A third engine would have been nice.
If, while on final approach to a dock, your starboard engine shifter cable fails and your port engine stalls, you will not likely win any awards for smooth docking. Unfortunately that exact situation happened to us yesterday.
Because of the previous day’s prep work, we were able to leave the Hog Island anchorage promptly at 8:00 AM, making way to St. George’s. The weather, at that time, was clear but we had heard that some rain was in the forecast and we were eager to get our anchor down and do some shopping before the weather turned. The trip around Point Salines to St. George’s was uneventful and we were settled in by 10:00 AM. The anchorage was pretty rolly but because we were booked into the marina for the following day, we figured that we could suck it up for one night.
With Carnival in full swing beginning today, we knew that any shopping we needed to do had to be done right away as the stores would all be closing until Wednesday. We needed to pick up some food but even higher on our priority list was to purchase a new shifter/throttle cable from Island Water World. While doing a bit of engine maintenance, getting ready for this trip, I noticed that one of the cables to our starboard engine had a large split in it and was extremely corroded. This was not cool and even worse so because I installed brand new cables almost exactly a year ago today. Although the cable was still functioning, this is not the kind of thing that you want to fail at an inopportune moment (hint, hint — approaching a dock).
For people in the Port Louis Marina area, the trip to Island Water World is quite convenient as their store has its own dock right in the lagoon. As luck would have it, they had just the cable that we needed and even luckier, we made it there just before they closed early for Carnival (they locked the store’s doors as we were standing in line to pay).
With shopping completed, we decided to visit the marina office in the hopes that we could come in a day early rather than spend it outside at anchor. Many of our friends were already on the docks and we were not looking forward to a rolly night in what is not our favorite anchorage. The marina staff was accommodating and even said that we could slide into the spot right behind Ainulindale on one of the mega yacht docks (we like to pretend we’re on a big boat).
We returned to ZTC, rigged lines and fenders and after waiting out a huge rain downpour (we were told it was coming!), made our way into the marina. As requested, we radioed the staff as we made our way towards the docks. We were told by the guy on the other end of the radio to “stand by” but as we had already been told where to go, and our friends were on the dock waiting to take our lines, we assumed he was only saying that because he was not there and ready to assist.
To dock the boat in this particular spot required us to bring it in between two large fingers, do a 180 degree turn and bring the boat alongside port-side-to. With no wind to mess with us and plenty of room to maneuver, this should have been easy. And it was, right up until the point where I shifted the starboard engine into reverse to bring the stern around. Although the engine revved up, nothing happened. I throttled up more and still the boat didn’t react. By this time I knew things were going bad and thus shifted the port engine into reverse. Here’s where the next bad thing occurred… that engine stalled. By the time I got it restarted, we were mere feet away from impacting the dock. Our friends tried their best to fend the boat off but it still hit the protective wooden dock edge with a thud, a sound that no mariner likes to hear.
While all this was going on the dockmaster, the same one who told me to stand by, was now on the dock telling me, pre-impact, to put the starboard engine in reverse (duh… thanks for that advice… I didn’t think of that!), and then after we secured ourselves, that we couldn’t stay there and that we’d have to move to a different dock. Was I happy at this point? Not so much.
Minutes after this fiasco, we were pushed away from the dock, still only with one (semi?) functioning engine. Back in the channel and away from the other boats, I confirmed that the starboard engine was definitely not responding so knowing that we’d only have our port engine to play with, we switched all of our lines and fenders to the starboard side of the boat so that we could dock with more control. With the knowledge of what we now had to work with, we docked infinitely more smoothly the second time around. Damage to the boat and dock from attempt 1: zero. Damage to pride and positive attitude: significant, although temporary.
Today’s task: replace the $#%#^ shifter cable so that we don’t run into (no pun intended) similar problems again, or at least, not in the near future.
Footnotes:
- Why did the shifter cable split and rust like that? I don’t know.
- Why did the port engine stall? That is a product of not moving the boat for 2 months. Things that move like to move, they do not like to remain stationary.
UGH! That is about the worst docking nightmare situation. Having that guy yelling at you to put your starboard engine into reverse couldn’t have helped your frustration – I’d have wanted to yell at him.
It’s so strange that the cable split. Not that I know a lot about the mechanics of a boat (translation – 0) but still – after just a year I wouldn’t be expecting that. I don’t know how a cable runs or what it has to go through in the way of openings etc but could that be prevented or stalled (bad choice of word – sorry) by wrapping it with some sort of tape?
Like I said, I know nothing about the mechanics so I should probably just shut up and leave, but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.
