This is why we bang on about kill cords . . .

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Why? I have cable steering and mine doesn't.

No Feedback (NFB) Steering, I think, usually won't. As these are becoming more popular as prices come down, I don't think you can bet on a cable driven steering system always circling once you let go the wheel.

jky

[9D280]

A couple of observations here:

Loose steering - you get minced.
Tight steering - you get lost at sea as the rib dissapears over the horizon and leaves you to die of Hypothermia or get run over by the next numptie in a Binliner who hasn't seen you in the water.

Either scenario....not good.

As for the RNLI & the like not wearing one, you have a boat full of HIGHLY TRAINED & EXPERIENCED guys, any of whom can take over the helm. It's hardly the same comparing professional rescue crews coming alongside stricken ships in F8 gales to your trip to the Folly and a PB2 certificate......


Conclusion: wear a Kill cord!

[neilda]

Originally Posted by 9D280

A couple of observations here:

Loose steering - you get minced.
Tight steering - you get lost at sea as the rib dissapears over the horizon and leaves you to die of Hypothermia or get run over by the next numptie in a Binliner who hasn't seen you in the water.

Either scenario....not good.

As for the RNLI & the like not wearing one, you have a boat full of HIGHLY TRAINED & EXPERIENCED guys, any of whom can take over the helm. It's hardly the same comparing professional rescue crews coming alongside stricken ships in F8 gales to your trip to the Folly and a PB2 certificate......


Conclusion: wear a Kill cord!

Nail. Head.

[JSP]

I've often get the impression that some people buy a RIB thinking they can do what the RNLI guys do.
Much like someone in a standard range rover ploughing into a river after watching the camel trophy.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

I don't think you can bet on a cable driven steering system always circling once you let go the wheel.

jky

No.. not always, it depends on a few factors, but my set up was a sure fire certainty at the time, and I am not alone .. heres one, thats been seen before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AthpRwkCzu4

mine would have done just the same if I was travelling at the right speed and got thown out .. go 'youtube' for a few more and surprise yourself !

[Poly]

I guess you are most likely to get thrown out during some sort of cornering manouvre anyway (and/or to grab the wheel to try and keep yourself in). So even with steering that stays straight by itself you stand a reasonable chance of being minced!

The girl in the picture is incredibly lucky.

Worth bearing in mind that loose kill cords can be a problem. JK stopped me on the Conwy trip because I had done mine up (around leg) quite loosely with my thick gloves on. On my own boat it seems to be springy enough that it pulls tight by itself. For whatever reason that didn't happen on his boat - and potentially my leg could have slipped out as I went over the side. That might make me reconsider putting it on my L/J instead.

[JSP]

Originally Posted by Polwart

I guess you are most likely to get thrown out during some sort of cornering manouvre anyway (and/or to grab the wheel to try and keep yourself in). So even with steering that stays straight by itself you stand a reasonable chance of being minced!

The girl in the picture is incredibly lucky.

Worth bearing in mind that loose kill cords can be a problem. JK stopped me on the Conwy trip because I had done mine up (around leg) quite loosely with my thick gloves on. On my own boat it seems to be springy enough that it pulls tight by itself. For whatever reason that didn't happen on his boat - and potentially my leg could have slipped out as I went over the side. That might make me reconsider putting it on my L/J instead.

I've not put mine on my leg since I hit a wave and got the bow pointing at seagulls, my feet lost grip and my legs went back (was stood up). Kill cord didn't come all the way off but nearly. So have a kill cord attached to my life jacket and the spare jackets now.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Lucky you .. If the trim tab behind the prop doesnt balance the prop thrust, (and sometimes its impossible to get it right) and you have a fairly hefty motor as I did, say 135 with manual steering, by the time you get up to full speed, the 'pull' on the steering was considerable. Mine was a particularly bad example, but it is not uncommon, as my research for the problem proved. Either yours is balanced perfectly somehow and/or you have a fairly heavy boat, where the effect may seem less so. The boat in question for me was quite light, but I can assure you .. letting the helm go at full chat on that craft would have been suicide, and I often worried about component failure elsewhere in the steering system because of that.

Its a very good argument for fitting hydraulic steering

As jky said - I assume it is because it is "no feedback steering" - but I thought cable steering was all like that these days? I guess not then...!

I would have thought an inherently unstable steering system that would bang to full lock as soon as the wheel was released was downright bloody dangerous and shouldn't be allowed to be sold

[henriks]

Imagine being out at sea in heavy weather. You fall in, and take your kill cord with you. There is no chance for your crew to start the engine again, and pick you up, unless they have access to a spare cord. One extra kill cord should be kept onboard, I assume....

[m chappelow]

with some steering set ups the way the prop turns through the water will cause the boat to circle when the steerings let go ,might not be tight but it will eventually circle,even some ships will do it if the auto pilots not on,

[neilda]

Originally Posted by henriks

Imagine being out at sea in heavy weather. You fall in, and take your kill cord with you. There is no chance for your crew to start the engine again, and pick you up, unless they have access to a spare cord. One extra kill cord should be kept onboard, I assume....

Yes, the tip given here is to have a spare around the wheel and, given their low cost, perhaps one in a passengers pocket!

I am the new kill cord evangalist...

[willk]

My problem with killcords is remembering to put them on. So now I have a strip of "male" Velcro on the clip end of the killcord and a patch of "female" Velcro stuck to the console in clear sight of the helm. I unclip and stick it on - it's then a visual reminder for me to put it back on later. Before this the damn thing would hang down the side of the jockey and go unnoticed.

