I learned a valuable lesson Saturday. I toss this out in case it helps someone else. Thankfully, we didn't have to call for help, but it was a puckering moment.
After my usual pre-sail checks, I went to start the Yanmar to get it warmed up before we took off. I turn the key, press the start button and the starter weakly kicks in but the engine doesn't start. I press it again, longer, and the engine starts, but very weakly and seem to struggle a bit before finally getting to that smooth sound I'm used to. Whew! I ignorantly chalk it up to being one of the first times this season the engine has started.
We have a wonderful sail. 8 hours on the lake and I set us up so that we could sail into the sunset on the way back to the marina. Heaven!
The sun sets and it's time to start the engine, drop sails, and head to the marina. This time when I hit the start button there was nothing. Not good, but I'm on Battery 1 and we still have Battery 2. I switch to Battery 2 and we get the same struggling we had when we first started and for a moment I thought we were screwed. Finally the engine catches, my heart drops back down out of my throat, and I breath again.
Motoring back to the slip I'm pondering what could have happened. The batteries are only 2 years old. After tying up at the slip and talking out loud my wife tells me that when she first got on board went to use the microwave and it didn't work. She worked backwards through the system and finally got it working after both turning the power pedestal breaker off and on and disconnecting and reconnecting the plug at the pedestal.
Either the breaker tripped or the cord had come loose at the pedestal and she hadn't told me. The batteries were powering the only load left energized, which was the refrigerator, drawing them down in the process. I could have easily detected something was wrong, even after she had got things sorted with the AC, had I checked the battery charger output before unplugging from shore power, or had I stopped to question the unusual start to our engine.
I made a rookie mistake, but we both learned.
After my usual pre-sail checks, I went to start the Yanmar to get it warmed up before we took off. I turn the key, press the start button and the starter weakly kicks in but the engine doesn't start. I press it again, longer, and the engine starts, but very weakly and seem to struggle a bit before finally getting to that smooth sound I'm used to. Whew! I ignorantly chalk it up to being one of the first times this season the engine has started.
We have a wonderful sail. 8 hours on the lake and I set us up so that we could sail into the sunset on the way back to the marina. Heaven!
The sun sets and it's time to start the engine, drop sails, and head to the marina. This time when I hit the start button there was nothing. Not good, but I'm on Battery 1 and we still have Battery 2. I switch to Battery 2 and we get the same struggling we had when we first started and for a moment I thought we were screwed. Finally the engine catches, my heart drops back down out of my throat, and I breath again.
Motoring back to the slip I'm pondering what could have happened. The batteries are only 2 years old. After tying up at the slip and talking out loud my wife tells me that when she first got on board went to use the microwave and it didn't work. She worked backwards through the system and finally got it working after both turning the power pedestal breaker off and on and disconnecting and reconnecting the plug at the pedestal.
Either the breaker tripped or the cord had come loose at the pedestal and she hadn't told me. The batteries were powering the only load left energized, which was the refrigerator, drawing them down in the process. I could have easily detected something was wrong, even after she had got things sorted with the AC, had I checked the battery charger output before unplugging from shore power, or had I stopped to question the unusual start to our engine.
I made a rookie mistake, but we both learned.
