Staying Cool would of worked my first incident!!!!!!

[Gina Marie]

I took my second trip with the Gina Marie July 15 to the Plantation Marina in the Keys with another Hatteras owner I met at Sams in Fort Lauderdale. She was a 36 Hatteras called "She's All Hatt". She's All Hatt had arrived the week before and I was meeting them for a month stay. I planned out the trip and I left Hillsboro at 8:00 AM I was lucky my mechanic Ted who turned out to be a friend accompanied me. His family and mine were to meet us that evening. We charted and mapped the trip and stayed diligent with our chartplotter as we navigated this trip taking the inside rather than the outside ocean side.

The trip was going great She was running at 20Kts at 1800/1900 RPM's the water was flat and the day could not be better. This whole trip my only concern was water depth. Once we entered Stiltsville just south of Miami Inlet the water went from 35 feet to 5 to 7 feet and I never saw anything over 10 feet again. Our eyes were glued to the maps/charts and depth finder and it was not very well marked. The trip was going well until we began our approach to a very narrow canal just west of Jewfish Inlet Bridge were as I was approaching the mouth of the inlet had a marker dead center within the canal. This canal could not have been more than 45 feet wide. As I approached I was uncertain as to the entrance. A smaller boat was exiting the canal and I was standing off as I gave him the right of way. At this time I could not have been more than 50 feet to the marker and the current was pushing towards the marker and my forward momentum added to my movement. I was in neutral trying to decide port or starboard of the marker before I put the Gina Maria in gear the depth finder alarm sounder went off I had it set for 6 feet and my son who was on the bow shouted Dad it looks low. I immediately decided to stop the slow movement of the my boat and review the area. Although we were in no danger the boat was not in gear moving ever so slowly being pushed by her early momentum and current I put her in reverse to stop her and thats went it all went BAD. The boat stalled. The warning buzzers on both my port and starboard engines sounded I looked up and saw the marker coming closer I tried to restart the engines but nothing, the keys were dead and I could not hear the engines start. My son immediatley took a bumper that we had forward and put it between the rub rail and the marker anticipating a collision. I tried to figure out why she would not start but it was to late we bounced off the marker and thanks to the quick thinking of my son the boat in slow motion bounced off the marker. At that time Ted came up from the salon and instruction me to put the boat in neutral as it was still in reverse and start it I started immediatley and I was able to slow the boat in reverse but not until I suffered damage to my outrigger. When I look back on this it all happened so fast I mean within seconds. So although I had many years of experience I never had this situation happen to me "engined stall". And I must admit I did panic or better yet froze. I called Rupp the next day and order the damaged parts . No one got hurt except for my pride. We dove the bottom and all was well I guess I was lucky. But I did learn or shall I say experienced that you should have a mental escape plan. Nothing takes the place of experience and level heads. Thanks to Ted and Thomas my son. You can bet on our trip home next week I will be on my toes.

 

[MikeP]

Valuable story...

Goes to show that regardless of planning and diligence, sh1t happens that is difficult to deal with at the time. With luck, the "damage" - whether physical or mental, is minimal and it becomes a learning experience and, later, a funny story! "Hey, remember the time at the Jewfish inlet bridge when the engines..."

Glad it turned out reasonably well!

One point that I wasn't sure about - after the engines stalled and wouldn't restart immediately. They were still in gear, right? Therefore the neutral start switches prevented the starter from cranking? Then as soon as you put them in neutral, they cranked/started OK?

In my previous boat, I bypassed the neutral start switches. I realize many folks would call that a safety hazard but I consider the neutral start switches to be the real safety hazard (and another thing to go wrong).

 

[wshelton]

A tragic event took place here in memphis a few years back. A gentleman purchased a friend of mine's 39' Marrinett. It was on a weekend during Memorial Day this guy took the boat out with sveral guests aboard. At near dusk he hailed the Coast Guard he had lost power in the channel(MIss. R.). and could not restart the engines. Of course the CG suggested he throw an anchor over, which he attempted to do. Unfortunately in this current and depth it would take a prayer for it to catch. Before anyone could assist, he drifted into a stationary barge. All the guest jumped OB while he stayed on. The boat when under the barg and sank several hundred feet behind this barge. He was missing and presumed dead. While a seach did turn up his body several days later nearly 80 miles south of the incident the boat remained on the bottom. About two weeks later the water level of the river dropped so the boat could be raised. I have a good friend that owns a marina here and he was hired to raise the boat. Thats another story in itself. At any rate there were numerous speculation as to why the boat failed. Remember this was a friend of mine's boat and I knew it to be in proper running condition. When the boat was finally pulled from the bottom by my friend, he later told me the clutches were still in forward. Although, this guy was a novus, even us seasoned guys need to take heed. FWIW, mine will start in gear, too.

 

[Traveler 45C]

I hate those "Freeze-up" situations.

Good thinking by your son!
What caused the engines to stall? Did you go aground?

 

[Pascal]

I very familiar with that run, PYH is one of my favorite place!

when running on the bay side, the key not to get confused in the ... keys.... is to remember that red is bad meaning stop / don't go and that will always be on mainland side. Green is on the ocean side.

