When Your Engine Dies At Sea. Don't panic! | Ep88
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- čas přidán 26. 04. 2023
- It was a tough start to the season with a 500NM passage across the Adriatic, around the foot of Italy, past Sicily and on to Malta. We had every kind of weather and an engine that wouldn't start in the middle of the Adriatic leaving us floundering in a patch of no wind, and a forecast of 50 knots the next day!
All in all, though, we really enjoyed the trip. We put in one stop at Otranto in Italy, to anchor while a storm blew through. We will never forget sailing into Grand Harbour Valletta at dawn. Something every sailor should do.
The ORCA link
getorca.com?via=steve
We have been getting a lot of use out of our Ecoflow units as regular viewers will know. They are going to be super useful this season. If you think it's something that may work for you as well check out their website here:
shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=208264...
For 10% off the Acuva pure drinking water unit
www.acuvatech.com/?ref=4sdi3m...
If you want to use a great 360 camera try
Insta360 X3:
www.insta360.com/sal/x3?insrc... - comes with a free invisible selfie stick
Insta360 ONE RS:
www.insta360.com/sal/one_rs?i... - comes with a free base battery
Insta360 GO2:
www.insta360.com/sal/go_2?ins... - comes with a free lens guard
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My wife and I have a Gooloo jump pack that ranked highest on showdown we watched. It has never let us down, and we’ve had to use it about half a dozen times over the last 3 years to start things. We bought it because we have a hybrid, and at the time, we had two of them, and you cannot jump start them from a running car, as it would destroy the circuitry of the the battery bank in the car. In any event, it’s come in very, very handy. It charges up like anything else, from either an outlet in the house or a cigarette lighter in the car, and it has USB ports to charge phones or radios or flashlights. That feature came in very handy when we came across a stranded motorist. At first we thought it was her battery, but it was something else and the car wouldn’t start, but her phone was out of battery, and we were able to charge it, and she was able to then phone her husband to pick her up and arrange for a tow, and that’s something jumper cables can’t do!
I asked what card game you were playing and you answered. Nice job!
Thanks for sharing your adventures. )
You can get the iPad in a night mode by going into the settings- accessibility- shortcuts- classic invert. Three taps of the home button and you are there.
Oh yes, just done it, thanks. I will see how Navionics looks with it when it gets dark
Delightful! I love it when the engine starts.
Hearing the engine start is one kind of joy. I grew to love the sound of the engine not stopping. At first the noise of the engine annoyed me, but then it stopped one time as a full gale approached. We survived that and afterwards, the sound of the engine was never an irritation to me. Funny, that. 🙂
just discovered your channel. great content--thx!
Glad you like it, spread the word!
Such a lovely video. Thank you so much!
Well done, enjoyed the entire video, nice mix!
Excellent as per usual, consumate professionals.
Brilliant camera work--as always. thank you
Great episode 👍
Another terrific vid with good info as usual. Thanks.
Nice video! Grand Harbor has history!
I have one of those lithium starter packs ... worth every penny AND they can used as a small battery bank to run USB devices etc...
Yes but if you do that you might find, as we did, that it’s not fully charged when you need it!
@@svfairisle
That is also true...
geeesh - your SOUND quality is sooo good, I was listening to various CZcams channels, and when your female voice burst through at the beginning of this video I literally JUMPED out of my chair and looked over my shoulder - heart-attack material!!!
Excellent vid guys! Welcome to malta!! Always wanted to enter grand harbour!
Another great video; thanks for sharing - particularly enjoyed the dynamic problem solving re the engine (battery) snag! Well done!
Very interesting episode
Great episode. Could definitely see the sense of relief when the engine sprang to life. 🙂
I am looking forward to your adventures.
Lovely video. One of my favourite places is Malta. So much history. Good luck with your passport 👍
Nice video thanks from Ct USA
Keep going sailing 🤗
I loved this episode of your wonderful travels. Steve’s tech awareness is very interesting. You just seem to be so competent and cool under pressure and whatever the weather throws at you. Enjoy Malta. I will be joining you via your future episodes, thank you 😊
Malta is one of my favourite destinations. Enjoy it!
