Mistakes

[grahamdouglass]

Mistakes are subtle, easy to make. What looks obvious is not always the case. But not checking the direction of an install, especially when you had taken pictures before the tear down is a pretty basic mistake. So, a lesson to those who do before thinking, try thinking before doing.

Fortunately, this mistake just means half an hour, on my side, in my engine room in a somewhat uncomfortable position.

 

[koliver]

Mistakes are subtle, easy to make. What looks obvious is not always the case. But not checking the direction of an install, especially when you had taken pictures before the tear down is a pretty basic mistake. So, a lesson to those who do before thinking, try thinking before doing.

Fortunately, this mistake just means half an hour, on my side, in my engine room in a somewhat uncomfortable position.

Most of us can recall a few of those wasted contortionist hours. You can be forgiven, if you tell what you wasted your 1/2 hour on.

 

[High Wire]

Mistakes? Lots of fun! How about filling a gallon jug of used engine oil then while pulling out the pump discharge hose, knocking the jug over between the engine and stringer upside down! Fun ha ha!

 

[Comodave]

Mistakes? Lots of fun! How about filling a gallon jug of used engine oil then while pulling out the pump discharge hose, knocking the jug over between the engine and stringer upside down! Fun ha ha!

At least it wasn’t a 5 gallon bucket of oil…

 

[Osprey69]

I just mistaked my way through a holding tank install. Nothing that could not be undone, but many a %^**@(!!^^ was heard emanating from the engine room.

But The Admiral is very used to that.

Another reason to improve sound deadening in the ER.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Yep done that seen that. My poop pump is under a hatch in the galley. Pump blew, I lifted the hatch, BEFORE turning off the pump!

Admiral called her friend and I was instructed to fix it, clean it and then call her for inspection.

Another? A 5-gallon bucket of fuel in the cockpit while I was working on the genset. Picked up bucket. Bucket broke apart in several places. I immediately reached down and pushed the bilge pump switch down, while screaming at the Admiral to turn ALL the bilge pumps off. Big mess, but no fuel overboard.

 

[Comodave]

I just mistaked my way through a holding tank install. Nothing that could not be undone, but many a %^**@(!!^^ was heard emanating from the engine room.

But The Admiral is very used to that.

Another reason to improve sound deadening in the ER.

My wife used to ask me why I was so mad when working on the boat because I was swearing. I told her it was just part of working and I wasn’t really mad at anything.

 

[Gdavid]

The harder you hit that thumb with a hammer, the longer the lesson stays with you. 1/2 hour of wasted time is nothing, you are well ahead of the curve.

 

[Choices]

I regularly tell the wife to leave the area. It's always better to be pissed off alone.

 

[Gdavid]

My wife used to ask me why I was so mad when working on the boat because I was swearing. I told her it was just part of working and I wasn’t really mad at anything.

My brother was given a toy chainsaw as a gift when he was a toddler complete with a pull string. He would pull the sting and mutter something under his breath, eventually everyone figured out he was saying "sonofabit##" between each pull.

 

[grahamdouglass]

Seems like this thread has hit a chord. I guess mistakes are how wisdom is made and the older you get the more wisdom you make. The mistake I referred to in this post is that I installed my Webasto furnace backwards, it has to be flipped around.

 

[ScottC]

A carpenter once told me: "Measure twice. Cut once." While I've made plenty of mistakes over the years, very few have been due to measuring, as I always remember this.

 

[Shrew]

I regularly tell the wife to leave the area. It's always better to be pissed off alone.

My wife gave up asking if I was "ok" a LONG time ago. Now she just quietly stands by long enough to make sure I don't need real medical attention. She says she only worries when I stop swearing.

 

[Antares]

I certainly try and measure at least twice before cutting. An old mentor who was a carpenter also had a saying I still enjoy. "I've cut it twice and it's still too short."

 

[FF]

A multiple fitting job gets a metric ruler , as its easier to remember one number like 74 than what ever it is in inches and eighths.

I have learned the tic stick method is better for getting sizes just right.

 

[FWT]

"Mistakes, I've made a few.
But then again, too few to mention."

Sorry, I just had to hum the Old Blue Eyes tune.

 

[Max1]

I haven't made many mistakes as of now but given the amount of work needed on our project boat, I just know there will be something that will come up and bite me in the as$.

Ask me again about a year from now....

 

[SteveK]

Once way back I thought I was wrong, but it turned out I was mistaken.

