The very first thing you should have done when your engine stopped is roll out the headsail and get the boat settled down and underway. Dropping anchor in deep water on a lee shore is asking for trouble. You were quite correct in thinking you would have trouble retrieving your anchor without your engine so if you started dragging you would find yourself in all sorts of grief. Remember first and foremost you are on a yacht, always rely on your sails as your primary form of propulsion . Love your videos always look forward to them.

You had established the problem. Dirty fuel. Once the engine started and run for a minute you had a degree of certainty you had indeed established the problem. Assuming you know your consumption per hour you could have estimated if the replacement fuel in the separate container was adequate and then draw directly from clean fuel container I believe you made an educated decision. Don’t be too hard on yourself. A good result. Get your fuel polished.

Hey guys, let me say first of all as a very recent newcomer to your vlog, I'm hooked. You've a great way of chatting and explaining and it's highly entertaining. Thanks! Second, what's just happened is exactly what happened to my wife and me. We bought an 18 month boat up here at Largs and as a small bonus, it had a full tank of diesel too, filled to the brim. It transpired the guy who bought this very boat did so at the Souhthampton boat show - it's the actual bought that was on show. He bought it seemingly on a whim and then after 18 months, with only 40 hours on the engine and very little sailing, sold up..... to us, late in the season so we never got to sail much until 6 months later. We then set out, sailed quite a bit but rarely used the engine, though we did a full service etc etc. Some months later, just as we needed the engine, cough, cough and it died. Fortunately we had sea room and so I immediately set about changing both filters etc. Turned out we had diesel bug blocking the pick up pipe. All sorted, fortunately, but lesson was to: 1. Regularly check my fuel tank and clean out any stray gunk, much like the previous poster advises, service regularly, not skimping on the quality of the filters, and I now also routinely use Marine16 fuel additive to kill any bug. 2. Rig up a separate emergency fuel line which I can quickly and easily attach and draw fuel from my back up 20L jerry can, just in an emergency. I've also modified the attachment on my bulk head so I can very quickly change the filter if absolutely necessary. 3. Keep a small, 5L can which I can quickly dump into the tank if I've run short at a crucial point, although of course this should NEVER happen ;) You guys are doing a great job there. It's scary when this stuff happens but I'm sure this won't happen to you again. Keep positive and be proud of how you've coped so far. Top marks to you both. PS Our old diesel had also lost its cetane value through standing too long so it didn't want to ignite. Just a tip, but don't keep it too long like we did otherwise that's another potential issue, more so on a yacht where the diesel gets used far less.

Think you did great - have sailed same waters for 40 odd years and think perhaps a better option when the engine failed would have been to get the sails back up and sail out of trouble - anchor as a last resort. However all’s well that ends well and another great vid

Any solution that gets you safe is a good one. Don't knock yourself, you did good👍

