Perilous Situation: Lee Shore With Building Waves & No Engines! (ep 274)

[@smith0819]

It's great the way you open the curtain to us and share your story even during extremely stressful situations. Thanks Vernon and Marie (Eli too!)

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@smith0819 you’re welcome! As it all happened over a period of time we were able to film some of it. Often these things happen so fast you’re just battling to save the boat and really no way to think about anything else.

[@Pedelorean]

Well done for recording in situations like this. Lucky it was in the day though, night-time would have been even more stressful. Glad you got to a nice, safe anchorage.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks. Yes, every other time it’s been 2am so this was quite relaxed in a way. We were able to plan and talk over our options.

[@gabriellanb1750]

You guys are amazing 🔥🔥🔥

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@gabriellanb1750 🙏🙏

[@MariePierre.Y]

😰🙏😊👏🥳 ouf, pas de tout repos tout ça... Bravo à tous les 3.

[@rickpyne]

Thank God that Eli, Marie and yourself are safe. My heart was in my mouth for the first 5 mins. Your preparation to get dinghy and sails ready to sail away from danger is admirable. Also your decision to get out while you could exactly right. Having ability to charge engine batteries from house shows foresight. I love the idea of backup systems and extra backups. Well done. Thanks for your vid, every sailor should see this and learn. Fair winds and calm seas to you both.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks Rick for the nice comment. If I'd have just turned off the isolator switches none of the panic would have happened. Or if I'd have diagnosed the battery issue before. Good to have this season without any major consequences though. Take care

[@rickpyne]

@@SailingLearningByDoing I just want to see many many more of your vids

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thats good to know. We are actually filming a video about that subject today. We are getting to a point soon where we might have to stop them as we cannot really afford to continue our current form of earning money.

[@sailingsitka]

You guys handled that situation beautifully. Congratulations on getting that all on film , that no easy task in tense moments .

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks guys. A lot easier to film stuff when its not 2am!

[@jonathanscott550]

Thank godness you got the battery issue resolved. Definitely not a nice feeling sitting in rough water heavy winds thinking you may drag while so close to rock wall. Eli seemed to overall take it in stride. Vern and Marie you kept your cool as much as you could great job in the circumstances. Finally at the end it was all goodm and like your channel says Learning by doing. I'm actually sitting hear recovering from my left knee replacement which I had a few days ago. Watching takes away the discomfort fora whileand it's much appreciated cheers. Looking forward to next video

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Ah mate, hope you feel better soon. Seems like those surgeries are pretty great now, you'll be playing tennis in no time.

[@giork2828]

Always good to see the "real deal" of living aboard, plus the perfect match between the two of you (Eli sure looks happy as well). Now about KZbin shorts, would it be worth uploading a few cuts from your own videos? Thanks and take care guys 🤙

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks. I hate shorts on YT. They shouldn't try and compete with TikTok. Seems like YT are finally realising this as they just made some changes.

[@johnwalker6711]

Glad you got on top of that situation , well done both of you take care and safe travels cheers

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks Mr Walker.

[@AdventureYachtSeaMonkey]

Good plug for Rocna. Best anchor ever. Also good to see Prue the roo make an appearance 😉

[@pmorph]

This is a fantastic example of the very high highs and the deep bloody lows when living on a boat-- at least you know you're alive!

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

That is true! Our hearts were beating for sure.

[@larrydavison2559]

So glad your all safe, thank God you got the charging problem solved. Stay safe.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Us too! Thanks Larry

[@rossmain4142]

Calm heads all round, well done. I like how you guys tell all the stories, not just the pretty ones, cheers

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@rossmain4142 thanks Ross👍

[@TammyBillings-qt1ve]

Great job on the video

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks!

[@rhyswhite6139]

18v Power tool batteries make good jump start packs in emergency situations. Started cars and boats many times from 18v Milwaukee batteries. Make up some short heavy leads and keep them ready for times like this.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@rhyswhite6139 no way, really? That’s a good tip mate. I’ll give it a test and see if it works. I have Ozito tools. How do you connect heavy wires to the little battery pins?