Excellent episode, both of you were at your best. Really enjoyed the sailing into Valetta, it remains on my bucket list. Fair winds this Spring and Summer. I will get back to Greece next month, and look forward to getting back to sea...
A great video, loved the shot o the boat with the old buildings in the background, so glad Steve had a solution and the motor started.
Marvelous episode, so informative and uplifting. Orca sounds great. Best in Malta and do hope you get your passport.
Check your batteries water if its low try warming some distilled water and add a cup of epsom salt ,stir it up then let it cool for about3 minutes then add to the battery. Hook up a battery charger on trickle for 8 to 10 hours. And your battery will be reborn again ! Keep the Faith and Stay the Coarse !
It's a sealed AGM
Great Episode! Love to see how well you guys work as a team on board.
I’ve just had a swim and checked the bottom, quite a lot of growth to get off but we didn’t really notice it like we have at the start of other seasons where we haven’t lifted out. I reckon that’s down to the extra drive we’re getting from the new Yankee! I’ve just got to get the last measurements from up the mast and send you the details for the mainsail. We’ll fly across the Atlantic!
Great video make sure you visit the prehistoric sites during your visit to Malta 🇲🇹,there absolutely fantastic
Enjoy Malta - there's some nice scuba diving if you get the chance too!
Great video. Really well put together with those interesting tips around engine starting. Yes, big boat and no engine plus fickle wind is not good when coming into harbour .Good is have redundancy back up .
“Don’t panic”: so glad you didn’t as I did on your behalf (my wife was very impressed by your sang froid). Can’t have been much fun waiting for three days in the bad weather so admire your stoicism. Good episode. Well done. Sure you will have a marvellous time in Malta. Looking forward to your vids of it.
Lovely footage…even in a “panic!” I absolutely love Malta and Valletta. Did a wonderful cruise around the island and visited and swam in the Blue Lagoon! ⛵️
On our way there now!
Your videos are always so enjoyable, educational, exciting, and classy!
It's always quite the fright when the engine suddenly won't start but it seems as if you found the problem quickly, with the bilge pump. A few years ago, I participated in a 250 mile sailboat race here in Juneau, Alaska and made it w/in 100 meters of the finish line before the wind died, for almost 24 hours. In the meantime, we drifted across the finish line but when I went to start the engine, she wouldn't start. She would crank over but not start, so @ 2am we radioed the harbor for help and were fortunate that one person on his boat just happened to have his VHF on, so he kindly came and towed us the 2 miles to the harbor. Come to find out that my fuel pump had finished all of its duty cycles!
I've actually sailed in light wind up to a fuel dock on a 43' boat after we ran out of fuel about 20 miles outside of town!
Good idea to carry the portable battery to jump start the engine. In tight quarters with the same problem, having it ready to help jump start the engine could save the boat!
Like you, I also use PredictWind and have used the European model for passages down the U.S. west coast and from San Diego to Cabo san Lucas, Mexico. I think most cruisers have come to realize the European models typically are the most accurate.
Nice video - enjoyed it. Please make sure there is only one thing connected to the engine starter battery. The engine. Also if you have an automatic bilge pump, wire an alarm into it so you know its operating. Good sailing.
I’m new to your channel, quite impressed! You’re both so extremely knowledgeable, I could learn from your experiences and of course I love your boat, she is awesome and your editing and your choice of music, awesome. Can I just move on board with you!? For now I will simply subscribe.
Haha thank you for subscribing 😊
Great video. You certainly got a workout on those winches. Bit of a shock to the system after the last six months 😄
Sounds like we all had a bit of fun exiting PM going by the WhatsApp group!
Hi Steve and Judy. You were going to give us an on-going update of 'Savvy Navvy'! As it now has new added functions, I thought it worth asking a user what you thought. It's still the cheapest boat navigation tool and one we are very interested in. I know you've been trying 'Orca', but those of us on a very tight budget still unaffordable. At just £70 a year for the top of the range Savvy Navvy app, plus the ability to run on cheap - easily replaceable, affordable tablets, it seems a no brainer! What do you both think? Safe sailing and top side up. PS: Love the videos, we've never missed a show.