I can't remember what color that marker is, at the entrance of Jewfish channel, I think it's green so it's on the ocean side of the channel, to your left heading south.

there is plenty of water there, so you must have been on the wrong side... did the engines stall because you touched the bottom?

rigging a fender is a smart move, but (excuse me if i state the obvious- others are reading this) always warn your crew to never try to fend off by trying to push off a piling or marker. very dangerous obviously, gelcoat is easier to fix than a limb.

There a a few shallow spots on the ICW in the upper keys. one is at the entrance of the next creek, dusenberry, when you exti jewfish, you have a short run across a sound and the entrance to dusenberry is sort of hidden in the mangrove. you have 2 markers, a small red day marker well to stbd and then a larger green lit marker to port (ocean side). at low tide, you have some 4 1/2 to 5' spots between both markers. you may want to be at idle to make sure the stern doesn't squat increasing your draft. when I see sand getting stirred, I know it's time to slow dow...

the next shallow area will be a few miles up... after dusenberyr creek, you have another small sound to cross which gets you to a narrow cut, that is well marked, it's narrow but plenty of water. after that cut you get in a long run along the north side of Key Largo heading towards Pigeon Key. Stay right in the channel in the first mile, and take it slow, again 4.5 to 5' at low tide.

the approach to PYH is deep enough but if you head south from PYH to go to the ocean side, dont' hug the shoreline... head straight from PYH to near the ICW before turning south. there are some 4' spots near shore... that was the only time i ever hit bottom in 20 years of boating... rght after i got the 53... i was running around 1300rpm but the few inches of squatting were all it took for the "keel" to touch. that protected the props and as soon as i switched to neutral and back to dead idle, i was fine.

Other than that, plenty of water and it's all well marked. just remember that the red markers are on the mainland side.

 

[34Hatt]

Thanks for sharing that, it will help all of us to remember about the shifter being in gear. And the main thing no one got hurt and you are still cruising hope the rest of the trip is a quiet one.
Dan

 

[MikeP]

Adding to a really good point by Pascal...

Last week at Norwalk, we were moving slowly out of the slip. One of our fenders rolled up between the boat and finger and it somehow caught on a dock cleat. I couldn't see any of this from the helm. I heard a creaking sort of sound and, at the same time, the Admiral hollered STOP and ran to where the fender was attached to the rail and started to grab the fender line.

I yelled, "Leave it alone" as I reversed the engines. But being determined to prevent damage to her boat, she tried to unhook the fender. Luckily, when she got there, the boat was almost stopped and she ended up with only a painful bruise on two fingers of her right hand where they ended up jammed between the rope and the rail.

She was upset because some of the finish on the rail was abraded away. I was really mad at her for worrying about the finish on the rail instead of herself. She said she was afraid the rail would break. I told her that replacement railing is available by the foot; her hand isn't. She seemed to think she could lift a fender in one direction while a 55,000 pound boat pulled it in a different direction. I'm HOPING that given the same situation she won't do it again. I'm not convinced that is the case, however.

 

[Genesis]

Yep.

Standing orders on my boat are that you NEVER place any part of your body between the vessel and any fixed object. NEVER. Everyone who comes aboard for the first time hears that lecture along with the rest (where the life jackets are, where the ditch bag is, etc.)

Even if I'm about to crunch the boat bigtime.

LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE.

I can fix the boat; that only requires a bit of money, and besides, if I crunch it, its my fault. You can't fix an amputated hand, arm or leg, and 50,000lbs of boat WILL remove whatever is in the way.

My engines will start in gear as there is no neutral safety switch on them. I know that there are people who argue that said switch should be there, but IMHO they're a menace for exactly the reason the OP discovered. Whether the switch was never present or some former owner removed it I do not know.

 

[Pascal]

I have no safety switches on my 53 either... i only started in gear once, i think one of the cats must have leaned on the shifters a little too hard and i didn't notice. no big deal... i could feel right away that the trannies were engaging as pressure came up. it's not like the boat is gong to roar away!

my instructions to everyone on the boat are not to try to help with anything. simple. these boats are too heavy.


hey mike, does your wife has a sister

 

[Gina Marie]

Thanks for all the reply's and words of confidence. It is surprising how fast it happens. The thread about the captain who died just goes to show us how really dangerous this realy could be.

To answer the question my engines stalled because I put her in reverse while I was in a forward motion and the boat would not start because I left her in gear. There was no damage to the running gear and bottom as I did not ground out.

The irony is that the boat had no neutral switch and both Ted my mechanic and I thought it was impertative to have so I just installed it before I left for the trip.

When I think about my son on the bow you are right and I will add this to my departure lecture do not try and stop a 45000+ LBS from hitting anything I can repair the boat great advice. Thank You Genesis

Thank you Pascal I am printing out this page and leaving it on the bridge.

