Rudder damaged in grounding

[Capella]

This happened to me last year, just after I had installed my shiny new autopilot.

I had dropped the anchor in 5ft of water (below the keel) off Petone beach, to do some deck work. The tide was going out, and the wind was raising a bit of chop. After some time I decided to motor back to the marina. I pointed the bow in the right direction, and felt quite happy pressing the "heading hold" button and relaxing.

Suddenly, the choppy motion turned into a chop/bump, due to my course toward the marina cutting over water made too shallow due to the choppy surface. Just a gentle bump, but it was my first, and Neptune had another notch on his scoreboard.

Now Capella is a strong, heavy steel yacht (for those that know their boats, a Feltz Scorpion) that has a very well protected rudder, and a gentle grounding should not damage anything. But when I tried to turn toward deeper water, the wheel was locked. Solidly. Immediate thoughts of my boat on the beach, but a solution was at hand: throw her into reverse and back away from the shallow water. That worked, and the bumps were replaced by spray coming over the stern, but I was once more moving smoothly.

Now how to get back? Playing with the throttle position and forward/reverse created some directional control. Almost as if the boat knew where the marina was, and wanted to go home. I would have to organise a tow once I got there, to avoid proving that a pointy steel boat can go through several plastic boats if it has no rudder control. But then, from deep within the recesses of my mind, something blinked like a friendly lighthouse. "Almost as if the boat knew where the marina was...." of course the boat is an inanimate devourer of time and money, but the brand new autopilot knows where the marina is! A glance at the console showed that the "standby" button was active. One press of a button and suddenly I had rudder control again.

Lessons learned? Lots of obvious points, from checking that the water is deep enough before setting the autopilot, to taking a moment in a crisis to diagnose problems instead of believing the worst scenario that springs to mind. But I recon I'll never mistake an autopilot left on for a jammed rudder again!

[Jim Cate]

good story, and good lesson. I bet that has happened to more than one sailor!

jim

[Dockhead]

Ha, ha.

I'm rather ashamed to say that the same thing has happened to me -- more than once

[robert sailor]

Good story, many sailors wouldn't like to admit this happened to them, good on ya

[Sandero]

Thin water and rocky bottoms are to be avoided at all cost.

[Tayana42]

Capella, thanks for sharing. I've had the same fright without the grounding. Smart of you to use your prop walk for some directional control.

[Emouchet]

This happened to me also the very first time I boarded a boat with an under deck auto pilot. You make that mistake only once!

[Rigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Emouchet

This happened to me also the very first time I boarded a boat with an under deck auto pilot. You make that mistake only once!

Or...maybe more than once.

[ski69sail]

So.... where are the photos of this wonderful steel yacht ??? for those of us who love such a vessel !!

[Capella]

Never met a boat who was not eager to post pictures :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ONLxY0qsY

The amazing mast wobble is an artefact caused by the camera shake removal software

[captlloyd]

Post like this keep bringing me back to the old expression in the medical community: ''If you hear the sound of hoofbeats, don't look for Zebras''.

[aquadreams]

We had a similar autopilot incident a few years back. My wife was at the helm happily hand steering until suddenly she couldn't. The wheel had locked up!

Guests onboard included our darling 1 1/2 year old nephew. The little devil had reached over from where he was sitting on the lazarette and engaged the autopilot without anyone noticing.

Later in the week he discovered the power winch button - right after I explained to his mother that it was one of the things to keep him away from. I explained it to her, she turned and explain it to him, and he immediately went to town. We disabled it at the breaker. Kids! Parents! I don't understand them :-)

- Joe

[JD-Odyssey]

Haha... been there done that but without the grounding. Just one of the many lessons learned.

[Quebramar]

Speaking about autopilot... I bought my boat 2 years ago and my brother, experienced sailor, recommended me to create an opening in the fibreglass shield protecting the engine controls and the autopilot one.
So on the Saturday night I removed it in anticipation as we were going to head home right after coming back at the end of the next day. I would get it done at home with the equipment he lent me.
Morning after, we left the marina and, when out of the channel, started to take the main up. All good, but when I asked my wife to change course, the helm was locked. I asked her to slow down and after I tried, had to recognise that it was blocked.
Rapidly I thought of a problem with the rudder steering system (high tide and no risk of grounding in my case) and specifically the cabling. I rushed downstairs, opened the aft berth and looked at the rudder half-moon steering, couldn't see any trouble, steel cables were there, then I noticed the long pilot shaft and... bang it clicked in my beginner's head. Rushed back to the cockpit and indeed, the AP was on. Inadvertently pushed with my knee when winching the main...
Beside the lessons mentioned above, it's good to understand why the glassfiber shield is so thick, I mean robust enough to face a knee or a foot in a choppy sea.
Grateful this was a lesson learnt the not too hard way, just loads of adrenalin for the recently licensed skipper. :-D

[Quebramar]

Forgot to mention that the opening in the shield suggested by my bro was intended to get immediate access to AP controls (instead of having to lift the shield)
Did it and replaced the shield. Ni issue anymore since.