a busy channel. Do you throw your anchor? This would all depend on where you are boating too.
 
I would make every effort to get out of a channel if I were stranded in a channel. In this case, I would get out a line for towing and start eyeing the flares and the VHF radio.

If no one was about to pull me out of harms way. . .generally the boat (hopefully) would drift out of the channel and not into something hazardous.

As soon as I was in a relatively "safe" spot. . .I would drop the anchor and wait for help for the long tow home.
 
BrentJones said:
Well, say all the above does not work. You have tried and tried and can not get the engines going. So you called for a tow, but you need to make sure you are safe until the tow gets there because you are in the middle of a busy channel. Do you throw your anchor? This would all depend on where you are boating too.
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Well in this case, your in a busy channel SOMEONE is gonna help, if not get out the flare gun and start shooting at them.

Atleast maybe get them to help you to a safe place to anchor. Definitly anchor though so you don't drift into anything and cause more problems.

If your in a channel and it's not busy, anchor right smack dab in the middle of it, why well someone may come along and will definitly see you yell at you and then feel sorry for yelling and help you.
 
If you're unable to float or paddle out of a channel and the current is pushing you toward trouble, use your anchor. Also, don't be afraid to use your radio on channel 16 to issue a "pan pan pan" warning to other boaters (particularly larger boats) with your location. If you spot a commercial vessel such as barge heading your way, try channel 13 and 16 to advise that you do not have control of your vessel. If that fails use your flare and/or wave an orange flag. Be certain everyone on board has a PFD on.
 
thunderbird1 said:
If you're unable to float or paddle out of a channel and the current is pushing you toward trouble, use your anchor. Also, don't be afraid to use your radio on channel 16 to issue a "pan pan pan" warning to other boaters (particularly larger boats) with your location. If you spot a commercial vessel such as barge heading your way, try channel 13 and 16 to advise that you do not have control of your vessel. If that fails use your flare and/or wave an orange flag. Be certain everyone on board has a PFD on.
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True. Big boat with ADULTS in PFD's. . .plus engine hatch open. . .what more obvious trouble signal could there be?

And who carries orange flags? Is that like the black ball you are supposed to hang when anchoring?
 
This has happened to me about three times.

I think the first time, I was near the dock. The engine died, and I could not get it restarted. I was in a very protected area by the dock, so just dropped anchor. Had no way to row, nor a dingy, so tried moving the boat by flinging the anchor and pulling. It might have made a good comedy, but did nothing for my situation. I think I finally got it started that time.

Another time I was having trouble with the boat cutting out briefly while on the river. I cut the trip short and headed back to the dock. As I approached the dock, I lined up the approach so that if the engine died, the wind would blow me on in to where I wanted to be. It died, and the wind did its job. Caught the dock with a boat hook and all was fine. I found a loose connection in the ignition lead under the dash.

The third time, a couple of months ago, the engine failed to start. I was anchored at the time. The starter would whir, but not engage the flywheel. After some looking at the engine, I found a broken off starter boat under the engine. No Sea Tow here, and no one else on the water to ask for a tow. Luckily, I was able to call home on the cell phone, and ask someone to drive to where I was and pick me up. Left the boat for the night, got it going the next day to get it back home for repair.

Lots of good comments above. You need to look and wind and current, figure out where you will drift to if not anchored. Then pick a good spot to drop anchor. If you have no tow available, a dingy of any sort could possibly get you to shore.

Also, I would like to make a pitch for watching out for others if in an area where Sea Tow or equivalent is not available. I normally look around at in my area. I have towed in one this year.

And don't invite trouble. When I was in the San Juan Islands, I made sure I did not linger in the ferry lanes or go straight down a ferry lane with a ferry behind me. They are big, surprisingly fast, and you probably look like another bug on the windshield to them. You don't want to have an engine failure in the path of one, so cross their path at a fairly steep angle to stay clear as much as possible.
 
comsnark said:
I have a twin engine boat. In my first week, I threw a belt on one engine. Turns out that this engine has the power steering pump, and the other does not have a power steering pump. It was a slow, sad ride home. Followed by a :smt013 phone call to the dealer.
Click to expand...

I think this is one of those little dirty secrets that is never discussed by the dealers. I also have only one hydraulic pump for steering and it is mounted on the starboard engine transmission. If the starboard engine ever failed, you lose your ability to steer the stock 480 DB. I contacted SeaStar/Teleflex and they sent me a writeup and parts needed to make the system redundent with the port engine but I just have not done it yet for some reason.

Sea Ray should have made this an option on these boats. I didn't even know about it until I was out trolling for fish one day and shut the starboard engine off and "WOOOAAA"... no control. You can not control a 480 DB without the hydraulics. I would have paid the extra $1K or so to have redundant pumps put on. When twin engines are marketed for their safety/redundancy, it's wrong to not even make the power steering reduntancy an option.