Thanks David. Yes I do -lan on doing an update on Savvy Navvy, I haven’t had much of a chance to play with the new features yet, but we will be covering a lot of sea moles this year so I will plenty of chance to play & will update you.
As always we are impressed by the seaman (person)ship that you both show. Hopefully one day you might consider drifting across the Pacific to Australia. Fair winds Fairisle! Rod and Lillian
We will be there one day!
With the iPad, just invert the colors by double tapping the home button on older models, in the accessibility settings in newer ones. Triple tap the home button to reverse it on those older iPads.
Good luck on the Maltese Passport, bet you’re pleased to back sailing 😊
Oh yes!
@@svfairisle Hi Steve. Watch out for EU taxes, should getting an EU passport be possible. I chose not to apply for a Dutch passport for this reason. A big VAT bill would have outweighed Schengen concerns. For any Aussies or Kiwis reading this, be aware of the many bilateral visa agreements in place with European countries since the 1950s. These survive Schengen and allow three month stints (two months in Belgium), in one country after another. Plan well though, as most customs officers have never heard of them. 🙂 Regards, Rick.
Great videos guys! I always look forward to your next episode.
Did you ever do a follow up review for your Acuva water purifier? How much maintenance, power, failure, etc.? I ask because anything we can do as sailors to avoid using plastic will ultimately benefit us and our planet. Plus since you already have a large freshwater tank, it's great if you get get more use from it.
I forgot to have it in our end of year round up of boat gear. But that’s probably because it just sits there and does it’s job, never given any bother just really good clean water, we love it & never buy bottled water. I think the discount code we have in the description of the video still works if anyone wants to buy one.
Spot of roughers on the passage there guys, started to get a bit lumpy !
You`ll love Gozo and of course, Cominotto.
Cisk and hopleaf are the local beers and some of the local wines are best left in the bottle . Most of them, really.
Fair winds guys xx
My sister took me to a craft brewery last night. Had a nice IPA
Brilliant..! Sailing into the Grand Harbour is also on my bucket list (we've done Mahon). Yes, engine failures always tend to happen when least expected; Murphy's Law, I guess. Gozo is fantastic, although, unfortunately, I think the Azzure Window has recently collapsed and isn't quite the spectacle it once was. And if you do get your Maltese Passport, can you please adopt me..? Given that our grand plan of moving to the UK and eventually taking citizenship - and therefore EU citizenship - has been blown away by Brexit...
I lived on Malta as a 12 year old for one year. Lived with my older sister and her husband who was stationed at the then, RAF LUQA. It was whilst we were there that Dom Mintof became the Prime Minister and gave the Brits six months to get of his island. Really hectic time from what I can remember. We lived in a forces family flat in San Gwan, about 20 minute drive from Valetta. Loved my time there. Walked around most of the time in shorts and flipflops, got back to England looking so dark that nobody believed I was English 🙂 Great Island, although at 12, I never got to taste the night-life. Have fun guys. Looking forward to your reports 💪
Yes my sister was mentioning that, apparently there are a lot of old British (now classic) cars on the island that get brought out at the weekends. The Brits left in such a rush they couldn’t ship their cars off!
@@svfairisle There's a story about the cars too. A lot of the forces personell at that time had bought new cars, and because there wasn't any reasonably priced way to get those cars back to the UK, some of them drove those cars to Dingli Cliffs and shoved them over the edge. The Brits were very peed off at that time as were lots of Maltese. The soldiers and airmen prefered wrecking them instead of selling their precious cars for dumping prices to the Maltese. Only Mintof supporters wanted us off the island, the rest realised what a huge financial loss it would be for the local economy. Rumour has it, if you go diving near those cliffs, you can see the remains of those cars. Over 50 years ago...
So funny the exact same issue just happened to me. Decided to change the float switch to one of those that have no moving parts that is hillarious
Yes I think I’ll make that change too
Brilliant film. Love the music. Looking forward to the upcoming videos! ☀️🇨🇦
Wonderful video Steve and Judy. Thank you. We have both family connections and fond memories of Malta. When you anchored in Italy, provided you did not venture ashore, is it the case that you were not required to visit Immigration and Customs?
