Sunday, May 13, 2018
JUST A REMINDER
I'm constantly reminded of all the things I'm missing since I converted BIANKA to electric propulsion ten years ago . Namely all the bad things that go with having a diesel on board. We were anchored off the Staniel Cay Yacht Club in the Exumas Bahamas. I was relaxing in the cockpit of a St. Francis 44 foot Catamaran when I heard someone call "Ahoy' as fellow in a dingy motored up to the stern. He was looking for the Captain of the boat he had met a few weeks earlier. He discovered had no control of speed as he came into anchor. It seems a part of the throttle lever assembly had broken. It was the metal lever that connected the throttle leakage to the throttle cable at the helm. Probably not something you are going to easily find in Staniel Cay. It reminded me of all the mechanical pieces that can break that go with having a diesel on board. These mechanical linkages that control the speed and direction are not used on an EP system. Instead a single sealed electrical potentiometer control is used and is a plug in cable like the battery meter in the previous post. It should be much more reliable than the mechanical linkages that are used with a diesel.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Posts
2 comments:
Had my shift linkage pop off
while going dead slow, but needing
to stop, at the dead end of a marina
channel last year. Scary at any
speed. Luckily I just bumped a
wooden piling and could grab it to
stop. A screw had popped out of
some rotten wood. Lots of items
need to be constantly checked.
Yeah Bill and those mechanical linkages break most often when you need them. Like coming into a dock. The fellow in the post said he was lucky he was able to anchor away from other boats because he knew he would not have much control if he had to up anchor and move in an emergency.
Post a Comment