Driving from the fly bridge or not?

Art said:

IMHO [and I am quite a bit prejudiced on the + side]... The one and only drawback of a FB is the effort and time it takes to go below and check the engine compartment while under way. Otherwise, I feel FBs are simply great!

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Yea, about that engine compartment check, it is easier on some boats than others . . .

Underway, I rely upon complete instrumentation and redundant alarm systems to monitor just about everything that can be monitored. The hatches between the engine boxes do permit viewing/sniffing the engines, the bilges and fuel filtering/valving, but the outboard sides of either engine are simply not accessible without lifting the boxes.

If anything goes wrong, I shut down, hopefully before any damage occurs, and rely on the working engine. In the event of a total failure, TowBoat US or SeaTow are my only options. Thankfully, my boating is now mostly local day-cruising or short overnights where services are readily available.

If I frequented more remote locations or was cruising, I would not have an express cruiser. I would want a boat where I could perform regular and frequent visual/physical inspections of all critical systems.

LarryM, it sounds like you get it.

GFC wote "We've now owned Beachcomber for 7 years. In that time I think I've driven from down below two times, and that was just to see what it was like; what the difference was."

GFC,
Yup if I had your boat and was on a river I'd do exactly the same.

I'm lucky!

Easy, wide open engine compartment visual, sound and olfactory accessibilities; by pulling up two large hatches in salon sole.

To concede the obvious, we all use our boats differently. Also the lower station on many boats (if there is one) is not very desirable. Thus the preference by many for operating from the flybridge.

Question as to use, how many of those with flybridges operate their boats for 14 to 20 hours straight, or longer, from the flybridge?

Bigsfish said:

I agree. A good friend checked his engine room every two hours. It seems he broke an oil hose shortly after checking and seized his engine.

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And maybe, just maybe, if he'd stayed at the helm, keeping a close eye on his oil pressure and temp gauges, instead of being bum up down below in the ER so much, and lulled into a false sense of security by all the engine checks, he might have picked the leak up soon enough to save the engine from seizing..?

Bay Pelican said:

. Question as to use, how many of those with flybridges operate their boats for 14 to 20 hours straight, or longer, from the flybridge?

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In the sport fishing business, literally hundreds. Especially on those vessels with no lower helm. Depart well before daylight, hit the fishing grounds after a 2 or 3 hour jaunt, fish sometimes overnight and return in the dark.

Then there are the sport fishing runs from SoCal to Mexico or far offshore, it is a way of life for so many. But, not for too many on TF unless we are doing a fishing charter or are with friends who own these fishing machines.

Our vessel is capable of safely doing overnights from either upper or lower helm. But, we don't do overnight travels anymore. And in the PNW the cozy lower helm close to the coffee is very inviting when cruising after dark or before sunrise.

Bay Pelican said:

To concede the obvious, we all use our boats differently. Also the lower station on many boats (if there is one) is not very desirable. Thus the preference by many for operating from the flybridge.

Question as to use, how many of those with flybridges operate their boats for 14 to 20 hours straight, or longer, from the flybridge?

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How many every operate there boat for 14 to 20 hours .Id give up boating nothing enjoyable about that for me

Peter B said:

And maybe, just maybe, if he'd stayed at the helm, keeping a close eye on his oil pressure and temp gauges, instead of being bum up down below in the ER so much, and lulled into a false sense of security by all the engine checks, he might have picked the leak up soon enough to save the engine from seizing..?

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Would you be of the same opinion if you were the owner of a Nordhavn 50 or 60 cruising from Brisbane to the Seychelles?

I wonder if the people who don't do them understand for some of us, an engine room check is a10 second lifting of a small hatch every hour or so.

And that adding a camera or two for less than $100 is no big deal, could eliminate the hatch lifting as often, and allow similar checks from anywhere on the boat including a flying bridge.

I also wonder if they ever found something that may have gone catastrophic in short order...or they tug on every line and fitting hard before starting, twist every belt, run their clean white rag everywhere to see if a weep developed on the last run but was dry by now?

Paranoid?.....nope because I do take regular peaks looking for failure warnings that I have experienced in the past.

Plus it is a habit from running vessels other than my own where I don't know the maintenance. I have had failures on sea trials of factory fresh boats too so one never knows.

Bay Pelican said:

To concede the obvious, we all use our boats differently. Also the lower station on many boats (if there is one) is not very desirable. Thus the preference by many for operating from the flybridge.