Under the rights of innocent passage you should be able to seek refuge in an anchorage to wait out weather as we did with no problem. Of course as with all these things you are somewhat at the mercy of any official who may come along and think differently, but from what I can tell sailors are not having problems doing this.
Engine dies? Don't panic,open the emergency scotch,a few drinks,then panic and let loose with a line of tirades only Blackbeard could utter and then FIX the DAMN ENGINE! Barring that finish the scotch ? Then pray like you mean it and a miracle will happen ? Not tou out but some other CRAZY???🇨🇦😄😄😄
Install a light in the panel that comes on when the pump is running.
Anthony
There is a small light. I’m amazed I didn’t spot it, I can usually see anything out of the ordinary on the switch panel at a glance. Multi day coastal night sailing is a bit knackering. That’s my excuse!
I believe you can get Navionics to go to night mode by tapping the tracking button three times
Interesting!
Which one is the tracking button?
@@francismontocchio9910 bottom center I believe
Please explain further, I can't get it to work
I also looked at this further, a second suggestion was to go to Settings, Accessability , then Display&Text, Color Filters, click custom filters, scroll down Color Tint then bottom of that page slide intesity and Hue all the way right. Try that.
Now when I hit the home button three times it toggles back between normal and red screen.
Desiree and Jordan from Sailing Atticus are in Malta right now!!
Are you sure? I think they may have left. Their videos may lag real time a bit
@@svfairisle I just talked to Desiree yesterday and she said they’d be off to Greece soon. I assume they’re still there.
If you do see them say hi from Francis.
@@francismontocchio9910 Will do. We are going into Grand Harbour marina next week so I’ll look out for them
👍
Ah - DIY electrics, and they look it. Maybe get a marine electrical engineer check it over. I am currently rewiring a boat(starting with engine) which has suffered 40 years of bodges
Really want to on board for a travel but i know that is impossible
We wild camp in our motorhome and got one of those jump starters .Never used on my own van but it has started a few others 2.5 lt diesels no probs . They are amazing ! Did your bat trey fully recover?
Yes it seems fine. It was good that it had a slow recharge, AGMs don’t like a lot of Amos when they are flat and that one seemed very flat. I still can’t believe it only registered 0.6v, something strange there so I’m keeping a eye on it
Another great video, not sure about the music though 🤔
Hi Steve & Judy, another great episode.
Did you get a chance to test out the Orca weather / sail routing features as well? How did they compare to PredictWind if so?
Next passage I’m going to try and compare
Hello, can you tell me where you bought your cockpit seats from, the beige looking ones, they look excellent and would like to buy similar. Thanks. Great channel.
Yes they are called ‘Comfort Seat’ they come from the Netherlands and they are excellent!
Well I question the bilge pump connection to Starter battery, should be House, however its a good move if you putting boat into storage with LFP isolated. If its a second Bilge pump maybe, but what happened did the float latch on somehow. Anyway your House bank should have started the Engine, what happened there.? Needs investigating. Good show.
Yes we have pumps on both batteries, the lithiums ability to cut itself off with the BMS means having one in the starter is a good idea. No idea what’s going on with the house bank not turning the engine over, as you say needs investigation!
Hi welcome to Malta. Hope you enjoy your stay. I be glad to help if you need something. I have some beautiful videos of the island if you wish to give them a look.
Hi Steve, love your videos. In the early part of video when you were using the mic outside there was a strong low frequency rumble on our surround sound system. When you and Judy did voice-overs, it disappeared and later in the video it was gone. Did you change anything or was it just the wind?
I think one of my radio mics is iffy, I’m looking into it!
Great video as always. Loving the new music! Is that you Steve? 😊
Some people think I got carried away with the music this time, I’m glad you liked it!
Hello Steve & Judy
Another brilliant video…entertaining, insightful, and a “KEEPER.” Thanks for putting the time and effort.
