Confession

Boy I screwed up this last weekend. Luckily I figured out what was going on before there were any consequences.

I was frequenting the local most popular water destination in the area...Outriggers. There is always a crowd here and you are definitely on stage while you are maneuvering. I take great pride in handling my boat and due to my job, I don't suffer from anxiety from being on stage. SO it was time to leave. For the past 30 minutes while hanging around I was going through my options and strategies. It was pretty straight forward but still I wanted to be sure. I was bow into the tide with a boat right behind me...stern to stern. And bridge supports in front of me....so limited room to maneuver forward and aft. So I knew I could just basically walk the boat out as the tide was in my favor.

So we get the ines off and a friendly nudge and everything is going as planned. A little port throttle followed by a little starboard...the "falling leaf" in reverse. The only problem....the starboard engine is not responding......I FORGOT TO START THE STARBOARD ENGINE!!!!! I guess I got distracted right in the middle of starting the engines. Anyway, I hit the key and the engine started immediately as it always does. No worse for the wear and likely no one watching could even notice my screw up. Anyway, a totally boneheaded move.

In my line of work, our ultimate goal is to avoid consequences of your errors. And I did do that. But I did get to the point of an "unsafe aircraft state"(in this case a boat). And that is the final level before consequences occur. Luckliy I caught it and corrected before those consequences happened.

What could I do to prevent this in the future??? Maybe a conscious "exercising" of the throttles and note a response on the tachs??? Dunno.

Note to self: Don't fly with Baker. He forgets to start some of the engines.

Everyone makes mistakes. I'd use a checklist.

I've done plenty of dumb stuff, but I haven't had the pleasure of being in this particular situation... Yet. Generally I start em both up, and let them get up to temperature before I shove off. I'll check the gauges several times before I let go, which I think is a good habit.

Last season I had a couple of badly adjusted shift cables, so my engines would cut out when I was making locks and docks on a fairly regular basis. It's quite frustrating. I feel your pain.

All's well that ends well. I bet nobody even noticed.

We use the bow line held by one of us on the foredeck along with a big fender between the bow and the dock and swing the stern out 60 degrees or more with opposing thrust against the bow line and hard over rudder to get off a dock we're being blown onto or out from between boats immediately in front of or behind us. Works great every time.

As to remembering to start both engines, every time we do an engine start the other person (my wife or me) goes back and watches the exhausts at startup to make sure there's the proper water flow, check for rust in the first shot of water out the pipes, etc. Pretty hard to forget to start an engine when you've got someone standing there watching the exhausts.

Check list on clipboard the one for leaving a spot on a day trip is a different list then the list leaving my marina but very similar

jwnall said:

Note to self: Don't fly with Baker. He forgets to start some of the engines.

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We have detailed checklists and procedures that prevent that.

The funny thing about having lots of experience and practice on your boat it helps you look good when things are going normal. It also helps bail your arse out of big trouble when things aren't going normal.


In your situation it helped you recognize what was wrong and how to fix the problem before the proverbial feathers hit the fan.


Nice recovery.


As to your question about preventive measures--I always give the throttles a slight nudge before I move. Most importantly, I like the sound of the Cats when they start to purr. Secondly, it's a verification that boat Cats are purring, one ain't still asleep.

GFC said:

The funny thing about having lots of experience and practice on your boat it helps you look good when things are going normal. It also helps bail your arse out of big trouble when things aren't going normal.


In your situation it helped you recognize what was wrong and how to fix the problem before the proverbial feathers hit the fan.


Nice recovery.


As to your question about preventive measures--I always give the throttles a slight nudge before I move. Most importantly, I like the sound of the Cats when they start to purr. Secondly, it's a verification that boat Cats are purring, one ain't still asleep.

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Yep...I agree. I guess that is what they call "experience".

And I was thinking the same thing. Just an exercising of the throttles and check the movement on the tach. Of course....I don't expect to make this mistake again. And is a stupid one and one of those you can't really imagine happening. But it did.

Baker said:

What could I do to prevent this in the future???.

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Get a single engine boat. :lol:

In all seriousness, glad all ended well.

jwnall said:

Note to self: Don't fly with Baker. He forgets to start some of the engines.

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I would not go as far as a blanket statement like that....only fly with him in a Schweizer!

I think you already did what you need to do.


I didn't start my single engine... day 3 out returning home after buying the boat. After casting off from a fuel dock I put her in gear and nothing happened.


Genset was running and not having a genset on the last boat...the sound triggered that I was already started.


Never again...pilots usually that last a career have the knack of NEVER doing the same stupid thing 2X...otherwise they never usually last a career.


Actually ...you also hit the real nail....before leaving a dock...checking fwd/rev each engine is a good thing to do for a lot of reasons let alone seeing if the engine is hot and bothered.

Baker, like on the plane, you should have gotten on the hailer, and said something like. . . . .

Folks if you liked that it was on one engine. Now, for my next trick I will start the other engine.

See, then it's all in the plan.

I am amazed you could get a boat the size of yours in there. I came by Saturday about 2:00 as the storm chased us off the Bay and it was packed. I certainly know what you mean by being on stage.
By the way, where is Turtle Club & Sam's? I'm looking for dining options.

Rafe

Baker said:

What could I do to prevent this in the future??? Maybe a conscious "exercising" of the throttles and note a response on the tachs??? Dunno.

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Don't you use a "check list" in your line of work?
Might work on the boat too!
I applaud your admitting a really bone head move although I have never done anything like that!

