I thought I might share with you an experience which I would rather not have had.
My wife and I were trying to bring our Hunter 42 Passage on to our swing mooring in a very crowded anchorage on Pittwater in 33+ knot winds. We had two misses as we were plunging up and down making it difficult for my wife to hook the buoy rope. In order to make each attempt, I had to get steerage way and move far enough ahead to clear other yachts then make a big circle back through the anchorage in order to approach dead up wind. On our third approach we were moving much too fast. When I tried to throttle back nothing happened. The throttle was hard against the idle stop but the engine was revving at 2500 rpm! At those revs, and with little room to manoeuvre, it was not practical, or wise, to put the engine into neutral. If I had, could I have engaged gear again at 2500 rpm without blowing something up? We zig-zagged through the anchorage doing close to 8 knots in a 4 knot area! Steering seemed a bit odd but I dismissed that in the panic of the moment. The only alternative that presented itself was to seek a lee under nearby Scotland Island a mile away. We needed to find an area relatively clear of moorings and where the depth was suitable to anchor - no small task under ideal conditions let alone going way too fast. We settled on a very small patch with a rapidly shoaling depth (from 47 feet to 13 feet), and cut the engine. I washed off speed by making a tight circle and fish-tailing. We managed to get the anchor down but still moving forward. The wind soon had us drifting back. We soon realised that we had anchored on a shelving bank - hence the lack of moorings! We were soon dragging back between and alongside moored yachts despite having 130 feet of chain out! Eventually we came to a halt back in 40+ feet of water. We had more chain in reserve but yachts too close behind us! Pulling the pedestal apart revealed that the throttle linkage had broken in the pedestal. This was what was fouling the steering cables and caused the before-ignored difficulties. We eventually got a tow back to our mooring - an experience in itself - and both throttle and gear cables have been replaced. :cussing:
So, check your cables, regularly!
My wife and I were trying to bring our Hunter 42 Passage on to our swing mooring in a very crowded anchorage on Pittwater in 33+ knot winds. We had two misses as we were plunging up and down making it difficult for my wife to hook the buoy rope. In order to make each attempt, I had to get steerage way and move far enough ahead to clear other yachts then make a big circle back through the anchorage in order to approach dead up wind. On our third approach we were moving much too fast. When I tried to throttle back nothing happened. The throttle was hard against the idle stop but the engine was revving at 2500 rpm! At those revs, and with little room to manoeuvre, it was not practical, or wise, to put the engine into neutral. If I had, could I have engaged gear again at 2500 rpm without blowing something up? We zig-zagged through the anchorage doing close to 8 knots in a 4 knot area! Steering seemed a bit odd but I dismissed that in the panic of the moment. The only alternative that presented itself was to seek a lee under nearby Scotland Island a mile away. We needed to find an area relatively clear of moorings and where the depth was suitable to anchor - no small task under ideal conditions let alone going way too fast. We settled on a very small patch with a rapidly shoaling depth (from 47 feet to 13 feet), and cut the engine. I washed off speed by making a tight circle and fish-tailing. We managed to get the anchor down but still moving forward. The wind soon had us drifting back. We soon realised that we had anchored on a shelving bank - hence the lack of moorings! We were soon dragging back between and alongside moored yachts despite having 130 feet of chain out! Eventually we came to a halt back in 40+ feet of water. We had more chain in reserve but yachts too close behind us! Pulling the pedestal apart revealed that the throttle linkage had broken in the pedestal. This was what was fouling the steering cables and caused the before-ignored difficulties. We eventually got a tow back to our mooring - an experience in itself - and both throttle and gear cables have been replaced. :cussing:
So, check your cables, regularly!
