Dead stick landing

[agprice22]

Helped a couple the other day. They were motoring into the marina in their 26 foot trailer sailer when their outboard quit. They were motoring from one marina to another, so their mast was down. They were in quite a panic. The decks were covered with rigging. the husband tripped and nearly fell overboard while coming forward to throw me a line. The heavy wind was blowing them toward rocks on the far side of the marina, and the husband couldn't get a 25 ft line to me... 30 ft away.

He realized his predicament, and he returned to work on starting the engine. Seemed like an idle jet clog with maybe dirty gas, too. The motor would start, rev, and die as soon as he reduced throttle to shift into forward.

The wife was panicky, so I told her to check for an anchor, make sure it was tied to a line, and lower it into the water under the bow pulpit, then tie it off.

She did; the anchor caught, and she immediately looked relieved. The husband got the motor started, and they asked me where their slip number was. I showed them where it was, and they got half way there when the motor quit again. They drifted in, and I eased them into the slip.

Lots to be learned here!

Are your decks tidy?
Where is your tow line?
How long is it?
Where is your anchor?
Is it ready to use?
When did you buy clean fuel?
Do you run the fuel out of the carb and lines every time?
Does your mate know how to sail or motor? If you go overboard, you will wish he/she did!
Do you know how to clear a clogged idle jet?
1. Remove the air "cleaner" and spray some starter spray or carb cleaner in the carb.
2. Start the engine ( it will rev above idle to start. The motor starts at about 35-40% throttle)
3. Rev the engine.
4. Put your hand over the carb to choke it while it is running at high rev.
5. Repeat #3 and #4 several times.

This will cause the engine to draw fuel forcibly through the idle jet. It may clear the clog.

6. If you are berthing in a new place, did you take time to find your new slip? This couple had dropped a car at the marina, but they didn't know where their slip was.

How well you prepare for an emergency will determine how comfortably you handle it. The couple in this story wasn't ready. They need to make friends with their boat again. Their boat was blushing a little after this episode. It was wishing for better prepared handlers. All these were little things, but they added up.

Me, I would have pulled myself to the dock with the anchor: throw it, pull myself forward, pick it up, repeat.

Andrew

 

[LuzSD]

Interesting post, I started one a while back similar to this one for exactly the same reasons you have.... Not to gloat but for the takeaways.
Thanks for your comments and your humor... I love the idea that their boat was humiliated by her owners.... Conjures up a great visual and I believe it!!

Don't know the age of this couple but I have to confess I , more than a few times, have realized there, but for the grace of God went my parents at almost 80 with only a few years experience and no shortage of confidence that they'd "be fine" no matter what came up! My mom had no clue how to think through a situation should my dad have gone overboard..... You get the picture.

Will be interesting to see others additional thoughts ... Thank you!

 

[sinnettc]

I learned those lessons (sort of) a couple years ago. Launched late, dark really, nobody around. Had the Admiral push me off and the @#$@ motor wouldn't start. Tried to raise the sail and the halyard was wrapped around the mast. Slowly blowing backwards toward the shallows/bushes. Luckily you can get a Capri 22 to move forward by rocking side-to-side. Admiral guided me in with her cell phone held up as a guide light. Kedging with an anchor is a good idea if it's light enough that you can throw it forward.

 

[watercolors II]

It's a sailboat!

Sails should always be ready for hoisting and powering the boat out of the dock and also into the dock.

This spring two boats we launched had motor problems when they left the launch ramp and both had sails ready, after 20 years I was one of them. The other fellow said he had lots of work to do on this mainsail but he did hank on the jib before launch and it was used.

Choosing to launch or recover at the very end of the day is another potential problem, when you do have problems and there’s no light and no one around for extra help.

I guess I’m to old for this, I’ve seen so much!

 

[Nrmlspeed]

Great post. Thank you!

 

[25yearslater]

A tiller boat has an additional advantage. By rocking the boat and swinging the rudder side to side opposite the heeled side one can skull the boat at a reasonable speed forward. Learned this when the J 24 worlds were in Rochester, NY back in the early eighties. Had to try it on my Oday 22 and now I am using it for practice on my Oday 27.

 

[foursail22701]

Embarrassing to admit but this scenario happened to us this weekend. It was our first splash of the year. I posted in a separate thread that we've had issues with our Etec 50 and after getting the thumbs up from the marine mechanic, we launched with cautious optimism.

Engine fired up and ran smoothly when we departed the marina. Ran for about 15 minutes at a comfortable speed. Then the engine noise audibly changed and the boat slowed down. I checked the fuel tank and confirmed that it was close to empty but still had liquid sloshing around. Fearing the worst, I turned the boat around to head back to the marina.