So... if I lose an engine, I just hope it's the port engine.
 
In my case. . .if I have a problem it is ALWAYS the starboard engine. ALWAYS. :smt017

Even when I sucked grass into a drive. . .it was the STARBOARD drive. :smt021

On the smaller boats, it is possible to steer without the motor: Just really hard.
 
No Go Slo Boat

What's really good is you're asking the question before you leave the dock. If you accept the possibility, you can make sure your boat is specifically prepared for the eventuality.

If its mechanical it will break at some point. Murphy's Laws of Mechanics states that if it can go wrong it will. And it wil do so at the worst possible time, when it will do the most damage when you have the least possible chance of recovery. The only way to overcome Murphy's law is to fix it first and to carry two spares and the tools to install them.

My crusing ground has several marine towing/salvage companies including BoatUS/Towboat US and Seatow. I spend the $90 bucks a year to get Unlimited Towing from West Marine/Boat US. Trust me guys, this is worth its weight in gold when things go wrong.

Unlimited towing takes all the hassel out of benefit confirmation and Salvor negociation with the insurance co while your wife is screaming at you for not fixing that starter at the dock.

All that said, in real world practice, get your crew into life jackets, make sure the failure is not going to jeapordise the boats ability to remain afloat, no fire risk exists and then call on CH 16 VHF for a tow or local boater assistance for a tow.

If you do not have a radio due to power failure and you can not get out of harms way by oar ... the international signal for requesting emergency aid is to stand on your BOW and wave your arms jumping jack fashion holding large articles like boat cushions, flags, jackets (red even better) etc .... Hand Held Flares and smoke signals maybe called for if nothing else is working, but in land locked lakes and rivers parachute and meteor flares pose a fire threat in that they typically burn right to the water ... if wind brings them down in woods, dry fields or someones roof well you get the idea ... just measure the consequential risks of ariel meteror and parachute flares and the seriousness of your situation before use. Weigh the true risk you are in. I mean a cold night with lots of jackets and blankets in your cockpit and a coleman lantern to huddle around doesn't have the personal gravity to risk buring down a 1,000 acres of hard wood timber or worse a persons house, no matter how loud the Admiral is wailing.

If you are out harms way and drifting, rarely is your drift going to be favorable to ship and crew so get the hook down to await aid.

Keep your head about you because for sure anyone else aboad will loose their's due to fear, anxiety or impatience. Never stop thinking about how to get yourself out of the situation. Get in the bilge, study the issue looking for broken wires, clogged filters, iced carberators, loose or corroded battery terminals, alternator belts broken ... but above all do not run your batteries flat trying to start a engine that won't kick. You may need some volts for horns and night lights.

By example, I was a guest on a boat offshore when a belt parted and no spare was on board (my respect for this skipper dropped 100 pegs then I tell you) and no help for hours, I sewed and lashed a alternator belt back together with dental floss, fishing line and reinforced with epoxy glue and duct tape to get us going at dead slow, but we were under power and our batteries charged.

Really in a fix? No one around, no one answers your hails, land disappearing ...

Take a series of bearings from your magnetic compass on the same land marks every 5 minutes and chart your direction of drift. deterime your rate of drift per hour and determine where you'll be every hour, will your ability to attract help get better or worse later? Then get to work.

Can you make a sail? Your boat covers, bed sheets and boat hooks and mop handles, duct tape and dock lines? Use the rudders or out drives for steerage. Make a sail but ... making way in the wrong direction add bead boards keels dropped over to leeward on your beam and tied off. Whats important is you can keep trying to get your self out of trouble.

The earlier poster who tried to kedge him self to safety with an anchor gets my admiration, it wasn't foolish effort. it could have worked.
 
This happened to me a couple of times on my 250 (single engine). The first thing to do is stop the boat and start investigating. :cool:

The last thing you want to do is go cruising around without power. You can get into a lot of trouble.
 
And who carries orange flags? Is that like the black ball you are supposed to hang when anchoring?[/quote]

So am I a weirdo for carrying orange flags? I purchased the flags for towing the wide load and after I sold the trailer I figured they would be good to keep on-board for safety.

I think ONE major assumption to this post is that we all know where we are at all times. GPS coordinates can save your life as much as a cell phone or radio. They are relatively inexpensive and WILL aid in the rescue.
 
Carpedmman said:
So am I a weirdo for carrying orange flags? I purchased the flags for towing the wide load and after I sold the trailer I figured they would be good to keep on-board for safety.
Click to expand...

Not at all.

In fact, based upon this thread I was thinking about if I should buy a set. BUT. . .I was wondering if this was a written rule somewhere, or an excercise in common sense?

I recently read that an anchored boat is supposed to have a black ball visible to indicate the anchored status (sort of like the white anchor light at night). I think it is a good idea. BUT. . . I have never seen an anchored boat with a black ball.

http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/fedreqs/equ_nav.htm
 
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