NTSB Report: We Could All Benefit from the Findings.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Similar engines and systems. This is a good read about deferred maintenance.

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/...ts/MAR1802.pdf

[Pascal]

Very interesting read, thank you for posting it

Amazing that the captain didn’t shut down the overheating engine right away, or at least right after turning around in the narrow channel. Onviously the license mills don’t teach basic common sense.

Equally amazing is how the USCG inspectors passed the vessel with a flawed fuel system. First the valve cannot be fully opened because the handle bumps into the sight gauge elbow... the the valve doesn’t have a safety catch to prevent it from beeping bumped. But worst the sight gauge is teed after the valve. Within two engines and three tanks you can be sure the crew left the balancing valves open at all time... and a single clamp on the cheap clear hose. Nice.

We can all learn from this report

[motoryacht lover]

Pascal, I understand the captain initially not shutting down the engine at the initial sounding of the alarm. I have been told to not shut down a overheated engine right away so as to let it cool a bit because we have all seen how the engine’s temp will spike higher on fast shutdown possibly doing further damage. After investigation of the engine room and seeing the wet spot he should have shut it down. The engine was most likely not circulating any seawater, thus overheat only going to get worse. But I definetly learned some things by reading report.

[Pascal]

It s a valid point unless you also an alarm on the exhaust temperature. Still if after 30 seconds backnatnidlenand the temp doesn't start coming down, you have to shut it down.

[rwappleton]

Interesting read for sure. Lots of things in the report to question why on all sides. I for sure learned a lot. Thanks for sharing.

[jrbrein]

Robert,

Thank you for your post!

Jon

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

You're welcome. I'm addicted to reading the NTSB reports. This one stood out because of the similarities between the accident vessel and our boats. I've read nearly all of the reports over time. While the scale of the typical marine disaster dwarfs our boats' potential, there is usually a common thread of poor seamanship, lack of maintenance or just a bad case of the dumb-ass (with which we can sometimes relate, speaking of others you understand).

[Avenger]

I always find accident investigation fascinating as well.

Just to bring personal experience into it. My boat had been sitting for a long time before last spring so I had it hauled and cleaned. When brought it back I put it up on top to see how things were running, and the stbd engine started to get past operating temp. I immediately brought it back to idle and monitored the temp., as we seem to agree, hoping to prevent a thermal spike. But when it showed no signs of recovering I shut it down.

Since I was singlehanding I couldn't do more than give a quick glance to make sure I hadn't popped a hose and wasn't flooding the boat. I idled back to the dock on one engine, restarted the hot engine to dock and shut it back down ASAP. The "non-accident investigation" revealed a bad water pump bearing that the engine could tolerate at low RPM, but when throttled up it broke the pump's V-belt. Probably because it was caught early the engine didn't experience a temperature spike, and no more harm was done than having to rebuild a pair of water pumps. Because, you know, you don't buy just one shoe.

So, similar scenario with no cooling water, but a very different result.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

I always find accident investigation fascinating as well. Just to bring personal experience into it. My boat had been sitting for a long time before last spring so I had it hauled and cleaned. When brought it back I put it up on top to see how things were running, and the stbd engine started to get past operating temp. I immediately brought it back to idle and monitored the temp., as we seem to agree, hoping to prevent a thermal spike. But when it showed no signs of recovering I shut it down. Since I was singlehanding I couldn't do more than give a quick glance to make sure I hadn't popped a hose and wasn't flooding the boat. I idled back to the dock on one engine, restarted the hot engine to dock and shut it back down ASAP. The "non-accident investigation" revealed a bad water pump bearing that the engine could tolerate at low RPM, but when throttled up it broke the pump's V-belt. Probably because it was caught early the engine didn't experience a temperature spike, and no more harm was done than having to rebuild a pair of water pumps. Because, you know, you don't buy just one shoe.So, similar scenario with no cooling water, but a very different result.

Great story. Similarly, I had an over temp first day out on a ten day cruise summer of ‘16. Like yours, mine didn’t get better. So I shut down at just below 200. A hose clamp failed putting about eight gallons of coolant in the engine bed. Returned ten miles to dock Freebird style. Next day replaced all clamps on both because ... you don’t buy just one case of clamps.

[oscarvan]

I'm addicted to reading the NTSB reports.

In the course of my career I've been fed quite a few aviation related (large carrier aircraft) reports. Generally the accidents end in a big mess with a lot of loss of life. They are sobering, and on more than one occasion I thought back to one as I encountered something that was a link in the chain of that particular event.