[Pascal]

Bill, be ready for an avalanche of what if scenarios...

What if you have a heart attack?
What if you have an ER fire?
What if you choke on a grape?
What if you fall asleep?
What if you loose an engine?
What if somebody put laxative in your desert?
What if
What if
What it...

[FISHTIGUA]

Originally Posted by Pascal

Bill, be ready for an avalanche of what if scenarios...

What if you have a heart attack?
What if you have an ER fire?
What if you choke on a grape?
What if you fall asleep?
What if you loose an engine?
What if somebody put laxative in your desert?
What if
What if
What it...

Yep, that's why my Mom went and took her Yachtmaster exams, just in case the Old Fart keeled over and died on the helm (they were in their late 50s & 60s when they sailed off).

On one of my boats we had a station on the bridge, one on the flybridge and another under a hatch on the aftdeck. They were MicroCommanders, electronic controls with no feel or touch; the lag in time was aweful.

Be careful for what you wish.

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by captainwjm

I disagree; I single-hand my 55 all the time and have found it to be easier to handle than smaller vessels I've had. Knowing how to use spring lines, anticiapting wind and current, and thinking before you act are the keys.

How easy is it to put out a fire while maintaining control of the vessel? How easy is it to keep the boat from sinking if a large hose blows while maintaining control of the vessel? How easy is it to do a complete visual engine room check every 1-2 hours while maintaining control of the vessel? What happens if the controls short out in foward? When you've run yachts and have 1000's of days of seatime, you will have experienced all of these things and sometimes numerous times, and know it's a matter of the luck of the draw as to when it's going to happen again.

Thinking of what could happen on a 55' yacht before leaving the dock single handed are key. A learjet can be flown by a good pilot without a co-pilot without any issue, however the FAA mandates a co-pilot just to account for the what-ifs.

[Marmot]

Originally Posted by Capt J

A learjet can be flown by a good pilot without a co-pilot without any issue, however the FAA mandates a co-pilot just to account for the what-ifs.

Sorry Charlie, bad analogy. Biz jets broke that barrier in the late 1970s.

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by Marmot

Sorry Charlie, bad analogy. Biz jets broke that barrier in the late 1970s.

Very few jets fall into the business jet category. Lear's, Hawkers, Gulfstreams, Cessna's all still need a co-pilot.....only something similar to a pilatus doesn't......

[NYCAP123]

The "what ifs" are listed all over the threads that touch single-handing so I won't bore with that. I'll just say that, as someone on the water professionally for a long time, the words "what if" never leave my mind. It even carries over to my personal life. Not that I don't still do some fool things anyway, but at least I'm not surprised when things go south.
Hey Balearick. Dramatic entrance. Welcome to YF. I used to run a Carver with Yacht Controller. In 3 years we never had a problem, but I left using them to the owner. I always use the controls. Just don't trust plastic toggles and battery operation when I've got a bunch of tons heading for a dock.

[dennismc]

We had two yachts here in Vancouver who had serious interaction with remote controls, one 72 ft went through a set of fuel hoses at a floating fuel dock, the other 125 ft near broached on it's way to Mexico, both sets were deep sixed.

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by dennismc

We had two yachts here in Vancouver who had serious interaction with remote controls, one 72 ft went through a set of fuel hoses at a floating fuel dock, the other 125 ft near broached on it's way to Mexico, both sets were deep sixed.

There was also a boat at Harbourtowne Marina in Dania, FL with them that was in the travel lift slip a few months ago, and with the yacht control and it went full throttle foward on both engines and was pegged against the seawall in the travel lift slip still in the slings.

[Pascal]

I don't know about you guys but if I get a fire, the fire system will kill the engines and I will probably wait till the fire is under control to over ride the shut down and attempt a restart. I l'd probably hit the remote fuel shutdowns anyway ASAP so controlling the boat is not an option

The best way to keep the boat under control is to drop the hook anyway, even if the water is too deep (offshore) the drag of the anchor and chain will help keep the bow into the wind anyway

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by Pascal

I don't know about you guys but if I get a fire, the fire system will kill the engines and I will probably wait till the fire is under control to over ride the shut down and attempt a restart. I l'd probably hit the remote fuel shutdowns anyway ASAP so controlling the boat is not an option

The best way to keep the boat under control is to drop the hook anyway, even if the water is too deep (offshore) the drag of the anchor and chain will help keep the bow into the wind anyway

By the time you've stopped the vessel and dropped the hook you've already wasted at least 2-5 minutes. Meanwhile the 2nd person could've already handled the issue. By the time the fire is strong enough to make the fire system automatically discharge, you probably won't have an engine room left or much else. Most of the fire systems have to detect a 170 F engine room (seafire). In a well ventilated and larger engine room, you could have a pretty good fire going on before the engine room reaches 170 degrees. Some discharge if the temperature raises 17 degrees F in a second. Also what makes you so sure that the system will work, the fire will be in the engine room and not elsewhere, or the system will put the fire out? Meanwhile, who is communicating with help (US Coast Guard) while you're busy mitigating loss?