[Jon.esp]

Originally Posted by willk

My problem with killcords is remembering to put them on. So now I have a strip of "male" Velcro on the clip end of the killcord and a patch of "female" Velcro stuck to the console in clear sight of the helm. I unclip and stick it on - it's then a visual reminder for me to put it back on later. Before this the damn thing would hang down the side of the jockey and go unnoticed.

Excellent idea Willk. I don’t put my killcord on until I am clear of the mooring and all lines are put away and we are ready to go to sea. But I admit that so often I forget and it is not until I am a mile or so out that I notice, especially if the harbour entrance is busy and there is a lot to concentrate on. It’s my 15yr old son who is much better at remembering.

Also I have always kept the spare killcord in one of the flare boxes on the A frame with another ready to go on the Aux. I might also have one attached to each lifejacket so that by default everybody has one.

Over Easter I was practising MOB routines with my son and one of his pals but we always rehearsed the routine of a passenger going over the side not the helm. Next time out we will practise a helm and kill cord over the side. Also I think we will do it a couple of times with one of us jumping not just chucking a fender. After all the water is warmer now!

When my dad was teaching me to sail (too many years ago) he would do MOB practise without giving us any warning at all (Fender…. he didn’t jump without warning). What do others do? I think there are several RNLI chaps who contribute to this forum. Perhaps they could recommend a suitable practise routine.

Jon

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by willk

My problem with killcords is remembering to put them on.

I used to clip mine onto the wheel - impossible to forget doing that. I seem to have got out of the habit lately ... must start doing it again.

Mine kills the engine when pulled but the engine can be restarted without it once back in neutral - seems like a good idea I guess, but I still carry another cord in the console anyway, wouldn't like it to break one day miles from home and have to come home without it.

[Prime 2]

I have seen my brother in law shoot across the Torbay in my in laws Rib with no kill cord attached a he thinks he knows what he is doing.

When on ours the first thing that is attached once we are clear of any mooring is the kill cord. Spare is attached to my wifes lifejacket.

It is also a condition of most insurance policies that a kill cord is attached at all times...So if you go overboard with no kill cord attached and you plough into someone else or something else or worse then there is every chance that the insurance company wont pay out

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

go 'youtube' for a few more and surprise yourself !

Please note that I emphatically did *not* say that it wouldn't happen. I said that NFB steering would make the "go to full lock" thing less likely (which is the point of NFB steering: the force on the motor does not go back to the wheel.)

One extra kill cord should be kept onboard, I assume....

My Honda 40 had a little receptacle that held a spare killcord key on the tiller handle. Thought that was a great idea. I was a little surprised that the bigger Yamaha (F115) came with a single killcord key (attached to the cord, of course), and no spare. I've since remedied that (though the spare is, while accessible, not exactly intuitively placed. I need to make up a label that will guide folks to the spare cord.)

So now I have a strip of "male" Velcro on the clip end of the killcord and a patch of "female" Velcro stuck to the console in clear sight of the helm.

I used to clip mine onto the wheel

I simply drape mine over the throttle lever. Makes it hard to forget. If I'm doing some slow running in calm water, I clip it back on itself in a loop, and hang it over the throttle lever. Before anyone asks, I've never had a problem with the lever being jammed by the cord.

I have, however, always worried that sometime, while tied up on the dock, someone will steal the cord and key as a way of vandalizing without physical harm. Hasn't happened, though.

jky

[willk]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

I have, however, always worried that sometime, while tied up on the dock, someone will steal the cord and key as a way of vandalizing without physical harm. Hasn't happened, though.

Better class of vandal in Oakland, obviously. Just some jovial blokes who slip about filching killcords and chortling about it afterwards (ho ho, wish I'd seen HIS face!)

You wouldn't be worried about them actually going for the old physical harm and having the whole rig then?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by willk

You wouldn't be worried about them actually going for the old physical harm and having the whole rig then?

Getting off-topic, but...

I'm talking about when the boat is in the water, and I'm (at least somewhat) nearby. Between dives, the boat often sits at a temporary tie-up for an hour or two while I grab lunch, get air fills, or whatever. The temp tie-up is often visited by sightseers looking for sea lions, sea otters, or other wildlife. Though vandalism does happen (this is actually in Monterey, about 100 miles south of Oakland), it's fairly rare that it is anything damaging occurs (too many other boaters around to allow something like that to happen.) Plus, the harbor I launch out of houses the local Coast Guard station and the Monterey Fireboat, so people tend to toe the line moreso than harbors with no LE presence (they're both pretty active on an on-going basis either on calls or training.)

Petty theft in Monterey, however, can, at times, be quite rampant. And, it's perpetuated by a larger group of people, as someone who would never damage something expensive, for some reason, will grab something that's not even particularly valuable if it's at hand.

I wouldn't leave anything loose on the boat on the streets or waterways of Oakland and still expect it still be there when I returned. Luckily, the boat sits on the side of the house when there, safely tucked behind a fence (and in a quiet neighborhood.) I don't do a whole lot of boating in the SF Bay area, as all the diving is in Monterey or a further distance to the north.

So, bottom line, no, I'm not too worried about boat theft while I'm there, but the little stuff goes missing too often for my liking.

jky

[PeteH]

I am guilty of not using the lanyard as we call it,this thread has brought home the message.