2savage
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2017
- Messages
- 279
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Savage
- Vessel Make
- Seaton 50 expedition trawler
I deliberately left this out since it is in itself a topic and seperate from any mechanical issues..
First though, I'm at my slip at Safe Harbour Marina in Haverstraw NY on the Hudson River. I arrived yesterday afternoon and the whole voyage was 1012 miles.
Our first remedy for rescue was Tow Boat US. They brough us two new 8D batteries as we suspected that ours were the culprits. The main engine solenoid would click and the starter maybe turned a little, but never a full revolution. The batteries came out of Oregon inlet to meet us after we had been towed 10 miles by another Tow Boat vessel.
New batteries aboard and installed (moved boat to boat in 6-8 foot seas) and we thought we were fixed. No. There was no noticable difference. We were informed that we could not be towed into Oregon Inlet because the bar was such that a larger boat was needed due to the breakers. Our only option was to anchor and wait for a bigger boat. So in the Atlantic, 45 feet of water and an ugly sea we dropped our 125 LB Rocna with 200 ft of chain to ride out the night. Next morning the Coast Guard got involved and considered us at risk for incoming weather and sent a 47 foot boat of theirs to tow us in.
Getting the anchor up in those conditions was tough and they had to get our tow hooked up to take the strain of the boat off the chain before we could complete that task. Our winch breaker switch kept tripping before they did that due to the huge demands on the winch.
Our tow to the inlet was FAST! At 48 tons and 46' water line length our max hull speed is 9 kts, but they towed us at 10 kts! This continued as we zoomed through the breakers of Oregon Inlet and onward to Wanchese Industrial Park which is a Sport Fish haven. Once tied to a wharf we were boarded and inspected, including ships documents and safety equipment, which we passed with no issues.
We (I had one other crew member) then set about our diagnostic process and many hours later tracked down the bad cable. The Westerbeke generator water pump would take three days to arrive so we set about other fixes in the meanwhile (like replacing the main engine raw water pump) and by Monday we were ready to continue the voyage. We had taken on 500 gallons of fuel in Beaufort to augment the 700 we started with so pushed on to NYC with only fuel filter changes to worry about.
In retrospect we realize we pushed the boat to highlight its flaws and understand that it has been many years since it was offshore. But for a 53 year old boat it performed beyond expectations. The paravane system was freshly installed and performed as designed. We will make a few modifications for outrigger and vane recovery but the ability to prevent rolling was excellent. We also have two stabilizing sails plus a keel with end plate so in beam seas we could handle anything thrown at us.
To sum up, it was an exhausting trip but we got the job done. Please, try to keep the 'sage advice' to a minimum. Although there were only two of us we are both experienced mariners and knowledgeable mechanics.
For the record we used seven fuel filters for the racors and two for the main engine.
First though, I'm at my slip at Safe Harbour Marina in Haverstraw NY on the Hudson River. I arrived yesterday afternoon and the whole voyage was 1012 miles.
Our first remedy for rescue was Tow Boat US. They brough us two new 8D batteries as we suspected that ours were the culprits. The main engine solenoid would click and the starter maybe turned a little, but never a full revolution. The batteries came out of Oregon inlet to meet us after we had been towed 10 miles by another Tow Boat vessel.
New batteries aboard and installed (moved boat to boat in 6-8 foot seas) and we thought we were fixed. No. There was no noticable difference. We were informed that we could not be towed into Oregon Inlet because the bar was such that a larger boat was needed due to the breakers. Our only option was to anchor and wait for a bigger boat. So in the Atlantic, 45 feet of water and an ugly sea we dropped our 125 LB Rocna with 200 ft of chain to ride out the night. Next morning the Coast Guard got involved and considered us at risk for incoming weather and sent a 47 foot boat of theirs to tow us in.
Getting the anchor up in those conditions was tough and they had to get our tow hooked up to take the strain of the boat off the chain before we could complete that task. Our winch breaker switch kept tripping before they did that due to the huge demands on the winch.
Our tow to the inlet was FAST! At 48 tons and 46' water line length our max hull speed is 9 kts, but they towed us at 10 kts! This continued as we zoomed through the breakers of Oregon Inlet and onward to Wanchese Industrial Park which is a Sport Fish haven. Once tied to a wharf we were boarded and inspected, including ships documents and safety equipment, which we passed with no issues.
We (I had one other crew member) then set about our diagnostic process and many hours later tracked down the bad cable. The Westerbeke generator water pump would take three days to arrive so we set about other fixes in the meanwhile (like replacing the main engine raw water pump) and by Monday we were ready to continue the voyage. We had taken on 500 gallons of fuel in Beaufort to augment the 700 we started with so pushed on to NYC with only fuel filter changes to worry about.
In retrospect we realize we pushed the boat to highlight its flaws and understand that it has been many years since it was offshore. But for a 53 year old boat it performed beyond expectations. The paravane system was freshly installed and performed as designed. We will make a few modifications for outrigger and vane recovery but the ability to prevent rolling was excellent. We also have two stabilizing sails plus a keel with end plate so in beam seas we could handle anything thrown at us.
To sum up, it was an exhausting trip but we got the job done. Please, try to keep the 'sage advice' to a minimum. Although there were only two of us we are both experienced mariners and knowledgeable mechanics.
For the record we used seven fuel filters for the racors and two for the main engine.
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