Squeezed the bulb to the fuel line and the engine perked up immediately. About 15 seconds later it returned to a labored state and a couple minutes later sputtered and died. Engine would turn over but not restart. It was either not getting enough fuel or something was clogging the line.

I checked our bearings, made sure we were not in immediate danger and assured my family all would be okay.

Options? Very light breeze but raising sails could be an option.
Flagging down another boater? Embarrassing but a possibility.
Fixing the problem? I am an outboard newbie and continue to learn things the hard way so very unlikely.

We were close enough to the marina (less than 10 minutes away) that I called the shop to see if they could help diagnose the problem. Instead they sent someone out to tow us in. So much for avoiding the embarrassing part. First time I have ever needed a tow.

We've owned our boat since last July but have yet to name her. Maybe "Dragonfly" or "Landshark", those seem to be the ones the kids like.
The previous owner did not name her either. I'm starting to think she is angry with us for not giving her a proper name.

 

[Indysailor]

Starts well before launch for me. I am amazed how many people leave their outboards hanging on their boats all winter, without a thought until they fire them up as the boat floats off the trailer. This is not necessarily a criticism of them; they have been doing this just fine for many years. Me? I am way too embarrassed about having to ask someone to tow me from the launch and I hate, hate having to ask for help over something I could have prevented, so the motor needs to prove that it can run in the bucket at home before it goes back on the boat. Then, at launch, we dip the boat enough to run the motor, but not so far that it can pull the boat off the trailer and we put it in reverse to run under a load for a few minutes. Once we are satisfied, then the boat comes off the trailer, with the anchor ready in case things go sideways on the way to the marina.

 

[AnchorDragger]

......

Me, I would have pulled myself to the dock with the anchor: throw it, pull myself forward, pick it up, repeat.

Andrew

How far can you throw a 15 pound anchor with a rope trailing behind ? Assuming you are strong enough to throw it 45 feet, then how much progress are you going to make per throw ? Try it in 20 feet of water with wind blowing you back between each short pull. You will likely be losing the battle. Walking forward with two anchors maybe you can make some progress.

 

[MLampner]

There are lots of solutions, but the best one is avoiding at least some of the problems as a few respondents have said helps. Having said that, in an earlier post I shared how I made my own boat blush. Backed out of slip with insufficent throttle and before I could get enough way to gain real control a gust of wind pushed me broadside onto the bows of the leeward boats in their slips.

I took three things away from that experience, if the wind is high and your single handing, an extra day at the marina may be a great thing. Once you commit follow through with the power to get you where you were going, I was way to tentitive with the throttle in reverse and therefore did not give my self enough room to regain control and get her where she needed to be to exit the breakwater. The final lesson never pull into a slip head first if you expect the wind to be on the stern when you pull out. You have far less control in reverse than you do in forward as it takes time to build momentum and prop walk is a bigger issue.

There is a last lesson as I think about it, try not to repeat the same mistakes. I lost two good days of sailing this weekend, plenty of wind but with no crew I would have been single handing her. I knew I'd be fine on the open water but docking with 20 plus coming out of the slip alone would not have been pretty so I exercised the better judgement and did some work on her instead of going out. Less fun but better choice. That being said can't wait for the next error in judgement, we all know we will make them.

 

[Winkfish]

Engine fired up and ran smoothly when we departed the marina. Ran for about 15 minutes at a comfortable speed. Then the engine noise audibly changed and the boat slowed down. I checked the fuel tank and confirmed that it was close to empty but still had liquid sloshing around. Fearing the worst, I turned the boat around to head back to the marina.

Squeezed the bulb to the fuel line and the engine perked up immediately. About 15 seconds later it returned to a labored state and a couple minutes later sputtered and died. Engine would turn over but not restart. It was either not getting enough fuel or something was clogging the line.

off the subject of the OP, but it sounds like you could have a leak in your fuel line, so it's sucking in air with the fuel. Check all of those connections. could be a bad bulb, too. Anything else is beyond my knowledge.

 

[agprice22]

How far can you throw a 15 pound anchor with a rope trailing behind ? Assuming you are strong enough to throw it 45 feet, then how much progress are you going to make per throw ? Try it in 20 feet of water with wind blowing you back between each short pull. You will likely be losing the battle. Walking forward with two anchors maybe you can make some progress.

Actually, I can hurl it far enough! I'm not going to pull myself a mile doing this. The couple I helped the other day needed to get about 20 more feet to get me a line. I like the two anchors idea! (I'm now shopping for another anchor!)

Thanks!

Andrew

 

[agprice22]

off the subject of the OP, but it sounds like you could have a leak in your fuel line, so it's sucking in air with the fuel. Check all of those connections. could be a bad bulb, too. Anything else is beyond my knowledge.

