Thruster cluster

[magna 6882]

Thought i would share a story with my forum friends.This happened is desolation while trying to set up a stern tie. WE had three boats and my boat was chosen for the main tie boat. We were i a cove with 14 knots at the pot side. I have large front and rear thrust-er. We dropped anchor and i back up to the tagline.I have rear camera so i can see the line and progress.
In the middle of the s**t show we lost one of the thrusters .the boat close close enough to canyon wall to require pike polls to hold the boat off the rock.We bailed and went to another site.
In looking back at what happened it was discovered a large current at the starboard side which at the time a didnt know. My intend was to control with wind push but in reality it was the current.Being a helicopter pilot i am trained to just use the inputs to make it happen.
In hindsight i was just naturally holding the boat steady but it was against the current and the wind was irrelevant. I ended up depleting the two battery banks. Now i had to hold the boat steady with the single engine and get out of there.
I didnt feel i was on the thrusters that much but my wife told me i was running them flat out at some points.
I was so focused on holding the boat steady that i wasn't aware of power consumption.Once we got stable i saw leaves floating by like
i was i a river.
I learned to do a better assessment of the area and try to be more aware of other systems. I just have one hand on the joysticks and it comes naturally to maneuver without really thinking.My wife thinks i was treating like a colective on a helicopter and placing it where it needed to be.Shes a good observer since she flys also.I didnt think i was using that much.She said they were throwing water 10ft.
No damage fortunately and learned a lot in 15 minutes

 

[twistedtree]

Good caution.


Did you run the batteries down, or did the thrusters hit their temp limit and shut down? I suspect the later, but maybe not.

 

[C lectric]

Just glad you sorted it out without damage, other than to your pride.
A lesson learned and thank you for the warning, be aware of the situations.

 

[magna 6882]

Good caution.


Did you run the batteries down, or did the thrusters hit their temp limit and shut down? I suspect the later, but maybe not.

I think a combination of both. The bow went first and started swinging into the wind which didnt compute in my brain. I did glance down and it looked like the battery bars were there but i saw a low voltage warning at one point.I was watching the guys on the stern line via the cameras and trying to hold the boat in line with the point we attached on the bank/wall.

 

[psneeld]

Must fly helos with lots of power reserve....

Yep, current is a devious enemy...hard to judge from a distance...like backdraft from cliffs and tall buidings...you can even find yourself pulled in the wrong direction versus pushed where you want to go.

I see it all the time when watching boat handling..... whispering to myself control inputs and painfully watching inexperienced captains wait too long.

Nice job of getting out of there.....it's exactly how one gains "good experience"

Nowadays they probably call it "successful failure"....

 

[AlanT]

My first thruster cluster was similar. 2006 New boat (Hylas sail boat) never had a thruster before. Trying to Med moor in St Martin in very strong winds, I leaned on the thruster (sidepower 75) for way too long while backing to the dock. The thruster did not work properly after that (it was brand new) until much later when we got a tech to take it apart in Spain. He said we had burned the brushes and done some other damage that I don't recall. Expensive lesson.
~A

 

[magna 6882]

Where my situation got really dicy was they had started the stern tie while i back on the anchor and the anchor didn't get a bite. Once i realized we needed to call it of they had my stern half tied off causing me to get pulled towards the vertical wall. I needed to get the bow around but couldn't since i was half connected. I needed to pull anchor while letting the boat get way to close on the stern but was able to swing the bow into the current. Once parallel to the vertical bank i was able to give them a chance to get me untied. I should have made sure the anchor was well set. When we set in another location i layed out like 200ft of chain and didnt connect the stern until i had felt a good hold on the anchor.

 

[RedRascal]

One it sounds like fun rafting up with friends in Desolation Sound minus the "lesson". Thanks for taking the time to share your experience, it's a valuable reminder for me to think about when stern tying. My wife and I chuckle that stern tying could be an exercise as part of a "couples counseling better together type seminar." As a couple you need to have communication worked out to get a boat tied off to a wall.

Okay back to the learning, do you think since you were going to be boat tied to the wall that you were pushed to work a little faster to get tied up so everyone could get rafted to you? Do you think if it was just you and your wife tying up(one boat) that you would have studied the situation a little more and determined there was current before committing? I used to climb mountains and group dynamics can be a positive and can also lead to bad things happening. I try to tune into how group dynamics may create a chain of failures that end in bad outcomes. I wonder if you had some group dynamics as part of this experience.

 

[magna 6882]

In desolation the bays are small with high granite walls and trees on top. Once in the cove it feels like a small lake. Nice protected calm water. the heavy wind likely got most of my attention .I didn't find the others waiting as time was plentiful.
lessons learned

Do a more thorough job of assessing the factors .Watch the leaves floating on the water.
Always load the anchor before proceeding to the next step. In my case had the anchor been set correctly i could have just stopped the show.
Be mindful of the thruster use .In my case i was watching other things and just using muscle memory to manage the thrusters not paying specific attention to how much energy i was using.They are variable speed 130s so i am usually just running them slow. My wife said she could hear they were running at top speed a few times.I wasnt aware i was using them that much.
Hope this info will help others.

 

[bowball]

My parents rafted their sailboats often for cocktail parties. Me, I don’t really see the need. I’d rather tender over and gather on someone’s (or mine) after deck and then depart when the festivities are over.

As to thrusters, it’s easy to over do the electric ones. It is also so easy to get distracted with everything going on. I had an issue with my electronic controls when after repeated use of the windlass and my careless setting batteries on both versus just one bank left me with drained controls in a critical situation when the anchor finally was recovered.