Question as to use, how many of those with flybridges operate their boats for 14 to 20 hours straight, or longer, from the flybridge?

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I have. Well I shared the time with my wife. Normally, we only run six to eight hors per day but a few times we've run twelve or more hours. Never twenty in one day.

If you're singlehanded, who drives the boat and officially stands watch while you're below inspecting your engine room?

psneeld said:

I wonder if the people who don't do them understand for some of us, an engine room check is a10 second lifting of a small hatch every hour or so.

And that adding a camera or two for less than $100 is no big deal, could eliminate the hatch lifting as often, and allow similar checks from anywhere on the boat including a flying bridge.

I also wonder if they ever found something that may have gone catastrophic in short order...or they tug on every line and fitting hard before starting, twist every belt, run their clean white rag everywhere to see if a weep developed on the last run but was dry by now?

Paranoid?.....nope because I do take regular peaks looking for failure warnings that I have experienced in the past.

Plus it is a habit from running vessels other than my own where I don't know the maintenance. I have had failures on sea trials of factory fresh boats too so one never knows.

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We made every effort to be anal, as far as maintenance, knowing that we are on the water, and not land. Also we had an older trawler, with many , many systems. Being a mechanic by trade, and with obsessive part replacement, it was always something, whether a stabilizer hose blowing, a fish caught in a strainer, packing needing tightening, just always something. We felt besides, constantly glancing at the gauges, trips every hour to the engine room, there was always a sense of anxiety, just the way it was, for 16 years. One more thing, did you ever hear the expression, "new boat blues", apparently it comes with the territory, with big boats in general.

Many options when single handling...depends on where you are.

If lower station, can lift a hatch any time as it only takes seconds.

Flybridge is where cameras come in handy....but can still go below at certain times.

Yeah, no one on watch sounds scary till you know how to do it in relative safety.

And yes it is marginally against the COLREGS, but singlehanded races aren't disapproved by Governments.

Bay Pelican

14 hours plus.

Only once when caught in the Bahamas with a hurricane coming andvwas on the bridge the entire time. I don't like moving at night for various reasons and I especially don't like moving at night with speed. Too much crap floating just under the surface to inspect my running gear. ?

I should add I've spent the night on the ocean fishing all night but mostly in one place attached to the bottom.

If your boat had outboards, how often would you remove the cowling to check the engine while underway?

As often as I look under the hood of my car on a 6 hrs trip.

I do it on my boat because I CAN do it easily, it has saved me big bucks probably and lots of operating boat experience has proven it is worthwhile.

So I do it and recommend it.....simple as that.

WesK said:

If your boat had outboards, how often would you remove the cowling to check the engine while underway?

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Never! Outboards, are just that OUTBOARD, SOMETHING GOES BAD , YOU DO NOT SINK

Peter B said:

And maybe, just maybe, if he'd stayed at the helm, keeping a close eye on his oil pressure and temp gauges, instead of being bum up down below in the ER so much, and lulled into a false sense of security by all the engine checks, he might have picked the leak up soon enough to save the engine from seizing..?

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Having had most trucks and many cars equipped with full gauge assortment, not idiot lights... My brain is programed to sweep the cluster often. Same with boats. And yes, I still quite often take time to visually check on engine compartment, be it boat or road vehicle. For boats the check is before starting and during warm up; then every couple to a few hours while running - often at shut down too. For road vehicles it's lifting the hood every time I fuel up and quite often before starting up if the vehicle has been left to sit idle for a long duration... like a few weeks to a month or more.

Always thought it would be great to simultaneously have three warning systems/devices on any mechanically operating machine, i.e. gauges, lights, sound alarms. Alas, that has not happened for me [yet]. Of the three... gauges are my preference. Why gauges?? Because with my trained full sweep of often looking at gauges I can tell if there is any change beginning to occur. Once/if I do note an alteration in normal gauge reading I become concerned and my several times each hour glancing at gauges turns into a moment to moment repeat viewing... with remedy for abatement soon to follow if the unusual gauge showing continues or increased its out of sync position. At very least, even if the gauge returns to normalized position it's even momentarily happened position alteration is logged in my mind and I will be watching things carefully from there on until I am satisfied the gauge change was a fluke or I find the physical reason for the gauge change.

Art

I grew up on gauges too and new where the placement of the needle should be. This boat is all digital and a royal pain to remember of write down what the numeric signature should be. It's also upsetting to see one engine running a few degrees hotter than the other, with gauges you would never be able to tell. Progress????