Great video and love your storytelling. When I was about 12 we had a similar situation, exactly the same trip (Studland to Weymouth). 5 of us on an Eygthene 24 (my parents, me, 10 yr old brother, 5 yr old sister) Dad had underestimated the extent of the tidal race off St Albans and we got caught in the tail of it (this was 1977, years before gps, all we had was a compass). Very confused sea. I remember we dropped off one wave with an almighty crash. I was sent forward in the cabin to see if everything was ok. I said it was because the water was only on my brother's side of the v-berth (the anchor locker wasn't sealed well enough). I also remember as I was returning to the cockpit seeing a wave run along both side decks and completely fill the cockpit, drained away so fast nobody else noticed at the time. As we came up to Weymouth, the engine stopped (might have been a similar problem but also it didn't have a gearbox, the cable adjusted the pitch of the propeller to go forwards or backwards). So we sailed into Weymouth. Wind was coming straight of the harbour so we had to beat all the way in and raft up as the outside boat about 5 deep (no pontoons in those days, seem to remember we were right next to a large brewery). When we tried to leave the next day we discovered that the main bulkhead compass had jumped off it's bearings, presumably in the tidal race, and so was saying North as we headed South out of Weymouth :-) I wouldn't be anxious about your decision to anchor (although it looks like it would be good to practice, in easy conditions, to see how you could get it up without the engine either manually or by increasing the battery bank). Great that you were able to sort the fuel, but these problems seem to be getting more and more common (Distant Shores had a fuel blockage on an almost brand new big Southerly last year). This is one of the reasons we are switching our 43 year old Rival 38 to an Electric Motor. I'd join with the other comments, your greatest asset is being able to sail. Portland Harbour is huge so you could sail in and anchor in a more protected place, you don't need to be able to get to the marina under sail. Or just sail slowly out to sea to give thinking and sorting time (you could just get plenty of sea room and heave to for the night). You don't need to worry about racing performance, but experimenting with Cadoha will show you want you can do while shorthanded. For example will she make (slow) progress to windward under main only? Will she tack under main only (and in what wind speeds/wave states)? Do you need some genoa to help tack, but can you do so with only a small amount unrolled to make tacking easier? Which sail combinations make heaving to easy (and how fast will you, in what direction). Don't start in difficult, tight spots with lots of current or tide but find a nice day and go out for a relaxed play. Build up a list of known solutions so that you know exactly what will work in a particular situation rather than trying to work it out at the time. Remember you are not needing optimum speed but control, calm and ease of handling so you might seem to have reefed more than needed. Hope that helps. You did well and you got sorted with other options available, nobody got hurt and nothing broke - always a success.

Regardless if 1 Week, 1 Month, 1 Year or 20 Years of sailing experience - EVERY time you go out you will learn something. I would suggest a small external fuel pump that, if the situation arises, you can pump from a Jerry can. Love watching the videos and following your journey. Keep sailing - Keep Learning!

This reminds me of an incident I had to deal with in Asia 15 years ago with an outdoor training organization I worked for; 12 students and two instructors anchored at night on a 24 foot ketch with no engine, just sails and oars. Middle of the night a strong wind and a poorly set anchor sent them drifting across the bay towards the far shore; what did they do? Raise the anchor and start rowing against the wind. They lost. The boat hit the rocks and was holed. Somehow everyone got out onto the rocks largely unhurt but shaken and probably put off sailing for life. Even in the cold light of day the next morning the instructors, with Yachtmaster tickets didn’t think that using the sails to do a beam reach out to sea, or to leave the anchor down as a brake were options; “We didn’t have time” they said, though the bay was a mile across, it had taken 15 minutes or more to cross it and hit the rocks and it takes a few seconds to raise sails. Panic blocks options. As we didn’t have engines on those ketches we, the instructors became very skilled at rowing and at anchoring, weighing anchor and coming along side even in strong winds. I’m going to polish my fuel properly and get that extra diesel Jerry can, and that big leather strap fuel filter grip I keep thinking of and add an extra inlet point for fuel. I’m also going to pretend I don’t have an engine in my Westerly Oceanranger sometimes to rediscover the mastery I once had on the ketches. Thanks for the vicarious experience. I love your videos. Keep it up.

When I took ownership of my Baba 34 one of the items on my list of "must-do" was to have the fuel polished and the tanks cleaned as well I changed all hose and filters. The engine never failed me..But I must say even with the off line panic, what you showed and explained you did all (IMHO) you could have before throwing the towel in and getting towed. BRAVO AND WELL DONE.

So easy to ‘criticise’ from an armchair! Diesel ‘bug’ being stirred up is very common as you said so maybe you should have cleaned the tanks in preparation for this trip. Secondly, make searoom, you had sails and could have tacked out to sea and then made it safely into Portland harbour where you could have anchored. Don’t panic. Excellent video, you are very honest and amusing!

You guys are awesome. 1st rule OF LIFE, don't panic. Keep your heads clear and your attention focused. I was in the same place as you nearly 2 years ago when I bought a boat that had been sat on the hard for nearly 18 months. Having had a very limited experience of some sailing issues I did 2 things I am really really glad about. I threw the batteries away and got new ones and then I got some diesel additive to clean whatever was in the tank. So far, cross fingers its been plain sailing ever since. Good luck with the adventure, hope it all goes well from now in. You deserve it.

