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Old 05-19-2017, 10:27 AM   #1
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First Damage!

Thought you guys might be interested in this.

First Damage! | AtAnchor.com
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Old 05-19-2017, 11:56 AM   #2
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My dad used to say that things like that were "tuition in the school of hard knocks". Not too much damage but a lesson well learned.


Thanks for sharing your tale with us. I guess I never thought about having to turn on the electronic controls. Hmmmmmm.
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Old 05-19-2017, 12:05 PM   #3
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Two things impressed me in a positive way. One was your response to dropping the anchor and the fact that Sian did so immediately when you said without hesitation. That's a good team. Second, that afterwards you looked at what happened and carefully analyzed it and I believe did figure out what happened. So, a lesson learned with minimal damage. Also, impressed that even with all that you took evasive actions best as you could to avoid other boats.
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:03 PM   #4
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Kudos on minimizing damage.

I have had two incidents of uncommanded gear/throttle actions with electronic controls, both scary as heck and pure luck was what prevented damage. Always keep in mind what you will do if the controls will not respond.

From the write up, it is not clear to me what exactly caused the problem? Bug in the software?
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:30 PM   #5
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Ski, I believe when I went back to the FB and I concurrently pressed active/active and pulled back the gear lever I did not allow the handshake between the upper control and the controller. This resulted in the controller not knowing where to take signals from.
My mech is a Glendinning guy so I will discuss with him when I get back - maybe even try to replicate the issue when tied up to home dock

And yes, engines not responding to the controls when in gear in a marina is not a feeling I ever want to experience again.
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Old 05-19-2017, 01:56 PM   #6
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Title "First Damage" makes it sound like you're expecting many more.
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Old 05-19-2017, 03:34 PM   #7
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I'm an electronics engineer, doing industrial controls, remote sensing, and "bullet-proofing" electronics that has to survive lightning.

I would not have a fly-by-wire control system in my boat. I'm on the fence with electronic engines, too.
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Old 05-19-2017, 04:05 PM   #8
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I'm an electronics engineer, doing industrial controls, remote sensing, and "bullet-proofing" electronics that has to survive lightning.

I would not have a fly-by-wire control system in my boat. I'm on the fence with electronic engines, too.
Funny, I am as well and don't want them either. The thought of failure has not allowed me to"upgrade" from my old school cable system.
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Old 05-19-2017, 04:35 PM   #9
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Funny, I am as well and don't want them either. The thought of failure has not allowed me to"upgrade" from my old school cable system.
Wifey B: Sure glad I'm not an engineer as I like electric stuff.
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Old 05-19-2017, 04:41 PM   #10
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I always put the engines in forward and reverse briefly before we cast off any lines just in case a shift cable is stuck or something else is wrong.
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Old 05-19-2017, 04:54 PM   #11
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Oh, let me count the ways...

I've had the tower steering work backwards due to a plumbing mixup. My fault.

Others have had the props put on the wrong side. That's exciting!

I've had one case on my boat of an operator grab the SHIFT lever at full cruise speed. He was used to single controls. I had 4 at each station. Now, that is one case where electronic controls will help.

Oh, one more. My friend was taking a 46' sail into a Ft Lauderdale fuel dock. He hit reverse and the prop shaft removed itself from the coupler. Thereby, spearing the gas pump with the bowsprit.
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:05 PM   #12
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I always put the engines in forward and reverse briefly before we cast off any lines just in case a shift cable is stuck or something else is wrong.
Bingo!
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:14 PM   #13
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I'm an electronics engineer, doing industrial controls, remote sensing, and "bullet-proofing" electronics that has to survive lightning.

I would not have a fly-by-wire control system in my boat. I'm on the fence with electronic engines, too.
I'm with Dave. The feds are not to keen to them either after medical patients have been X-Rayed to death by software glitches in digital systems.
My son-in-law works on a ferry that was just repowered with brand new electronic controls. While at normal cruise speed out of nowhere, BOTH transmissions simultaneously shifted to REVERSE!!! A couple drops of saltwater got into a control board that shifted control location.
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:18 PM   #14
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OK guys, enough of the horror stories, we ain't home yet!
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:18 PM   #15
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HW; I just finished a control room design for Prarie Island nuke. Was yours Crystal river?
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:25 PM   #16
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Right here in NJ
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Old 05-19-2017, 05:44 PM   #17
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HW; sorry, the W FL hailing port threw me off. Yes, Menzies, you have created a monster here.
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Old 05-19-2017, 08:02 PM   #18
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Snapped a transmission cable last year shortly after we bought her, so even wired systems can fail.
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Old 05-19-2017, 08:10 PM   #19
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Sigh!
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Old 05-19-2017, 10:57 PM   #20
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Sigh!
Just being a devil's advocate, Menzies, but would all that have been avoided if you had not gone up to the flybridge to manoeuvre, but just stayed more in touch with things right there in your lovely raised pilothouse..? The place all the controls default to I assume..? Just sayin'..?

Although having the need to wait briefly for important stuff to talk to each other was a good thing to find out. But the time to find it out coulda been better, for sure.

I remember the days way back when we had a boat with upper and lower helms, but even though manual, you had to consciously use a lever of some sort to pass control from lower helm to upper & back, and even then I managed to screw up one time and arrived at a helm, can't remember whether it was upper or lower now, and could not get control without zooming back to the other to move that lever. I give thanks our present boat, being even older, has absolutely simple, always linked, upper and lower controls, so what one does at one helm is duplicated at the other. Works for me. But I always manoeuvre from the lower helm to be closer to the centre of things, including the anchor switch, (the upper one has no chain counter), better depth sounder, and to be able to leap out to help docking, etc. And heck. I don't even have a raised pilothouse. To me, they make the flybridge redundant for most occasions, except great weather and wildlife spotting. But that's just me, I guess.
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