{"id":57797,"date":"2021-12-10T11:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T16:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/?p=57797"},"modified":"2023-05-08T10:53:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T14:53:39","slug":"tell-tales-at-the-helm-in-the-ditch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/yachts\/tell-tales-at-the-helm-in-the-ditch\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning First-Hand Why It’s Better to be Hands-On"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Steve <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n “Seems like the starboard tab is stuck down, but the boat is 2 knots faster when it\u2019s leaning 10 degrees to port.”<\/span>\n Steve Haefele<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cGotta go, call ya back!\u201d my pal Tom barked. He was on a voyage from Florida to New England for the season. I\u2019d suggested that he hire a captain to deal with the boring stretches, but he\u2019d insisted that taking the helm would be an adventure. Now, in a remote leg of \u201cthe Ditch\u201d (aka the Intracoastal Waterway), he had found an adventure for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom has been a boater his entire adult life; however, tending to the worries of building a business left him little time to manage his fleet. He\u2019d delegated bothersome boating chores. Now retired with time to spare and a can-do attitude, Tom insisted on a hands-on delivery. I was enlisted to provide phone support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d tricked a college roommate he hadn\u2019t seen in 50 years into serving as a crewmember. While a good shipmate, the poor fellow had never set foot on a boat and had no stomach for the sea. Following a field promotion to helmsman, he\u2019d accidentally grazed a log-littered gutter of the Ditch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoyle, the vibration is a bit less above 2,000 rpm,\u201d Tom told me. \u201cI think she\u2019ll be better off at speed. Gotta stay on schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suggested the possibility of shaking the engine mounts and shaft seals into submission. \u201cYou worry too much,\u201d Tom groused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least take a look in the engine room and make sure things aren\u2019t wiggling about,\u201d I insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGotta go, call ya back!\u201d Tom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeems like the starboard tab is stuck down, but the boat is 2 knots faster when it\u2019s leaning 10 degrees to port,\u201d he told me on the next call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More from Jay Coyle:<\/strong> Tell Tales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suggested that Tom contact the boat\u2019s designer and share the potential breakthrough in marine design\u2014or maybe check to see if the port tab was still there. \u201cGotta go, call ya back!\u201d Tom replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoyle,\u201d he said during our next confab, \u201cboth the bow and the stern thruster crapped out this morning.\u201d I asked if he had checked the breaker. \u201cOf course,\u201d Tom said. I asked if he had checked the manual (knowing that Tom says manuals are for amateurs). \u201cI\u2019m underway,\u201d he grumbled. \u201cI can\u2019t take my eyes off the road. I\u2019ll deal with it when I get to New England. Gotta go, call ya back!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another call: \u201cCoyle, the port engine shut down right after the fire alarm sounded. Any ideas?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShut down everything and check the fire-suppression system,\u201d I said. \u201cDon\u2019t open the engine-room door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom had already sent his seasick crewman into harm\u2019s way. Fortunately, the problem was a seized idler pulley and a burned belt. Tom tracked down a replacement three states away and greased an overworked technician to screw it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remaining 500 nautical miles were uneventful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom was secured in his slip and well into a bottle of red wine when the sunset caused him to reflect: \u201cManaging a boat is a real pain in the ass, but it\u2019s worth it. You missed a hell of an adventure. Why don\u2019t you fly up here in the fall and join me for the ride down south?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGotta go, Tom,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll call ya back!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cruising your yacht on the Intracoastal Waterway requires more of a hands-on approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Jay Coyle","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"163","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"A boater friend is making his way from Florida to New England and ran into some adventurous trouble along the way.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[163],"tags":[167,570,1893,164],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}