Hi Sandra
Yeah, not the best way to dock, that is for sure. WHEN you get your boat, be sure to avoid it. 🙂
Glad to hear that there was no permanent damage. Is it difficult to get to the cable? Difficult to inspect? Given that there is so much corrosion in just one year, it sounds like you should have a couple of backups (stored in such a way as to keep the corrosion from wrecking your backups) on hand. It sounds like it was just the kind of excitement you need to keep from growing barnacles on the heart muscle. The best kind when there isn’t any permanent damage to the boat. Sail on!
As the other 3 cables show no similar signs of corrosion, my thought is that the cable was either defective or it got nicked during the installation.
If that is only a year old, that is a some kind of serious let down. That evil salt mist air must of been coming straight in from the crimped/working end. This is in the well, yes? Maybe dip the whole crimped end in motor oil for a night, attach to motor and add gobs of grease.
Yes, grease may help.
A rolling stone gathers no moss..
Word!
Cable split? The corrosion caused that, but why so much corrosion so fast? If that was a Teleflex cable, I would send them pictures and ask. I know you are cruising a lot, but something is wrong, perhaps a bad batch.
Grease. Every time I install a cable, going back to bike cables as a kid, I’ve pulled the cable back and worth and added grease. When you instal the new ones, pull it back and forth adding as much grease as you can. And add grease to the motor end periodically.
The stall? Dirty carb. Regular treatment with Seafoam helps.
If it doesn’t clear up completely, you might as well beat the rush and open it up and clean it. They seldom get better on their own. If you haven’t had the pleasure before, there are certainly discussions on the PDQ forum.
Actually, upon further consideration, I would investigate electrolysis. Are both cables the same, or is the one much worse? Either way, look at how the corrosion is focused on the end, where salt water would allow current to flow from the cable to the outboard bracket, particularly if there is a leak in the boot.
I would look for defective wiring on the neutral switch in the shift controller. I had mine apart last week, and the neutral switch was falling apart. I took it out, as the new engines have their own, and really, it’s not needed on this boat. You might have a current leak you could measure with a meter, or it might be quite small but enough to cause the corrosion.
The rest of that cable, and the other 3 have no signs of corrosion. The connecting nut on the clamp which holds the cable in place is quite rusty. That needs to be addressed.
I have yet to write this but the split cable was not the issue at all. Details to come.
I’m thinking that maybe that particular cable got nicked during the install giving moisture a route into the cable? The other 3 don’t look anything like that. I did not put grease on the cable but will now after both you, Ken and our friend Kirk suggested it.
As for the Seafoam, I need to go find some of that. Or I might just take the carb out as you suggest. It gets easier with practice, right?
If you haven’t done it before, it looks tough, but in truth I can swap the carb in ~ 2-3 minutes.
* Unplug the wires to the electric valve on top.
*Remove the fuel hose. If you can’t reach the carb end, just release the fuel pump end and it will pull through.
* Remove hose from the oil separator to the air intake, if present.
* Unclip the the plastic accelerator linkage clip by pushing the top edge away from the engine with your finger. Look at the starboard engine to see.
* 2 x 10 mm head bolts hold the carb to the manafold. the lower requires a 1/4-inch drive with ~ 6″ extension. The upper a box wrench. Holding the nuts is tricky; tape on the finger tip or hemostats can help. Don’t be surprised if you lose a nut, but they are common in the hardware store.
Cleaning the inside of the carb is obvious enough, little different than your tender.
Yeah, it may come to that. Thanks Drew.
I suspect your cable problem is the usual water in and no grease situation.
The best grease by far, as far as I know is Quicksilver 101 . It is expensive but well worth it, you don’t need much at a time. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs…classNum=50400
But beware it is green messy, seems to get everywhere and it will NOT wash off!
If seawater getting into the end of the cable is unavoidable, there is a solution, but you will get a lot of ridicule! Use a condom! You just cut a very small hole in the end. Pull it over the end of the Morse/Teleflex cable so that the rolled out end just goes onto the cable casing then tightly tie and tape that end there.
The other end is then tightly tied and taped onto the inner cable with that at its innermost position, so there is plenty of slack. Then when you move the cable to its fullest extent it takes up the slack and stretches the condom. These things are very durable and I have found they last 3 years with no problem.
However, make sure that it is NOT a latex condom as these rot very quickly with the grease on the cable. I can’t remember what the non-latex ones are made from but a pharmacist will know as they have to be able to supply them to people with a latex allergy.
First of all just start with the good grease, and try to prevent water splashing into the cable by some simple means. This avoids a lot of teasing!
Mike
I think I’ll start with the grease.
Do you think Island Water World or Budget Marine sells “marine” condoms? 🙂