[@rhyswhite6139]

@@SailingLearningByDoing I just use copper lugs pushed sideways into the battery slots with 30cm of 10mm2 cable. They should have the positive and negative marks on them.

[@MrFastFarmer]

If Marie remains calm and unpanicked, you'll sail far. Great to see.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yep, that's my goal. She's doing great.

[@louisiana4627]

Good conclusions ! Love

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

🙏

[@nickwhite2932]

Great head torch!

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

So good! I got given one in the Yamba marina by a Patron of ours. It was so good I ordered 2 more. Cheap as chips too.

[@davidbaddiley5878]

I feel your pain mate, never ending hey.... As we both know, the less electrical on a boat the better. Well done 👍 #sailingpopeye

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yeah youre damn right. These new boats I see, phew, no way Id deal with all that. Fine in busy areas but a nightmare in remote places.

[@SoundzAlive1]

Hi Marie, Eli and Vernon, You certainly show the reality of a sailing life. All cats I have been on have a parallel switch to connect the house batteries to the start batteries which would sole your crisis. Maybe a small lithium jump starter pack snd they are so small they fit in the palm of your hand. Also check to see if you have a Voltage Sensitive Relay or similar device to prioritise the charging, first the start batteries and then the house batteries. André

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yeah a jump pack would be the ticket, not much chance of getting a lithium one here.

[@thecaptaincrayfish3873]

Totally agree, Off, 1, 2, or both is a really good setup. Not sure it'd work when the leads come off though. You both handled that really well, and I loved that you captured it all and explained your workaround. Tremendous effort all round. Selamat jalan. 😊

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@thecaptaincrayfish3873 thanks.

[@StewartGartland]

What a beautiful happy baby. All your stresses seem not to penetrate young Eli. Glad all was well. We never got to Manado, kinda glad we never had to endure anything like that! Dived Bunaken many years ago, so can definitely see the attraction. Good luck and fair winds friends!!

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks Stewart. I guess Eli is still too young to know fear. It does make Marie and I try and stay in control of our emotions though. 🙏

[@pmorph]

Interesting-- I'm surprised that the boat hasn't got the switches set up so you can start from the house batteries. Is that your start batteries are just buggered rather than a leak?

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

I replaced both start batteries a couple of months ago when this first happened. The house bank is lithium so separate from the age start batteries. I'd like to rig a permanent jumper cable though.

[@pmorph]

@@SailingLearningByDoing good point re lithium batteries, hadn't thought of that

[@garthsykes7691]

So happy you all survived that boating moment that no one wants. Electrics sure can be a brain buster when not a trained electrician hey. Certainly Learning by doing.May you get many more miles of sailing pleasure from now on.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks mate.

[@rcralphpfister]

Great crisis management, captain!

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

It was nice that is didnt happen at 2am like it has in the past. Makes it easier to plan

[@rcralphpfister]

At first glance I wouldn't have left the Anchorage. I squirmt when you announced it. But you planned correctly the conditions out to sea weren't as bad and thanks to the early mooring you were able to avoid a prolonged journey on a close lee shore. 😀😀

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@rcralphpfister yeah, the decision to stay was based on picking up a mate the next day, not on safety. We made the right call. As we were only 6nm away we just steamed back to manado the next morning.

[@R.E.HILL_]

Nice one.. a portable lithium jump starter.. on the wishlist perhaps..?😉🙂

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Need it before Xmas.