Am sold on the utility of UTRAL. Couldn’t quite read the amp of your unit… would you say a 2000 amp is the appropriate size for a 105 hp engine? Or do I need more.
We tried to catch up with you in Yalikavak but were not lucky enough. If you will be in Palma around mid August… please let us know… would be a great pleasure to meet you.
Fair Winds.
That’s for the lovely comment. We will be in Palma bay at the end of July as we are putting my fathers ashes to sea there after his wake at the yacht club. We may still be around into August, it rather depends on how much Schengen time we have left, might have to hit foot it to Gib!
Oh and yes it’s rated 2000amps and was fine for our 115bhp Yanmar
hey guys. nice video, as always! i don't understand why the engine didn't start once you had the house bank couple though? i know lithium batteries are not to be used as starting batteries, but you have bank of them so I would think it was more than ok for one start. and it didn't seem the starter even tried... very curious on that one, as I have a lithium house bank too and wondered about this already!
Yes it’s strange, I’m looking into it!
@@svfairisle ah - cool! if you ever find out, that may be a rather nice technical video! btw... speaking of tech, in predictwind I find the "validation" tab rather good... you won't have it for every location, but when you do, you can see quantitavely which model works best in the area for direction and speed separately. you need to save a location first, and then click validation - if there are any validation points nearby, you'll see what i mean. I think you will find that very useful.
Why did the bilge pump stay on? I once had the float switch stay on because a fiddler crab got stuck in it.
Couldn’t see anything stuck in it, a shake and it came back to life though. I don’t like those float switches, I will look to change it
Charge the charger before you put it away to use 😂❤🎉
I did, it self discharges quite quickly so it’s a constant top up job. I know now!
Hello Steve & Judy, I have always followed you and I appreciate the videos of your long journey, both for the quality of the images, for the comments and for the choice of places visited. Sometimes, however, in this episode in particular, the volume of what should be background music is very disturbing as it is excessive compared to the phases of speech. I simply wanted to report it because maybe it's not a choice but a technical problem in the video editing phase. Thanks for sharing your adventures. I wish you fair winds on the westward route as well 👍
Thank you we will check it our end
@@svfairisle
I was always told to never connect anything to the starter batterie, well, other than the starter of course. Did you say your bilge is connected to the starter batt? It seems a strange setup... maybe I didn't understand right.
I have a bilge pumps in both house and starter and a mechanical pump on the engine. We have a lithium house bank so it’s possible for the BMS to cut off the battery, shouldn’t happen but could, so I think it’s a good idea having a pump directly on the AGM starter battery
A couple of things:
I took it that your starter battery wasn’t totally shot, but what are your thoughts on it’s lifespan prior yo going to the Caribbean?
Secondly, who was Judy waving to when she was celebrating?
I’ll see how it goes with the starter battery, if it starts to be sluggish I’ll replace it, but AGMs can take some abuse. I was the only one aboard, so me!
Your grandmother is Maltese, your mother is born in Malta. You can defeat the Schengen Shuffle with a maltese passport.
Yes I have citizenship now and hopefully will be able to get my Maltese passport soon
Are you allowed to anchor in Italy without clearing custom into Schengen if you don't go ashore? Everything a read about that gives conflicting answers...
It’s open to interpretation to be honest, but under the rights of innocent passage you are allowed to anchor to avoid bad weather as we did if you think carrying on might be a danger to you and your crew. Friends in Montenegro (they have a sailing channel called ‘Follow Intrepid Bear) sailed right across the Med like this last year. They are both former UK police officers, so really not wanting to be rule breakers & they had no problems. We’ve even heard of people being approached by coast guards in Spain and being told to go ashore if they wished as long as they didn’t venture far inland ( there are rules for crew in merchant ships that say they can be onshore within 10km of the vessel without checking in) Personally I wouldn’t risk that unless being specifically told, but you can see things seem to be open to interpretation!
Hello Steve. when you connect a portable battery, should you disconnect the positive of the spent engine starting battery? thank
If the battery is just a bit low there is no need really, I did because I was worried there might be some sort of internal problem with the starter battery and having that still in circuit might just take the juice from the portable battery.
