What do you do if you have engine failure?

lots of good info here thats for sure... The best thing to do is keep your head about you and be as prepared as you can based on the situation. If you have engine failure and are drifting INTO trouble, drop that anchor so you dont go anywhere. This is especially important if you radio for help, give them your coordinates, and you arent there when help arrives! The radio is a great thing in times like this. Mine is tied into my GPS so i can instantly retrieve my coordinates if i have to radio for help. Dont be affraid to tell other traffic in the area that you are in that you are not underway and have no maneuverability. This is especially important if you are in an area that has large commercial traffic. If you arent getting any response, use the cell phone to call for help, and use signaling devices to try and track down help. If you have a dual battery setup, you might consider setting the switch to one or the other so you have power just in case you need it. Carrying spares for things like belts and filters is also a good thing. In some cases, you might be able to fix things long before help arrives to tow you. And maybe the best thing to have is a membership to a towing service. Using it just once when you need it is worth its weight in gold.

Mike
 
Well, it must have been a self fulfilled prophecy that I asked this question because it happened to me for the first time today. We decided to go out for a quick cruise before we came back to clean up and go home. Because my wife's niece is a chicken, we avoided the heavy boat traffic and trolled in and out of coves. On our way back from the last cove we cruised, just before we came out to the main channel, the engine alarm sounded and the engine shut down. I went through the smart craft and checked all the systems and everything looked fine. I gave a visual inspection of the engine and fluids looked fine, nothing looked "broken." I'm not very knowledgeable on engines, so that is the best I could do. So next thing I thought was, "how ironic this is happening right after I posted this topic!"

There was a lot of chop and wind pushing me back towards some docks, so within 100 feet of the docks, I figured I wasn't going to be able to start the engine back up, I threw anchor. I drug for awhile, but I came short of the docks by about 25'. I was about to call for a tow, when a neighbor of the dock I was close to hitting was pulling in to his slip and noticed I had engine failure. They dropped off the women on their boat and offered to tow us about 5 miles back to my dock. There are a lot of nice people on the water and we really appreciated them bringing us back home. We offered to give them money, gas, beer, etc. but they refused and said they've been in the same situation. Even though it could have been a lot worse, I was glad I didn't panic and things worked out.
 
Sorry for your bad luck but :smt038 glad a friendly boater was there to help you out.

What kind of boat did they have? Since they wouldn't take your money should of told them about this board the valuable information here is worth a free tow in my opinion.

Call me corny but this forum is like a club to me (heck it's called clubsearay) I was thinkin how cool it would be if we had shirts and/or hat pins or stickers of some sort that represented us as a group and in your case maybe a "I helped a CSR member" pin or sticker.

ok I'll shutup now :lol:
 
Sorry about the engine problems. I had mine go last weekend. Got towed in the 1/4 mile by our marina. Any idea what happened?
 
beerman said:
Sorry about the engine problems. I had mine go last weekend. Got towed in the 1/4 mile by our marina. Any idea what happened?
Click to expand...

Not yet. I have another thread going in sports boats on potential problems. I wish I was closer than 2 1/2 hours so I could look at it again. I will probably need a service call.
 
I've exprienced the problem four suns mentions, ie the fact that only one engine has a power steering pump.

I was driving my dads Sealine S34 which had two volvo diesel engines back along the coast, when one engine overheated, no problem I thought, I'll just go slowly home on the other working engine.

The engine that failed was the one that runs the power steering pump, so the steering was incredibly heavy but still worked......for a while.

After 10 mins of wrestling with the steering, a sheer pin on the steering failed leaving me with no steering at all. At that point I waved a small speedboat over and got towed home.

generally not a good day, but I believe ths single point of failure is present on most dual engined boats.
 
I was once told that the mark of a good sailor is to ask "What If?"

I applaud you asking this question before you needed to know it. Luck favors the prepaired mind as they say.

I had this happen on my "Trial" lake, its a little 5acre lake a mile away from home. I was working through a bad gas issue when she went dead. no oars and not a single person on the water. Fortunatly the wind was right, but I still had to get wet and swim her in. Once I got it going it wasnt too bad. I now have oars!

I believe 5 short horn blasts are the international signal for danger. Some one in this thread said that they might be silly for having flags, I say of course not!!! Flags, Flares and an air horn are a must, and know where they are!!!!

You can buy a fairly inexpensive electric trolling motar to help out in situations like this, but use caution, if you cant isolate one battery to use, you sure dont want to drain the batts!!!!


Just some thoughts
 
Well. .. . .I had an engine die on me this weekend.

For the first time in my short history with this boat. .the incident was with my port engine. Doing something I wasn't supposed to near my dock, I got about 20 feet of 3/4" line wrapped around my port prop. We won't discuss what was attached to the line . .

My first hint of trouble was the engine stalling, with oil pressure alarm, followed by a frantic call from the Admiral ("HONEY!!! WATCH OUT!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?)

My first immediate action was to kill both engines to understand what just happened. It took 5 seconds to recognize the port prop was hideously fouled with a jetski (not pretty. . .not pretty at all) . . .and another 5 seconds to restart the starboard engine to try to regain control of the boat. Did I mention that this happened while attempting to dock?