[@rickdelaney950]

Bunakin Island nearby has good mooring

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

thats where we went

[@johnmajewski1065]

I feel your stress and fear, I'm very impressed with Marie and your good self-dealing and solving the issues that confronted you. As to my comment feeling your stress and fear, four weeks ago, we had 65 knots of North westerly wind strait into Careel Bay. I was fine so I thought but a cabin cruiser broke its mooring was blown backwards through a mooring area, hitting and damaging 6 moored boats including mine, as its stern banged a number of times down the starboard side. As you know 3 years ago, I had my boat totally rebuild and painted. I was not happy. Last Thursday my boat was repair and painted all good, but wait. My point being you don't have to be in a 2nd world country as trouble can came from anywhere at any moment! Next day? Just two days ago being Friday, a lady smashed at Aldi’s parking lot shopping centre, into the side of my car.! You don't have to be on a boat it is just living from one moment of stress to the next, just wait 5 min’s and bang another new experience is waiting for all of use. I'm also very impressed with Eli he is growing to be a handsome baby. Hang in there, Best Wishes SV Skoiern IV

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Ah man! That sucks! Glad you have a strong boat and good insurance. Many people have questioned our decision to do this with Eli but for me it’s pretty clear that there are risks everywhere. At least most of our risks are on our own hands.

[@johnmajewski1065]

@@SailingLearningByDoing Your not the only one raising a child on a sail boat. Delos has be very successful with Sara / Nugget as they like to call her. Also my impression is your both are very responsible parents. Importantly you both know what you want in life the rest is just living your life. Who wants to be living in US or EU right now, Best stay out of the harms way with all the regression and wars which are now over taking many economy's.

[@Pascal.Guerin]

What a situation you go trough !!! Good luck guys 😅

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@Pascal.Guerin Thanks.

[@WIJAYA_78]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍

[@mikalliz2167]

Do you have another anchor that you can put in the skiff and gather up all the rooe you can and put it out farther than the one you have?

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yes I do have that but the anchor wasn't the problem, our Rocna was holding just fine. It was the building waves that we thought might get very big.

[@ralphholiman7401]

Live and learn.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

👍

[@klemenprezelj]

Feel sorry for Marie, stress is sh....! Vernon is resorcefull, trust him, i know he would pull the boat through storm with his teeth for u guys.

[@bobmott7221]

dinghy in the water in those conditions is a no no. Or if you intend using it you need to increase the weight of the dinghy. Put filled water containers it it to stabilise it. Then you have to have one person in it steering the outboard and one steering the boat. Also there is such a thing as a sprinloaded device that you can replace your electric starter motor. You crank it up to start the engine. no power needed. Also house power should have a link to engine start if your engine start batteries fail who can use house power direct.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@bobmott7221 the simplest would be to get a lithium jump battery. I’ll be in makassar soon and will see if I can find one. The house and start battery banks are separate because the house is lithium and the starters are agm.

[@bobmott7221]

@@SailingLearningByDoing Next you will have a lithium battery fire. Looking at all the issues you have already in a basic Crowthers cat you need to go back to conventional/simple not forwards to complicated systems. You can use lithium batteries to start a engine. I had a starboard battery system and a port battery system independant of each other 2 x diesels and smart charging systems that isolated the engine battery from the house batteries. But house could be used to start engines. Plus you can have a stand by spring loaded starter motor if all power goes down to start the engine

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Bob you’re all over the place with this comment. First you’re saying I need to go more simple then you’re telling me about a “smart charging system”. There’s a possibility of lithium fire but also about the same chance of lightening hitting my fuel tank.

[@Alex000113]

How old are your batteries ? wonder if its just the battery failing (Ive noticed they last much less than they used to). A plus that cats have lots of redundancy (2 sets of batteries, 2 engines etc). Wonder if theres any other connections without washers ? Maybe a to-do list visible in hte lounge area would prompt you to get 'a round tuit' 🙂. Nice teamwork and planning to move.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

I brought new start batteries a couple of months ago as in the beginning I thought that was the issue. I’ve now gone over the whole system and checked connection etc.

[@joesambrano7634]

👋😎⚓🌈

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

🙏

[@waynelemmon3007]

Great that the shituation didn't turn to shit. Always pays to have a plan before it turns to shit.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yep thats for sure. Was actually a nice change, not happening at 2am.