 

[John R M]

I certainly try and measure at least twice before cutting. An old mentor who was a carpenter also had a saying I still enjoy. "I've cut it twice and it's still too short."

Having spent a number of years volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, I've heard that a lot. Too many weren't kidding.

 

[twistedtree]

My wife used to ask me why I was so mad when working on the boat because I was swearing. I told her it was just part of working and I wasn’t really mad at anything.

My wife still doesn’t understand that. It’s no different than taking a deep breath, except the air moves in the other direction.

 

[ktdtx]

"Measure twice. Cut once."

Then throw it away, get another piece of material, measure again and cut again.


Had someone install a new macerator. Check before leaving the dock---he put it in backwards.

 

[HeadMistress]

Had someone install a new macerator. Check before leaving the dock---he put it in backwards.

I managed to install a VF pump backwards after removing it to replace the duckbill valves...fortunately on my own boat.

There's an old saying "When all else fails, read the instructions." Better yet, read 'em BEFORE you fail. Then you can blame it on badly written instructions.

--Peggie

 

[rgano]

Mistakes? Lots of fun! How about filling a gallon jug of used engine oil then while pulling out the pump discharge hose, knocking the jug over between the engine and stringer upside down! Fun ha ha!

BEEN THERE! Plus letting the discharge hose of a drill pump get loose and spin dirty oil around the ER.

 

[koliver]

There's an old saying "When all else fails, read the instructions." Better yet, read 'em BEFORE you fail. Then you can blame it on badly written instructions.

--Peggie

That is getting harder to do, as now there are so many safety warnings ahead of the actual instructions, that the average old guy (who has read the safety instructions many times before) gets past the end of his attention span before even getting to the actual instructions. Then he (I) reverts to the "if all else fails" mantra.

Now I can blame the proliferation of safety warnings for my failures, under Peggy's heading "badly written instructions"

 

[rgano]

I once did not hang up properly after finishing a conversation with the wife, and she continued listening for a bit as I continued working away on the boat. She asked me if I knew I talked to myself while runminating on the project. My response was I don't enjoy working alone.

I was poking around under the boat once after both props had been reinstalled by the yard after some shaft work and could not understand why something did not look right. Then it came to me - they were on the wrong shafts.

 

[grahamdouglass]

Mistakes by professionals

When I first bought my boat in 2007 I had a tradesman rewire my start circuits and install an upgraded AC panel. It is now several years later and I just installed a Blue Seas 22 position DC panel. In doing so I became very aware of all things electrical. I discovered a host of very simple and stupid errors and mistakes that the electrician did on my AC wiring.

No cover on the back of the panel.
Did not connect the back lighting to the panel
Did not connect the indicator light on the panel for the main breaker and on one of the outlet breakers

But, in the end it was my mistake for not doing research on the installation of this panel so I would have a working knowledge of any problems with his work. A lesson to all in blindly trusting professionals.

 

[clburti]

Seems like this thread has hit a chord. I guess mistakes are how wisdom is made and the older you get the more wisdom you make. The mistake I referred to in this post is that I installed my Webasto furnace backwards, it has to be flipped around.

That great western philosopher, Will Rogers, may have said it best: "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."

 

[SteveK]

I once did not hang up properly after finishing a conversation with the wife, and she continued listening for a bit as I continued working away on the boat. She asked me if I knew I talked to myself while runminating on the project. My response was I don't enjoy working alone.

I was poking around under the boat once after both props had been reinstalled by the yard after some shaft work and could not understand why something did not look right. Then it came to me - they were on the wrong shafts.

Man that was a costly mistake. Pulling those shafts out swapping sides will take another day, I hope they write starboard and port on the props before they remove them or that will be another mistake.

 

[dathompson]

I thought it would be a clever idea to stir/mix a gallon of copper paint with my heavy duty drill press. Worked good on slow speed the first few times I tried it. The very last time the guy ahead of me on the machine left it in high speed mode. Of course I was in a rush, and did not check the belt position. The result was a copper paint bath. This was my very last gallon of that particular paint. The customer's boat was on the grid, and the tide was not going to wait.

 

[Comodave]

Seems like this thread has hit a chord. I guess mistakes are how wisdom is made and the older you get the more wisdom you make. The mistake I referred to in this post is that I installed my Webasto furnace backwards, it has to be flipped around.

So, did it cool the boat down?