Kicking myself, but glad I can.

[maxingout]

Wow. Glad to hear that you and your yacht are doing fine. That was a very close call.

It sounds like you had a pretty good bump on the head. Be sure and get yourself checked out at a hospital if you have any problems over the next couple of weeks. When you take a big hit like that, you can get a sub-dural hematoma, and symptoms of sub-durals happen weeks after the trauma because it takes weeks for the hematoma to expand. Odds are that you won't have a problem. But if there is any change in your mental status after a good thump on the head, you should get a check up by a physician.

Engine rooms are scary places even when they aren't on fire. I actually don't do any work in my engine compartments unless there is another person on board the yacht, just in case something happens. If those automatic fire extinguishes go off while you are in the compartment and you can't get out, you are toast. My son knew two people on a power yacht who were killed in the engine room when the CO2 fire extinguishes went off on accident.

I'm not superstitious, but last year on Friday the 13th, a 115 foot megayacht ran into our port bow doing $2000 worth of damage.

Glad you are OK.

Cheers,

[S/V Elusive]

Thank the gods you are alright Wheels!!! And hey, just because *I* do something stupid with the batterys/charger/inverter, it is NOT an invite for you to do something stupid too!!!!! I will concede and declare you the winner!! Man ... you ARE lucky!!

[camaraderie]

Alan...glad you are reasonably OK. Great cautionary tale for the rest of us. Will be interested in hearing your further diagnosis of what caused the problem.

Gord...re: bricks...LOL...a classic!

[TaoJones]

. . . and I thank the Lord that it wasn't worse. Please heed maxingout's advice and consult a physician. The man is giving you some valuable guidance. Head traumas can do damage that takes some time to manifest, and the fumes you inhaled can't have been good for your lungs.

Tend to your body first, Wheels. Unless, and until, that is put right, you can't really do the best for your boat.

Get well soon.

TaoJones

[Alan Wheeler]

I had a bit of a ruff night, I woke to a couple of panic attacks. I think it was just the stress of the situation taking hold. But I am fine this morning and am about to go to the boat to start repare.
So if I just did something rock bottom stupid, and if I have done damage mentaly, I can only improve in wisdom can't I. ;-) I still can't spell worth a darn, so I guess I am still normal. :-)
I'll let you all know what I find today.

[Wahoo Sails]

Wheels,
Thank God you're in one piece ... the boat too! Rather than "going at it" the next day ... may I prescribe a day of fishing/drinking beer (not nesecarilly in that order) ... then going back to look at it after you have had time to think about (recuperate from) the problem?
Bob

[RichT]

Alan,
Got to go with wahoo here, take a day or two to recuperate, relax, and go back more refreshed. That will also give you time to think about what might have caused the problem in the first place. No point in making the same mistake twice....

If you're gonna rewire anyway, might give some thoughts to using relays, or remotely controlled switching for the heavy cables. All a/c are wired that way and for good reason. As you stated, it's quicker, safer, and a lot easier to flip a control switch in the cockpit or on the control panel, and avoid having to go into the engine compartment. And running an 18 or 20 guage control wire to a relay is relatively simple, and cuts down on having a mess of heavy cables running everywhere.

Take care of the head, the boat will still be there later....

RichT

[RichT]

ps, consider putting some in line fuses or c/b's on those cables as well, now, about that beer....
RichT

[Alan Wheeler]

Gidday there everyone, this is Mrs Wheels
Now my side of the story:

I was at home mowing the lawns, when I noticed Alan pull into the driveway, I gave him a BIG smile, and he looked upset. Alan slowly walked over to me and told me to turn off the mower. He gave me a big hug and told me to come inside. He sat down and told me his story. I insisted that he needed to go to A & E at the hospital to get his head checked, but his reply was no I will be alright. One part of the story Wheels hasn't told you is that he had a 20 - 25 minute drive from the Marina to Home, so I don't really know how he managed that drive home. I am doing my best to look after him, but he is stubborn like me and has gone back out there today to fix his mistake.

Thanks everyone for all your kind words, Alan appreciate these and is humbled by them.

Just one more from me is that if something bad happened to the boat, then that wouldn't matter, but if I didn't have Alan coming home each night then that would be devioustating.

Love Dawn

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Just one more from me is that if something bad happened to the boat, then that wouldn't matter, but if I didn't have Alan coming home each night then that would be devioustating.

Love Dawn

. . . because I don't much believe in luck. But now it is clear, "Wheels, you're a lucky man." (lump in throat)

[Wahoo Sails]

Wheels,
I'm sure to catch a load of flack for this, but gonna give you my personal opinion on seeing doctors.
First .... wait until you're sure you're gonna die, second, wait 3 days more, If you are alive, but convinced that you're still gonna die, then, and then only do you see a doctor.
Where on Earth did I come up with this bizarre notion? .....from several doctors. Same doctors have told me "Wanna stay healthy?" "Stay away from doctors!"
Make of this what you will.
Bob

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Wahoo Sails

"Stay away from doctors!"

Ditto!

I could tell you my experience over the past five years. But to keep it short I decided to just go COLD TURKEY on the manipulating vultures. Now I feel a whole lot better.

[Alan Wheeler]

Well if anyone is interested, go have a look in the Photo gallery in the maintanance section and see the pile of melted mess I pulled out this morning. I have all the new cable run and some terminated. My main priority today was getting the house bank back on line so as Bilge systems were operable. It would just my day if I returned later in the week and find the boat on the bottom.
Like we all do when dealing with clueless PO's, I found a few horror's. There is a fuse on each bank. But the damn things had been shorted across with copper bars. There wasn't a way in the world they were ever going to blow. So I have now fitted a 100A circuit breaker on the house bank and I need to get an 85A rupturable fuse for the Alternator. So in all, the Alternator and it's cabling was not protected and the Starting bank and it's cabling was not protected. So what ever caused the short had no chance of causing the fuse to fail.
I have now repositioned the start batteries so as they are closer to the starter. This will also help in that if anything like this should happen again, cables can not melt across each other and short out entire systems, nor can they then fall onto metal items and continue shorting. Infact the only cable that is not normally fused because of the current, is the one going directly to the starter itself. If this should ever melt again, it will be the only one that ever will and it will never be able to touch anything conductive or meltable.
I Have also repositioned the fuses and isolating switches in an easy to get to place in the Pilot house, infact, close to the doorway out of the boat, which is also now directly above the battery banks in the engine room below, so cabling is easy and short. Infact I have saved so much cable, that I have not had to buy anything to replace the burnt stuff. Just new connectors is all I needed. I have removed the Starter again and am going to test it to se if it is OK. I still can't work out why the terminal has been so hot. I am worried it has been an internal short which may have triggered all this off.
I Have a few cables to make up during the week and I will test the starter and then I get back out there Thursday. I need it all going Because I am kinda on stanby for maybe having to go get the mast. I won't know what's happening with that till the next few days.

P.S. Gee thanks for all your replies people. I was not expecting anyone to reply and I was certainly surprised by the concerns. Thank-you so much everyone.

So, about that winter project...
Sounds like you have it under control instead of the other way around. Good for you Wheels.
And, Dawn, great to have you drop a few words in, regardless of the circumstances, but especially nice when you contribute a bit of yourself

[Alan Wheeler]

Oh buy the way, so far the start bank seem to be OK. I voltage tested them first and they were sitting at 12.? Volts, which I was surprised to see with the current they must have disappated. I then put them on the charger invidually and brought each up to float stage before connecting the bank back together. I have left them on the charger and it seems to be floating OK.