Bigsfish said:

Art

I grew up on gauges too and new where the placement of the needle should be. This boat is all digital and a royal pain to remember of write down what the numeric signature should be. It's also upsetting to see one engine running a few degrees hotter than the other, with gauges you would never be able to tell. Progress????

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Progress can at times equivalate into Paranoia. :lol:

One thing is for sure about human created progress, it's unstoppable; be its outcome "equivalating" into good or bad!

Bigsfish said:

Art

I grew up on gauges too and new where the placement of the needle should be. This boat is all digital and a royal pain to remember of write down what the numeric signature should be. It's also upsetting to see one engine running a few degrees hotter than the other, with gauges you would never be able to tell. Progress????

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Bigfish,
I agree.
When I flew UL aircraft I did find the didgital presentation was far better for cylinder head temp. 400 degrees was fine on some engines but the rate of accent or decent was very important and that was easy to see w the didgital readout. With a analogue readout you could see 400 degrees fine but had no idea how stable it was and how stable was very important. Climbing fast was way different than climbing slow.

WesK said:

If you're singlehanded, who drives the boat and officially stands watch while you're below inspecting your engine room?

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I single hand 90% of the time. I do occasionally go all the way down in to the ER for a check - in areas where there is no traffic for a long way. More often I pop one of the hatches and take a quick look and a sniff.

What I have been doing is doing an ER check after I arrive, with the engine still running, before shutdown. While it's not at operating revs I can still get a good idea if there's something leaking before it dries up. Having had a leak from a hose on the raw water pump in the past I run my had over that area to make sure it's dry.

I do full underway ER checks when I have crew.

Richard

sunchaser said:

Our vessel is capable of safely doing overnights from either upper or lower helm. But, we don't do overnight travels anymore. And in the PNW the cozy lower helm close to the coffee is very inviting when cruising after dark or before sunrise.

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Oddly enough, one of the few times I have piloted the boat from the FB was during a rainy morning before sunrise as I was trying to extricate myself from a very tight transient dock. The FB gave me better 360 degree visibility that was particularly important in this situation.

Once I was out of the tiny marina and clear of the mooring balls, I retreated to the warm, dry PH with a cup of coffee.

dhays said:

Oddly enough, one of the few times I have piloted the boat from the FB was during a rainy morning before sunrise as I was trying to extricate myself from a very tight transient dock. The FB gave me better 360 degree visibility that was particularly important in this situation.

Once I was out of the tiny marina and clear of the mooring balls, I retreated to the warm, dry PH with a cup of coffee.

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"The FB gave me better 360 degree visibility that was particularly important in this situation."

One of, but not the only, important attribute of FB. Although, I must admit, if I boated in often damp, cool locations I too would most likely be piloting from down below much of the time. But, when the sun is out and weather dry/warm - it's the Bridge for Linda and me!

my previous boat was a fly bridge yacht, the top often time there and I spent time at the end I would only use it 2 times last season.when I was looking for a new boat, I did not want any more flying bridge. each with their own values ​​and aspirations, a good thing that there are a variety of boat. or is there I have a rubber boat on the roof and a small command center, if necessary,

Re ER checks. We do them but not usually on a strict schedule, and only an average of about every 4 hours. I have never discovered anything of any consequence and don't really expect to. I do it for peace of mind and because I really enjoy it. Mine is an easily entered, stand-up engine room, with great access to even the outboard sides of the engines. The bilges are clean and dry, and most everything is white, giving the appearance of being surgically clean. As compared to the engine rooms of my prior boats, which were dark and dirty, required a crouch and didn't permit even viewing access to most of the engines/gears, my current engine room is a joy to behold.

Greetings,
Mr. MY. I think you've hit upon one of the reasons for regular ER visits. Ease of access. It's one thing to be able to simply lift a small hatch or even walk into an ER and entirely another to lift large bulky hatches potentially covered by carpets or furniture to have a look-see.

As in your case, our ER is walk in so it's quite easy to do regular inspections, it provides an ongoing benchmark of temperatures and engine/equipment integrity that precludes guessing as to "when did that start leaking?" for example. The big plus IMO is that it gives the Admiral something to do.

I have been following the remote camera thread fairly closely because I'm always a bit nervous when she goes below. Maybe a fall or slip out of my sight?

I'm guessing that all the folks with walk in engine rooms and check them while underway have sufficient guards to keep them safely away from moving parts.