You sir, are a brilliant story teller. I could actually feel the urgency as you regaled us with that tale. AWESOME.

This episode was definitely a great learn. Thank you. I'm not a sailer (yet!) so I can't tell you if your handling of the situation could have been better but it worked and you all kept safe, didn't drag anyone else in with you and you got to safety without drama. I have reasonable experience of ending up in the brown stuff (if you don't occasionally, you need to turn up the adventure dial) so what I can say with some confidence is that getting out of the brown stuff to safety with a smile on all faces and an open mind to take the experience with you means you did superbly well. You've definitely earned a drink. Keep up the good work and hugs to Hank!

As an emergency engine, Putting the outboard on the dinghy and attaching it to the side of your boat, you can then use that to make some slow headway.

Why not sail into Portland harbour -you are a sailing boat. Once in, drop the hook in relative calm and sort. Don’t ever rely 100% on the engine.

Dude, you are such a good story teller, I mean I'm just here for the sailing content but the story just makes it 10x more enjoyable and heart warming😂 Im still catching up after just finding you two days ago. Fair winds from Plymouth

Awesome video Dom, it never feels good having issues but you are learning so much from all these experiences and it will really equip you well for things to come when you travel further afield.

On the evidence of that experience I am going to add a valve and T ahead of my filter so I can draw fuel from a container when things go wrong. One Twenty litre gerry can should go a fair distance. I’ll also look at a twin filter system, not to mention add inspect fuel tank interior to the work list. It sounds like a lot to do, but I’d rather do that than mow a lawn.

I love the way you put your videos together with the explanations- as a non sailor very interesting! And love Hank of course!

love your channel, i'm just setting out for my yachmaster RYA etc so binge watching your channel as been ace. and seeing that you can learn to sail etc in a different route to the RYA path as been really interesting.

Awesome bruh!!! Glad u guys made it out the situation. I believe staying calm is key 🔑

What worked out well for us in the past few years: we bought about 5-6 of the cheapest diesel filter in a car parts store - the one you through out when it is clogged up. We intalled it in the fuel line as the first filter to clog up and placed so that we can change it easily. A replacement filter is also stored next to it. In rough seas, or before any risky maneuver, we just take a look at the filter (it has a transparent housing) and quickly change it if looks suspicious. Our main racor filter is also much cleaner ever since and we did not have sudden engine cut-off since.

If you watch patrick lane on youtube in his history he shows how to make a cheap pump and filters to clean your diesel if you cant get to your tank

Yet another top video. You might get yourselves in some trouble however with planing you get out of it. Love how you involve hank definitely going to be an old sea dog we even had some ducks in the video today. Keep up what you’re doing stay safe and hope your next sail will be uneventful as you deserve it

You did the correct thing regarding anchoring as soon as you were able to. I probably would have asked the rescue guy if he minded staying in touch on the vhf and if he would be prepared to tow you in if you only made it part of the way to the marina. You must carry 25 litres of fresh clean diesel in a spare can together with filters and tools of course. I totally agree that fuel contamination is the number one problem with Diesel engines. Never run the tank down to near empty but the problem can occur even with a tank that is nearly full due to fuel rolling around and stirring up any dirt on the bottom of the tank. You really need to clean the tank out otherwise you will continue to have the problem. I would also suggest using an anti diesel bug chemical. Diesel bug is caused mostly by infrequent use of the engine allowing the growth of an algae . Always store the boat with a full tank to cut down on inner tank condensation. On the subject of accepting a tow, always use your tow rope to avoid salvage claims!

Well done - stress levels UP.....some calm and methodical problem solving by both you and Carly found the solution and you fixed the problem....with a tiny bit of help. All a learning curve, be it vertical for a short space in time...you guys did exceptionally well. Live to sail another day. Cheers once more.