Fortunately. .. the starboard engine has the power steering pump.

UNfortunately. . .the air was far from still and I found my self woefully lacking in single engine handling skill.

After 20 seconds of inept manuevering, I figured out I was not going *upwind* to my own dock, and 60 heart hammering seconds later, I safely nudged the boat to a neighbors dock downwind. Once secure. . . it took me about 5 minutes to disentangle the prop.

Lesson learned: Two engines is swell. As long as you can actually handle the boat with a single engine.

Plan for next weekend: Docking practice with single engine (both with and without power steering pump)

Note to self: As long as I can *idle* the starboard engine, I will have proper power steering. It is also hard to keep the boat on plane with one engine. With one engine at 3500 RPM, and the other at 1500, I was barely on plane. I wasn't brave enough to try staying on plane with one engine in neutral.
 
Talk about timing--I had read this thread only a few days before my "new" (to us--a 2000 240 DA) boat's engine died about a mile off shore Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

After repeated attempts to re-start, I first called my marina (cell phone) to see if anyone there could lend assistance as it's essentially an extended family there with everyone always ready to lend a hand--unfortuantely, no one was there.

Since I had a towing contract I then called "Boat US" on ch 16, but no answer.

Called Boat US on my cell phone and reached a very young "dispatcher." Gave him my situation and location. He kept me on my cell phone waiting, even though I had told him my phone's battery didn't have much of a charge. He came back on 10 min later telling me their local provider in Portland wouldn't be able to respond for several hours since their tow boat was laid up for repairs. After arguing with him about Boat US's service to provide towing, he said he'd try to get another tow provider. Ten minutes later he said the only other towing service refused to come out due to an approaching storm! Just GREAT--Now what I was supposed to do??? He said he'd call the Coast Guard and I simultaneously called them on ch 16.

The CG's reponse was not reassuring. The CG monitor said it was their policy not to respond unless there was an immediate danger to life, but they would broadcast an alert on ch 16 for any boater to come to our assistance. Now, I could see dark, stormy clouds on the horizon approaching--my passenger was getting panic feelings.

I then called several friends who had boats at my marina and finally got one of them who said they were on their way to help me.

A call from the CG came in, telling me they changed their mind about coming to help since there was an approaching storm but it would take at least 45 minutes to reach me. I told them I had already had someone on their way only 20 minutes out, but the CG said they had already dispatched their 41-ft cutter and it was their policy to continue on. OK, I thought, it might be wise in case my friends had any difficulty in towing. Luckily the sea was relatively calm.

20 Minutes later, a boat appeared. I fired off a flare and the boat corrected it's course directly towards me. It wasn't my friends, but another boater who had been monitoring the even on ch 16. The CG then radioed me to ask if I had fired a flare. When I responded affirmative, they said not to do it again! (Probably because the President was in Kennebunkport--20 miles away and flares get the security detail awfully nervous :smt013

Right after they pulled along side, my friends arrived to start the towing. A man on the 1st boat boarded mine to see if he could get my engine going again--and he did! Turned out to be a broken wire from a harness to the primary coil.

Called the CG to tell them I was underway under our own power, but their response was they weren't going to recall their cutter until I was safely in my berth. The rest of the trip was uneventful. and I called the CG once I made it back to my slip.

Lessons learned:

1) Keep your VHF radio is in good condition

2) Make sure you have a full charge on your cell phone or carry a phone charger or another phone.

3) Use all available resources; e.g., towing service, friends, Coast Guard, etc. Keep their numbers in your phone's directory.

4) Keep a basic tool kit on board, and include some all-purpose 16 or 18 gauge wire.

5) Don't let the CG intimidate you, (ref: shooting the flares). Remember, it's your rear that's out there in danger. You're the captain and it's your responsibility to take any action you feel necessary to preserve life.

6) Don't assume your contracted towing service will always be there for you.

Post Script: Several days later I called Boat US and gave them an earful about the way my towing request was handled. To their credit, they did listen and called back later and told me the steps they were taking to avoid a future reoccurance.
 
So, did the storm ever come in? I could imagine getting very frustrated not get help. Fortunately for me, I am never more than a mile from shore.
 
What happened was the storm paralled the coast in a northeasterly direction. Although some dark clouds came overhead, all the precipitation and lightning stayed about a mile inshore--we were lucky!
 
Hmmm. . . you used a distress signal flare as a distress signal flare -> so another boat could render immediate assistance? And the CG complained? hahahah. That's funny.

And a tow service wouldn't come out in a thunderstorm? Geez. . .coming out to save my stranded butt from a thunderstorm is exactly why I would call a tow service. They probably owe more than just an "explanation".
 
Yeah, it was sad but true. I did get a promise of a full refund from Boat US and they upped my contract to unlimited coverage. They seem to be doing the "right thing" by giving extra training to their dispatchers and they said there were other things they have in mind such as bringing their dispatchers out on the water to get some experience.

As far as the Coast Guard goes, I'm sending a letter to the station commodant to see what his response will be. If there's no response, I'll be talking to my congress people.
 
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