[@waynelemmon3007]

@SailingLearningByDoing forsure daylight makes it easier to deal with.

[@terrybrown9516]

The wires that had come apart, do they link all the different batteries for charging? If both engines had flat batteries could you have another issue ? I’ve found a lot of the time there are 2 or 3 faults.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

The 2 wires belonged on one of the poles of the isolator switch which essentially connects the different batteries.

[@edwinflynn9744]

My decision would be to take the boat to the safer anchorage. My family and boat are my responsibility. I think you di make the right decision in the end.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yeah it was an easy one really.

[@gingerbard2607]

I would not like to have been there without an engine - but you wisely had loads of scope out so not much chance of dragging really.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yeah not ideal. A big problem in Indonesia is the amount of plastic and other rubbish on the ocean floor. Many times our anchor has come up fouled. An anchor just won’t dig deep if there plastic bags on the tip.

[@TrpleAgnt2011]

Yah, electrics, me too, in one...out the other, no luck w it. At least you got yr damn headlamp!

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

And a great headlamp it is!

[@Thomas-ts2gl]

You had a lot going on there..but please don't untie your dingy until the engine is started and warmed up. That could have been really bad if this was the one time it didn't start you and drifted away from your family. And I find the battery charges faster if you disconnect one of the cables I suggest the neg. side.. especially if you have a parasitic drain or the battery is completely dead.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Yep good call. I always make Marie start the engine first so I should do it myself.

[@atw98]

You have an anchor and sails. This is the problem with people having no idea how dangerous sailing is. Use your anchor to winch yourself away from the shore like normal people. And its a cat your tender even if only 15 horses is more then enough go drag you out.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Thanks for the wisdom. 😘 there’s also a problem with people who think they know things but really don’t. IF the wind had risen to 30kts and the waves to 3m then the dinghy with 15hp would have been practically useless. Thankfully we had time to put some charge in a battery and motor out of there like “normal people”. 🛋️🧑‍🏫

[@atw98]

@@SailingLearningByDoing yeah you done good. My issue is with the lack of safety on most channels. 3 meter swell won't stop a cat being towed by a 15 horse power though. Glad you're safe, remember that the anchor/anchors can be driven out in the dingy and dropped to winch the boat out to give you time to make repairs. Ive seen and rescued to many people who don't know how to deal with these situations in 45 years of sailing. KZbin has made people believe there's near zero risk to sailing, which has caused massive issues where we live. We are constantly having to get the tinny and go out to help or rescue people with zero idea what to do as our house looks out over the open ocean. It's near a daily thing in summer months.

[@Antipodean33]

What the, I thought this sailing malarky was all sundowners, girls in bikinis, nice surfing diving and fishing, unicorns and rainbows

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@Antipodean33 nearly. Just every now and then something gets thrown in to mess you up.

[@robertlaird6746]

What does that tattoo represent?

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

Mine or Maries? Mine I got on my first travel alone, supposed to mean 'good luck to the traveler" but who know's, I just picked it out of a book at a random tattoo place in Airlie Beach, 1995

[@robertlaird6746]

@@SailingLearningByDoing Yours actually. The one on your chest. I get it. My friend only got one tattoo in his life because he wanted to get one. He now wishes that he didn't get it but it's there and he can't do anything about it now. I don't have any but it seems like most younger people are getting them.

[@SailingLearningByDoing]

@@robertlaird6746 I don’t regret it for a second. Memories of being young and stupid. It’s as much a part of me as the rest of my skin.

[@robertlaird6746]

@@SailingLearningByDoing I think we are all young, dumb and full of cum for about ten years or so. Shit happens. My friend got a Bart Simpson tattoo on his leg that was supposed to look like he was ridding a surf board but it looks more like a skate board. The artiest just smoked a joint before he started and it showed in his art work.