I also wonder if his tank is dirty. He said it was nearly empty. I've seen loads of crud at the bottom of old tanks. Less so in plastic tanks because there is no rust to scale off the walls when the tank is left half empty and condensation causes corrosion. But I agree, fuel delivery, whether being blocked or depressured seemed to be the problem. Maybe he'll come back and let us know.

Reminds me of the Public Radio talk show: Car Talk, where callers get to try to Stump The Chumps!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[shemandr]

" The final lesson never pull into a slip head first if you expect the wind to be on the stern when you pull out. You have far less control in reverse than you do in forward as it takes time to build momentum and prop walk is a bigger issue. "

Most fin keeled modern boats motor pretty well backwards into the wind. At slow speeds going forward into a wind makes the bow subject to blowing around. I've often backed out of a fairway as preferable to trying to turn the bow around against the wind.

 

[Gary_H]

@ MLampner, when I back out of my slip against a stiff wind I tie a warp to my stern cleat on the opposite side I want to head down the fairway. I take it around the piling or dock cleat at the end of the dock and the back to my jib wench. I can use more throttle and still control the speed by controlling how I let out the warp. When the bow can clear the finger I lock down the warp and advance the throttle. It will rotate the boat in an arc till the bow is pointed down the fairway. I then throttle forward and release one end of the warp and retrieve it.

 

[RichH]

A tiller boat has an additional advantage. By rocking the boat and swinging the rudder side to side opposite the heeled side one can skull the boat at a reasonable speed forward. Learned this when the J 24 worlds were in Rochester, NY back in the early eighties. Had to try it on my Oday 22 and now I am using it for practice on my Oday 27.

Good thread topic !!!!!!!!

Depending on the amount of rudder swing, you can also use the same technique to stop a boat - just bring the rudder to ~90° on each side rapidly, but be aware that the bow will swing when doing so, one swing will counteract the other swing if you do this 'fast'. Better if your rudder can go past 90°. Obviously not a reliable technique for boats with wheel steering.

For my sport boat I rarely carry an OB, and usually 'dead stick' into and out of its slip regularly. The 'dead stick' knowledge has saved my bacon a few times with my heavy 'crab crusher' during 'engine hiccups'. Ditto, backing-down with sails only is a good technique to know.

 

[LuzSD]

A tiller boat has an additional advantage. By rocking the boat and swinging the rudder side to side opposite the heeled side one can skull the boat at a reasonable speed forward. Learned this when the J 24 worlds were in Rochester, NY back in the early eighties. Had to try it on my Oday 22 and now I am using it for practice on my Oday 27.

I watched a fellow skull a 27 Catalina with a wheel, quite a long ways back into its slip. He worked up quite a sweat but it was a great lesson for us to see it can be done.

 

[sloopy]

Fortunately, both times I had to use my readily handy Danforth anchor. This is set in a quick release holder on the puplit, starboard quarter. Last time was as I leaving the Marina San Carlos in Sonora, Mexico. The wind was up and as soon as the Honda 5 HP stopped, the bow turned the boat sideways very quickly. I dropped the anchor immediately as we were being pushed back into a large motor yacht on an end tie. Luckily, it bit fairly quickly and we stopped but just in time. Marina worker in a large panga just happened to be gliding by when all this happened and he rushed over, grabbed the port dock line from the bow and towed me 300 yards to the fuel dock. Clogged fuel jet for sure.
First time was when i was leaving the fuel dock at Shelter Island in San Diego Bay. Lots of moored boats there and of course the engine dies. Tried with extended boat pole to keep away from other boats and finally had a small window of opportunity to drop the Danforth. Didn't realize the channel was over 30' deep, though. Thought the anchor would never hit the bottom let alone get a bite but it eventually did. Stopped me just short of a large ketch.
Turned out the fuel hose connection had somehow come loose from the engine. She simply ran out of gas.
Live and learn.
Sloopy
Cape Dory 25

 

[foursail22701]

I also wonder if his tank is dirty. He said it was nearly empty. I've seen loads of crud at the bottom of old tanks. Less so in plastic tanks because there is no rust to scale off the walls when the tank is left half empty and condensation causes corrosion. But I agree, fuel delivery, whether being blocked or depressured seemed to be the problem. Maybe he'll come back and let us know.

I took the tanks home over the winter and thoroughly cleaned them. Only using marine (ethanol free) fuel after learning that lesson the hard way. After a few squeezes of the bulb it usually offers some resistance but not this time. My guess is that the fuel line is clogged, I didn't have enough gas in the tank to keep it running, or the water pump malfunctioned.

 

[DR.SNOOK]

Don't sound like "Sailors" to me....More like motor boaters....they don't know anything.....!!!