Thank Steve.
Thanks for showing some of the Orca stuff...are you running it on your iPad or on their own tablet?
I’m running it on my iPad at the moment but keen to try there tablet as it is supposed to be good in direct sunlight
@@svfairisle Thanks! Looking forward to the next videos. Enjoy Malta and rest of the Med!
Regarding Predict Wind, I been struggling for long while to get reasonable, Polar Diagram, do they use a generic, or you can upload your own.
Hi David. There are several pre-set polars available, based on real designs, but it's also easy to set your own. I found this works better, as I kept adjusting the polars until our actual sailing results got closer to the prediction. What worked best was to set slightly under-performing polars, so our boat would arrive somewhat ahead of the prediction. Regards, Rick.
Yes I’m playing with that now, I have to do the same with the Orca. I wish the PredictWind model would have something to denote when it thinks you should be motoring. Looking closely at the route you can work it out but it would be good to see at a glance.
@@svfairisle Hi Steve. IIRC, there is a table view of the course data which shows which segments of the journey are expected to involve motoring. I think there's an icon of a motorboat to denote motoring. Try to cycle through the tables, to see if this shows up. Regards, Rick.
Are you using your propeller as source of energy as well ( hydro electricity etc ) ?
No I dont think thats something thats worthwhile in a slow moving sailboat, I know some Amels have something fitted but everyone I know who has it has disconnected it. maybe on fast cats it's a thing and of course on electric drive units so it can directly recharge the propulsion batteries, out epropulsion outboard has that.
Quick question... Am I right in saying that your boom vang is like a big turnbuckle? What make is it?
Yes that's exactly what it's like. Not sure of the make I'm afraid, noting written on it.
@@svfairisle thanks... It just looks like what we'd want, but can't find the make either. Great channel by the way👍
Did your engine start battery survive being so deeply discharged?
Yes. Seems to be fine
You missed Trieste …. Ancona , Bari…
Didn’t check into Italy, trying to save Schengen days, a real shame. We did visit a lot of Italy 2 years ago though when we wintered in Venice.
Don't you ever wear lifejackets? If one went MOB, you are now trying to keep visual on them, and trying to turn around, single-handed.
We wear life jackets when necessary, you’ll see there are several times in this video I’m wearing a life jacket.
@@svfairisle Ahh, okay. Just as well you know when you're going over! @16.48 great example, and don't see a lifejacket there.
@@RebuildingScotland I wear a life jacket when I feel there’s a danger, that’s very subjective of course. You may feel you need a life jacket and of course to maybe feel safer (if not actually be safer) you could wear one all the time. Personally I think that would be a very bad idea and just lead to possible false sense of security. To each his own.
Oh and at 16.48 I'm winching the jib sheet in flat calm conditions, maybe stay in your armchair, you obviously don't belong on a boat!
Whay can you just sail?
You need wind to sail, we had none.
You can put your iPad in night/dark mode.
I might be missing something, but how exactly do you do that? You can have ‘nightshift’ which just changes the display to a really horrible warm colour temp. Or ‘night mode’ which makes the Home Screen dark but make no difference to Navionics.
Did you have to check in to Italy?
No we didn’t try
is malta not EU?
Yes it’s EU and Schengen but they have a very good attitude to 3rd county sailors.
Enjoy life aboard in your old age...God bless...life is a journey, not a destination.....The US Is a shitshow...Drug Addicts and thieves everywhere...I'm still trying to leave after 4 years in N.C. , U S.A........refitting my old tub....
2:19 The Mediterranean is not an Ocean, it is a sea
Thanks 😊
sound problems again. sort microphones
Radio mics are really the only way to get good sound in may situations. They are about £500 a set and don’t last long at sea. I’ll send you the Patreon list so you can contribute!
Do you have a Maltese passport?
I’m applying for mine now. My sister has hers.
Judy, it's chart dahling not a map. Just because your are drop dead gorgeous doesn't get you away with it, sorry.
really??
@@PaulBKal no.
Cut down the stupid loud music!!!!!!!
Love the music in this one. Probably my favourite