There is a saying we had in the Air Force, any landing is a good landing. So getting back in a safe port or anchorage... it's all good. My wife is from Cape Town South Africa and truly enjoys your humor. like Capt Ron said," if it's going to happen it will happen out there" Have been reading tons of sailing books, since I was a young boy. I'm 62 now and can honestly say, when I got in Mother Natures off side with Neptune, I would remember what others did to survive the savage sea. you never stop learning and you have amazing schools in your neck of the woods. Stefan, Paper Boat Project, went thru to get his Captains License. He is a perfect example of someone with sailing experience, but wanted to tae it to the next level.

I know a lot of people probably don’t see this as such a big deal, but some of us understand just how bad a situation that was and lots of ducks showing up on the boat all of a sudden is more than understood and familiar to anyone who’s been in any situation like this. Great job handling the situation like a boss.

As a mature novice (never too late to start anything) this is starting to feel like a really great channel as you're being so open about your mistakes alongside your passion for sailing itself. Reading the comments and advice from more experienced mariners is proving to be really useful to me as a newby. Best of luck with your adventure.

fairplay to you both for not losing it and sorting problem it good to see how people stay positive in the hour of need

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you did so well in the circumstances. Never forget though that sailing boats have sails and that should be your primary propulsion!

As so many have also mentioned NOT to forget that you are a SAILBOAT (a nice cutter) and are perfectly capable of sailing off a lee shore. The first thing that might have been done is to get those sails back up. I had that same thing happen to me just as I was passing through a swing bridge! I had to get the sail up while I was foundering within the bridge and eventually moved the boat out away from the bridge so he could close it again in rush hour traffic! I sailed down the river for a few hours until I could clean the filters and prime the lines and purge them of air. I was a newbie then and was moving the newly acquired boat from North Carolina to the Great Lakes! It takes some planning and a little know how to set up a system to filter or "polish" your fuel. If you have the room for it in your bilge, get a small feed tank ( 3-5 Gallons) for the diesel that the injectors feed from and run lines from the main tank to it through a pump and another filter. The pickup tube in the main tank should run close to he bottom of the tank so that it will pick up the sediment and water and algae in the main tank and feed it through the additional filter to the feed tank. Plumb it so that when the feed tank is clean the output from that new filter can be run right back into the main tank to polish the main tank's fuel. It would be helpful to have a sight window on the feed tank to see the fuel that has been sitting awhile.

You are the most endearing sailing dolts. Proves most anyone can somehow muddle through. Best wishes.

A smooth road makes for a dull journey. Every crisis you have to deal with improves your sailing skills. Well done!

Last week a young English, over 80 years old, sailing alone was saved about 300 miles, north west of the Azores(The true middle of nowhere), with a broken sail, ENGINE(WATER ON THE DIESEL), without food and almost no water, but he knew he needed to get to that distance to ask for help (the radio range), the Portuguese Navy solved the problem in the engine and gave him food, diesel, water, and and clinical, according to the legend, when he arrived on the island of Faial (and it was last week) HE said: "I'm sure the tank will be cleaned and I'll increase the radio capacity", and a few beers were drunk, laughter was given and hugs! He was lucky, others don't have it! I hope your diesel tank is already clean, because if it is not you will have more problems...

These are great videos. You've done really well. I think I'd have tried to sail into Portland harbour and pick up a buoy but you troubleshooted the problem and kept yourselves safe. I have a lot of respect for what you're doing and really love being onboard with you. Safe travels!

As usual an excellent video and admire the brutal honesty as a lot of channels just show all the glamorous parts of the sailing life. We have had some issues ourselves during our sailing and as they say "every day is a school day". Regarding all the advice given, a lot of it is very good but at the time you did what you thought was right and it worked. Finally, a big shout to Al for the help he provided and that is what life should be about, not all about me, me, me but alos helping others.

Great video and story! I had similar issue last year and learnt from it... Clean the tank with a 2nd hand wet vac... Built a duel filter system and now have two Jerry cans of clean fuel!