Early detection of a fire is paramount. I've had 2 fires in my career on boats. Both I've never run before. I smelled them, and caught them before the flame was more than 15" high and 1' across, and both were put out with very minimal damage.....only wiring on 1, and a turbo blanket on another, not paintwork, gelcoatwork, woodwork, or any of that. Had they gone for another minute un-attended, it would have been a huge insurance claim. And had I not had a mate standing on the dock getting ready to grab lines, that instead ran and got a fire extinguisher off the dock while I shut everything down, the engine harness fire that was less than 12" from the side of the fuel tank and also engine room ceiling, would've been disasterous.

I've also had several other situations occur over the years where a 2nd person saved the owner from a $75,000 engine rebuild to what could have been a sinking. I've also gotten caught in rough seas several times, where either a $1,000 cushion mysteriously blew overboard that had to be fished out of the ocean, or something got loose and was swinging around, and without a 2nd person to handle it, it would've been impossible for me to do on my own.

I almost always bring a mate (99% of the time), because as a Captain I am responsible for the safety of the vessel and the safety for the crew. I feel that my life, and the yacht that I am running is worth a heck of a lot more than the price of hiring a mate. A Captain is hired for his decision making skills and loss mitigation and preservation of the yachts value and condition.

[NYCAP123]

My fire experience was similar to Capt. J's, one where I knocked down a small ER fire with an extinguisher while I had a 2nd guy calling the fire dept. and standing ready to get the boat off the dock and away from other boats if I couldn't control it. In the 2nd I was the one calling and prepared to move out while a 2nd monitored the situation and took charge of clearing the dock of looky-lous so the Fire Dept. could get through faster. In neither did the fire suppression system activate. I'll always run with a 2nd if possible. Most times these days I make it another captain. More expensive but still worth it.

[Pascal]

You are comparing apples to oranges here, in both cases you were at the dock so single handling is irrelevant

The point i m trying to make is that it s not clear cut / black or white but it depends on the conditions. For instance In Bill's case, he is running is own boat not somebedy else's

How much you know the boat and how is the boat equipped plays a big role in the decision as well as where you are operating. Would I do a charter without crew? Never... If I have paying pax. on board I run with a crew... Would i take a boat I have never run across to the banana alone? Nope...

But if I am running a boat I m familiar with, near shore or inland, with full time ER cams, and I have personally prepped the boat and secured everything incl cushions, water toys, etc... I m comfortable with it. Stopping the boat and hitting the windlass control to dump the preset amount of chain will take a few seconds, not 5 minutes

Again it comes down to the specifics, but i dont think blanket statements like "You should never be operating a yacht that size single handed. Period" are accurate

And by the way there are small airlines flying regularly schduled flights with a single pilot...

[captainwjm]

Originally Posted by Pascal

Bill, be ready for an avalanche of what if scenarios...

What if you have a heart attack?
What if you have an ER fire?
What if you choke on a grape?
What if you fall asleep?
What if you loose an engine?
What if somebody put laxative in your desert?
What if
What if
What it...

Thanks Pascal, I should have realized that owner/operators and commerical operators would be jumbled up and that everyone would be whipping out their, um, "experience," for measurement. In my commerical days, a full crew was de riguer, but nowdays, when the missus can't join me, I don't shy away from getting out on my own. Ah, the pleasures of pleasure boating, the only second guessing is when I do it to myself!

[Marmot]

Not really meaning to hijack the thread but this is too good to pass on:

Originally Posted by Capt J

Very few jets fall into the business jet category. Lear's, Hawkers, Gulfstreams, Cessna's all still need a co-pilate.....only something similar to a pilatus doesn't......

Very few? Tell that to the folks who bought nearly 11,000 over the past 10 years. Compared to the world airliner fleet of around 13,000 I would say your description of the bizjet category to be rather inaccurate.

And by the way, Pilatus doesn't build a jet.

Hawker 200 Business Jet: Overview

Citation CJ2+

Embraer reveals vision for single-pilot airliners

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by Marmot

Not really meaning to hijack the thread but this is too good to pass on:



Very few? Tell that to the folks who bought nearly 11,000 over the past 10 years. Compared to the world airliner fleet of around 13,000 I would say your description of the bizjet category to be rather inaccurate.

And by the way, Pilatus doesn't build a jet.

Hawker 200 Business Jet: Overview

Citation CJ2+

Embraer reveals vision for single-pilot airliners

What I meant to say are private jets that can be flown by 1 pilot are few and far between and most private jets are mandated to fly with 2 pilots.