Clogged Generator and MOB Assist ladder cautionary tale

 

True story. If too long, glance at the Tips at least.

Part One, Why do I make bad decisions when I’m tired?

After a long day touring around Newport Rhode Island we were looking forward to a nice evening sundowner rest before an early departure. Since we were leaving early I did an engine room check: Oil, coolant, general overview, and check/cleaned the four strainers. All good. Fired up the gen and hoped to relax. After 15 minutes or so the generator abruptly stopped. I was pretty sure the intake clogged with something floating in the harbor, which turned out true. This is where clear thinking started to breakdown after two nice but tiring days in town. I tried to back flush the generator water intake to no success, wasting a bunch of our low water supply. With the strainer open and valve open, no water flowed. I looked around the boat for something like stiff wire to push down the pipe from strainer to seacock finding only an unused coax cable. But could not get it very far, just to top of seacock.

Tip 1: Have some sort of stiff wire to snake out. But, beware of sharp ends to avoid damaging tubing. The tubing appears 1.5 inch DIA, but as I learned later in the saga the ID of the seacock looks less than an inch so difficult to pass anything large down it.

Since that didn’t work I decided to grab my mask to swim down and clear the obstruction from below. This gave me a chance to rig and test my new emergency boarding ladder since the dinghy covers the swim ladder. More on that later. Mind you, the sun had just set, we were in Newport RI on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and the water was Chilly. Jumped in with waterproof flashlight. Deep breath. Swam down to locate the thru hull and pulled out a miniscule amount of packed in weeds. Swam up with lungs burning (15 seconds) and whacked my forehead on the hull. Bleeding and cold, back in the engine room to try a wire brought over by the launch service after a desperate radio call for a wire coat hanger. I had thought that an Uber ride to Walmart might be needed, but it was Saturday night in Newport. The streets were packed. Well, the delivered wire didn’t work either.

Next, decided  to jump in again, this time with a flashlight in one hand and screwdriver in the other. Told the Admiral to stand by with a life jacket to toss me if I got tired. Positioned near the through hull and my brain finally told me something true: “Don’t go underwater again, you are nearly 62 and can’t hold your breath long enough, and it’s cold, and you don’t want to die”. So, back on board but not after loosing the light, which is still shining for the fishes as I type.

Tip 2: Don’t compound a dumb mistake on top of a bunch of others. We didn’t need the generator. The next day at a marina would have been a better place to solve the issue.

The final and successful step was one I wanted to avoid, and probably should have. I removed the tubing from the seacock. My goodness the thing was packed tight with a rubbery weed. Cleaned out and flowing with success. Put everything back together and the Admiral had TV and AC again. Plus coffee in the morning.

Tip 3: Don’t do this unless at a dock. I was afraid of causing a catastrophic failure at the seacock. But did the thing anyway. You see, I don’t have any safety plugs. Will order some ASAP! And I broke one hose clamp needing one of my spares.

Tip 4: If your boat maintenance is behind consider buying all new, heavy duty (don’t go cheap) SS hose clamps and replace them all during your next rainy day. I will.

To answer the original question--Hardheaded. I once had a pool pump issue and called my pool company. The main tech, Donovan, asked “Did you pray about it Jim?” I said I can’t bother God about trivial things. And Donovan said “He is the God of little things and big things”. And He is! So if you have faith, take a minute and pray. If you don’t, still take a minute and think. And tell the Admiral to never let you jump in cold dark water again unless you are on fire.

Point Two: What happens if someone falls over

Earlier this year I asked on the AGLCA Facebook page how people were prepared to handle a MOB situation when quite often on our trawlers and motor yachts the dinghy blocks then swim ladder. Great responses were produced. I still had no solution for Dawn Watch until recently. Came across a soft, five step ladder and decided to try it. It is stored in the aft rope locker and can be quickly clipped to a hand hold on the stern. During my ridiculous adventure recounted above I learned that I can, with much difficulty use the device. So, if I fall in, the Admiral rigs the ladder, after finding me, and up I come. But there is no way she would be able to perform the same move. So, if she falls in, our newly modified MOB procedure is for me to get the dinghy out of the way and deploy the sturdy swim ladder. I feel pretty good about this. We are doing more open ocean runs north of New York and safety is top of mind. Also on our amended MOB procedure is this warning, in bold red:

·        UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL REMAINING CREW ENTER THE WATER. BOTH WILL DIE!

Here’s the ladder:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2QN8CZM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Safe journeys to all.

Capt. Jim

MV Dawn Watch