Thank you MikeP996 you are right I never lived it down Sat. Night the day after the incident we were the only vessel out their with one outrigger down and we still caught fish. I had to buy beers that night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No one got hurt and I learned a lesson don't let your guard down. I quess that's why they call us the captains.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

My dad had a 4300 Tiara Open with 6v92TA's. He called me to assist as the engines would not start. I found the nuetral safety switches had failed and I had to bypass them to start the engines. I later replaced them, but I was thinking at the time that it was kind of a waste of money and time to do so.

 

[Pascal]

i'm on the boat now, so i ot charts..

leavin pyh head straith for icw, about 340de. don't turn too soon either way.

headin north, first shallow spot mentioned is between 58a and 57, that's riht before baker's cut at the entrance of butonwood sound.

next one is at the exit of duseberry creek, riht past 41.

for both spots, keep it slow, 4 1/2 to 5 at low tide.

 

[Gina Marie]

Keep sending them I am printing them. The next best thing is to take you with me. Thanks

 

[garyd]

As regards to keeping body parts away from between two very large one moving object.

I was at a boat show and a lady walked by with 4 very large pins sticking out of four fingers. As I somewhat knew them I asked what the heck happened.
She and her husband related the story. Simple docking, she was putting the line on the cleat. When her had was between the cleat and the line (eyelet) he got a little nervous and put it in gear. They said the rope happen to be at the top joint of each finger, they (the tip of her fingers) just popped off slick as a whistle. They gathered them up took her to emergency where they reattached them.

OUCH

I very rarely let anyone help me with the lines unless they are a seasoned boater.

have fun boating garyd.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Interesting thread...and it says something about this forum that folks are comfortable on it enough to post this kind of account. I find that people generally try to put their foot or leg over the side and push away from the dock etc. I have had the same rule that Karl does for decades- no part of anyone's body between the boat and any other object- boat, piling, dock, whatever.
We've all had one of these- mine was, coming into Herrington Harbour up here, years ago, on my Striker 44: this is a very narrow channel with a rock jetty each side, about fifty feet wide and not that much width of navigable water. MLW is maybe six feet. Outside the channel, I stopped the boat to let everyone exiting the channel get out- stopping the boat meant briefly reversing her, then taking her out of gear. When I reengaged forward L&R, and pushed up the throttles, she spun in a circle. Interesting!
What had happened was that one transmission shift lever had chosen that moment to break off. The gear was still in reverse (I figured this out later)- I got into Herrington on one engine, sort of crabwise (after all, this is Maryland), and the next day rigged something with ViseGrips to shift the gear so I could get home. I will, however, always remember hitting the throttles and having the boat spin underneath me. First I thought it was caught on something underwater- a pot line or something. It took me a few minutes to get ahead of what was going on. Not a great boating moment.

 

[Top Shelf]

Wheels hit bottom or shaft delay?

I'm familiar with the Jewfish creek channel as well. Did you bump bottom and that's what stalled the engines or was it a shaft dealy issue?

On my 48, I've got to be mindful of shaft delay, and forward speed otherwise the drop into reverse will kill the motors.....and I've had a few of these dead motor episodes myself, usually in a marina with the current ripping and a $Billion dollars in hardware all around

 

[MikeP]

Jim - good story that once again highlights the versatility of Vice Grips! My first use of them in that manner was when the shift lever on my '71 Commando broke!

 

[Pascal]

re fingers and lines, this is why i leave the loops dockside and tie the bitter end on the boat at my home slip. it's not only much easier to work the line on cleat to position the boat but less risk to get fingers caught in the loop.

at transient docks, i use the loop on the boat and the bitter end on the dock since that's usually where the lines will adjusted.

i recall some articles about throwing the loop end to whoever is on the dock so that you don't relinquish control to a stranger, it may seem logical but dangerous with a large boat... i don't want someone to get their fingers crushed...

another common accident waiting to happen: clueless skippers who bring the boat bow first, stop and expect their crew to jump over the rail from at the bow. couple of weeks ao, i saw a woman endin up in the drink, her head missin the concrete dock by inches...husband at the helm of new SR340 was incapable of brinin the stern in. i saw another another one yesterday almost fallin in too. there is no way to safely step over a bow rail onto a dock!

ok.... one last funny one. Ocean 50ish docked side to. very little wind. skipper couldn't get it off the dock. tried pushin manually ... after 5 minutes he threw a line to a center console to be pulled off the dock... both enignes / tranny were fine, i saw him turning around once he was pulled off the dock.

 

[spartonboat1]

I develop very large computer systems for a living...did I mention I have grown to dislike computers, esp. PC's...but I digress. One reason I like the old, pre DDEC DD's is that other than the starter button/switch, there is no electronics between me and the power and the boat- only the handle and control cable...simple, simple... and I like it.

Ask anyone with a GM car, when the chk engine light comes on. $250 later you are told, oh, the vapor pressure switch went out on the emissions system and we replaced everything, including a new gas cap...yeesh.

Current saying...complex rules makes for simple reactions...simple rules (and systems) allow complex responses...

 

[Genesis]

Yep.

I do network (including internet) systems design and implementation, and have for two decades.

I really like my mechanical Detroits. Noisy, thirsty, anti-social - and once running will remain so as long as they have cooling water, fuel and air.

There's something comforting about that when you're 100nm+ from the nearest land.....