DUH...Why didn't I check that?

[Bad Obsession]

I was working on my fresh water system because it was scuzzy! The tanks had an odor so I was cleaning them out using the Peggy Hall method. I probably should have done this earlier in the year.

My system had a water filter before the pump (this was an add on thing). I noticed that my pump seemed to be working harder than it should and it was struggling. I couldn't figure out why and check every possible thing for a leak or something blocking the pressure.

Then it dawned on me. I haven't been able to find a replacement filter for this system so I haven't changed the filter in a few years. I pulled the filter out, put the system back together and PRESTO!

Do not confuse this filter with the strainer before the pump, this is an additional thing that the previous owner added.

So I got to thinking, how many times have you been working on something on the boat and forgot to check the most obvious thing?

 

[Benny]

One day the engine would not start and automatically assumed there was an air leak in the fuel system and needed to bleed the system. I had forgotten that the last time the boat was used I had asked the Admiral to shut off the engine. The stop cable was still out.

 

[Tim R.]

I had a similar issue to Benny but it was the fuel shutoff valve.

 

[Cpt. Jon]

Haha, Benny and Tim, I've had both of those happen

 

[Tim C350 April IV]

We were all excited to leave on a two week vacation cruise and forgot to untie one of the bow lines. Took me a few moments to figure out why we weren't backing out of the slip as I had "commanded" (via the throttle/shift control). Admiral still reminds me of that one.

Good Luck!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

 

[lehighsail]

Its so nice to know that I'm not the only one

 

[Tim R.]

We were all excited to leave on a two week vacation cruise and forgot to untie one of the bow lines. Took me a few moments to figure out why we weren't backing out of the slip as I had "commanded" (via the throttle/shift control). Admiral still reminds me of that one.

Good Luck!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

LOL Tim. Maybe it's the name.

 

[druid]

We were all excited to leave on a two week vacation cruise and forgot to untie one of the bow lines. Took me a few moments to figure out why we weren't backing out of the slip as I had "commanded" (via the throttle/shift control). Admiral still reminds me of that one.

I can't remember ever leaving the bowline on, but I've stretched a few shorepower cords by forgetting to undo them before leaving the dock.

Frightenlying enough, that's probably NOT the stupidest thing I've done in my sailing career...

druid

 

[catsailor]

More frightening is when you come back and find the end of the cord is fried, because...

I can't remember ever leaving the bowline on, but I've stretched a few shorepower cords by forgetting to undo them before leaving the dock.

Frightenlying enough, that's probably NOT the stupidest thing I've done in my sailing career...

druid

Salt water conducts, the marina does not have GFI, and the circuits are over-fused.

 

[sailaway78]

It's refreshing

It's refreshing to know that some on this board, will fess up to their boo boos. I think I have been guilty of every one mentioned so far, with the possible exception of the dock cord. Few weeks ago, I pulled into a marina, single handing. Wind blowing pretty good. Place was deserted, and I came in and stopped so nice, looked around to see it anyone had noticed how
good I had done. Not a soul in sight. Stepped off the boat, dock line in hand to tie her off. As I took a good pull on the line, I noticed it was hung over a vent. About the time my mind thought Oh S*%, the line slid off, and my next thought was " dam, this waters cold." When the line came off the vent, I was already leaning on it pretty good, and there was enough slack in the line to let me fall off the other side of the dock. Now I was glad there was no one around to see this.

 

[Bad Obsession]

I will fess up to having the engine stopper pulled and trying to start the engine. Never had the power cord or dock line issue.

We all have those DUH moments because we are human.

 

[Bob V]

I'm not sure if this qualifies

since I wasn't "working on the boat" but once while making preparations to get under way and sail off the mooring ball, I neglected to install the steering wheel which was stored in the forward shower. The Admiral was still down below waking up and I didn' notice until after the genoa was set and we sailed through the crowd while I fetched and installed that one last critical piece of equipment.

The autopilot was not turned on either but at least the rudder was centered so it all worked out ok.

 

[sailingdog]

I've run into problems when I first got my boat by forgetting to disconnect the pin in the tiller that allows it to steer the outboard when under power. Under sail, the outboard pin prevents the tiller from moving freely... Conversely, I've also forgotten to put the pin back in when under power, and not been able to maneuver as well as would normally be possible.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Wonder why the mast wouldn't come down

on our C22 after our first cruise? Taking the quik-release pins out of the forward lowers would have helped an awful lot! That's just one of hundreds. Glad to hear so much about the fuel shutoff valve and the associated stop lever "trick" - you can use that to teach folks how to bleed their engines!

 

[Bad Obsession]

I once rewired a whole boat trailer only to figure out that a lightbulb in the taillight on the old set-up was burnt out and that was the problem! Ugh.

I think that a lot of us tend to assume the worst and not go for the most probable thing sometimes.

 

[Dan]

Once while hoisting the mainsail it simply stopped. I assumed the halyard was fouled or the sheave gave out. Grunting and cursing ensued. Turns out I had the reef line locked in the rope clutch.

 

[Cpt. Jon]

Last weekend was the first time for my wife out on the new boat. It's normally her 'job' to go get the sail ready for me to hoist up. She removed all but one of the sail ties as they are temporarily just rope and not the easy to spot blue ones we have on our old boat. Needless to say, the sail 'got stuck' as I was trying to raise it... we spotted it after a few attempts to raise it.

I installed a fresh water pump last week in the new boat, I didn't check every single hose clamp, but checked them after I turned on the pump for the first time, I shoulda just checked, but it wasn't that bad in the end, just a couple needed to be tightened up.

 

[kloudie1]

Uhhhhhh.. shore power cord still plugged in as I motored out of the slip. New boat power inlet.. new shore power cord.. The nice lady aboard was not that impressed!

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

Already made my first mistake of the season leaving the storage yard. Ever since wrapping a dockline around my prop last year I've been fanatical about making sure all lines are immediately stowed after leaving the dock. This year my brother was crewing (first time on a sailboat). I briefed him on being sure to secure all the dockllines as soon as we left the dock. All went well until after we passed the breakwater and got into the rough stuff (it was blowing 25 Kts with some 6 footers) when I let him take the helm for a couple of minutes...that's when I noticed there was still a dockline on the starboard side. That was the side that another sailboat was rafted at the yard before launch..we had both made the assumption that they had taken all their docklines when they castoff. It gives me goosebumps to think if that line had wrapped around my prop while close to the breakwall.
Guess these are all lessons we somehow have to catalog in our brain.

 

[druid]

Yup: "Experience is knowledge gained right after you need it"

I'm looking through these posts and saying a lot of "yup - done that!". Although there is an adage here that you're not really a sailor until you've run aground on Spanish Banks, and I've never done that (run aground lots of OTHER places...)

I think the tricks are:
1. Minimize the possibility of Doing Something Stupid. eg use a preventer so you won't get hit on the head by the boom.
2. Minimize the impact of DSS, eg use a bowline short enough so it doesn't wrap around the prop if it falls overboard
3. Assume you WILL DSS every so often, and don't obsess over it.

druid