Guarantee you will never do that again...check list or not.

Sounds to me like your problem was you got distracted and then allowed yourself to continue where you THOUGHT you left off. When I am getting ready to leave the dock, (or anchor, or return to the dock, or launch the dinghy, etc.) I let everyone know not to distract me unless they are concerned about an imminent problem that they don't think I am aware of. If there is an interruption, I ignore it if possible (and tell whomever, thanks, but hold that thought). If the interruption requires my attention, I pretty much start the sequence over.

MYTraveler said:

When I am getting ready to leave the dock, (or anchor, or return to the dock, or launch the dinghy, etc.) I let everyone know not to distract me unless they are concerned about an imminent problem that they don't think I am aware of.

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I do exactly the same thing, although I get a lot of flack from my wife. We went out for a run yesterday and I must admit that she is really rounding in to a great crewman. She handles all the lines, fenders and stows everything before we depart & unties the boat in a specific routine. While cruising, she relieves me at the helm, operates the auto pilot & constantly scans the instruments and chart plotter for possible problems. When docking, again her responsibilities include fenders down, lines at the ready, telling me when we are in the right place in the slip, (I have no visual reference as to how far my bow is from the dock) she steps off, cleats the port stern line, cleats both spring lines then continues to secure the rest of the boat.

It's only taken us about 20 years to achieve this performance. Instead of yelling at one another, I turn one of the VHF radios to channel 71, she does the same with the handheld and we communicate like that. I think a good set of walkie talkies are in our future, though.

Taken yesterday

When the dock step is aligned with the side door, she tells me to stop and we are in the perfect position in our slip.

The best training I endured for such crap shoots was moorage on Vancouver's Fraser River. Nothing like a speedy little current at 90 degrees to get your attention as you think of idling out.

What I learned was to find an exact line of escape and then try to crab there by degrees, leaving some time and chance for a power adjustment if needed (twins). But if you haven't done it enough, you can't do it at all, and as the crowd gathers...bowsprits become bumpers and apology pulpits...

You are working on preventing repetition, but if it never happened before(?) maybe it`s a casual oversight. Find why it happened, maybe you`ll eliminate the cause. But if it turns out a momentary distraction, not every risk can be eliminated.
I try to learn from my mistakes. I liked watching old hands run a trial, you could see they`d confronted problem "X" 10 times in their career, tried multiple ways of dealing with it, and found the one that worked best.

Let's all be honest about something right now before this thread goes much further. This is John Baker we are talking about becoming sidetracked on his boat... Really??


Have any of you seen the photographs of the distractions that he routinely takes aboard his boat??? Only way to cure his distraction at the helm is the same way his employer does, limit public access to the cockpit.

CPseudonym said:

Have any of you seen the photographs of the distractions that he routinely takes aboard his boat??? Only way to cure his distraction at the helm is the same way his employer does, limit public access to the cockpit.

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Great point and right on the money!

Ok, I'll confess too. I changed the Racors on my starboard engine. Started the engine and let it run a few minutes to be sure I didn't have any air in the system. Then I attempted to increase the RPMs to be extra sure. I moved the throttle forward and the engine remained at idle! Pushed the throttle further and nothing. Glanced at the tach and it was at zero. Yep, I had started the port engine in error. I was so happy it was just a mistake and not another boat dollar lurking in the engine room.

Howard

No worries John, when I was going into CHS last year, as I got close to the marina I turned the wheel and nothing happen. Current was pretty strong and I didn't have much time. So as I started to panic I finally remembered I forgot to turn the auto-pilot off.

CPseudonym said:

Let's all be honest about something right now before this thread goes much further. This is John Baker we are talking about becoming sidetracked on his boat... Really??


Have any of you seen the photographs of the distractions that he routinely takes aboard his boat??? Only way to cure his distraction at the helm is the same way his employer does, limit public access to the cockpit.

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Yes but his distractions have very noticeable twins...like his boat....

Don't beat your self up Baker! We all have those situations where we did or didn't do something critical. The main thing is that you assessed the situation, didn't panic and solved the problem. Nobody probably even noticed (except your deck honeys that you told later). Kudos

As others have said, that's a little mistake you'll never repeat. The only harm was to the captain's ego, but in my experience, that's sufficient damage.

Single-handing on one fine, still, mirror-calm morning: started the engine, took in the fenders, dropped the lines, sauntered casually back to the helm (imagining that my uber-coolness was being admired), moved shifter into forward, eased throttle in same direction, and . . . nothing happened. Could I be aground in my own slip? Could the shaft have come uncoupled in the night? I hurried to the stern to check for prop wash, and found the starboard stern line still cleated off, excess neatly flaked on deck. Immediate next step: look around carefully to see if my uber-cool was still being admired. Then, very casually, uncleat and drop remaining dock line.

Yeah - that's one mistake I won't make again. There'll be others.

Hang a little sign on the throttle that says, "Did you start the engine. If so, then you remembered to open the throughull". Kill two birds with one stone.

Well, if confession is good for the soul, here's mine.

I was coming out of the channel at Isles Yacht Club, Punta Gorda into Charlotte Harbor. The boat was struggling to get on plane. It would only do 15 knots. So, I pushed both throttles to wide open. Didn't help. I looked down the starboard tach read O. I had failed to start the starboard engine. The good new is the boat will do 15 knots on one engine. I was a little embarrassed to say the least. I just said, "Alright folks let's just start over.