Declaring a situation as an emergency is hard, but you realized that making a request for help was the best option, and then working to try to get your engine started knowing help was coming, was correct. Finding out what caused the engine out condition when in a safe place and then setting up a protocol to deal with it if it happens again is what you did...Well done.

Guys, a novice myself, i think you did great, as many suggested get the sails back up, I guess you could have sailed into the harbor, although that may not always be an option, our harbor has a ruling about entering under sail, so at that point to me it would have been keep to deep water, and attempt repairs, for you that wasn't going to happen as you didn't have clean fuel, so a call for assistance would have been an option. I recently inspected my tank, I'm glad I did, there was a fair bit of sludge in the bottom, so out came the tank, washed the tank out, filled with fresh fuel, and a drop of anti bug treatment as well, preventative maintenance is the way to go :)

Your fuel problem is a frequent occurance on sailboats. I had a similar problem 25 years ago, in a gale, with swells from two directions. The engine stopped, filter was clogged with "stuff". I changed filters, engine would run for a few minutes, then clog again. And the engine was an old hand crank type. Anyway, as clean filters were decreasing in number my wife asked "why don't you use one of the Jerry cans of clean fuel?" Thank God for wives. That worked, we made port, had the tanks cleaned, and proceeded on our way to Mexico. So what you did was good to my way of thinking. And the motion and fumes and heat presented me with my first and only episode of sea sickness.

I'm sure when you entered Portland you realised you could have sailed her in, the entrance is so wide. Practice sailing without the engine when it's clear to give it a go. Start easy in good conditions and you'll start to enjoy hosting the main, pulling the anchor, pushing the boom over and silently trickling away before unfurling the head sail. Then try anchoring up under sail when you have the space. Then leaving a pontoon if you have the sea room and the wind is right (practice off an empty hammer head). Its great when you have the confidence to nail it. I was helping a friend move his boat from the S coast to Wales and the engine died for exactly the same reason entering Caernarfon. We called up the harbour master to ensure there was a decent run of dock we could approach head to wind, and sailed her in through the lock (with a massive cross current at the entrance). Practice, practice, practice, you'll value the confidence it gives you. Congratulations for dealing with it. And thanks for sharing your story! I have one of my own for Weymouth!!

Well done for coming through this. Everyone’s allowed their special ´duck’ moment. Quite right to think it through before accepting the tow. It is the ability to analyse the situation, asses the risk and then take a decision that separates people. Have a look at episode 178 of Sailing into Freedom when Peter puts his cat and wife onto a reef and loses the boat. He is experienced so bad things and mistakes happen but watch how calm they are in a boat that is sinking. Take care on your learning curb.⛵️👍😉 Also episode 122of Beau and Brandy shows using the dinghy to add power to the boat.

Great video. You have a good story-telling technique. All these things happened to me when I was starting off. When you have an old engine and you are still learning the ropes you get constantly bombarded by engine issues. ..ONE thing I learned very quickly was to question WHAT IF?...Each time you plan to enter a port say "What if the engine packs up again?"...and say it to yourself constantly until you are safe at anchor or in the marina...and keep learning the heck out of how your engine works and fixing/preempting the issues along the way.....By the way, I would a) Clean the full tank and fuel line; and b) make sure the tank and fuel line to the filter is fully water tight....Then you'll have just one less thing to worry about....In time you will either learn to trust your engine or you'll replace it. Another great vid....I'm pondering what you are going to do for content when things start going really well...

Another great video, big well done in sorting the problem to get you into Portland safely

I know the feeling. Engine refused to start in the NAB anchorage area at 2am with no wind and 30m deep . Your instinct on boat damage from the dive boat is right. You COULD have asked Sea Start and their RIB ie big black fender to follow you in. But very well done sorting it out. I have seen a motor boat lose an engine momentarily in there in a blow and nearly hit the rock wall.

You did a wonderful job dealing with this. Even the most seasoned boaters don’t always make the best decisions. I was out boating with a friend of my father’s when I was a young teen. (I hadn’t yet completed any boating coursework). We had engine trouble and he called the Coast Guard for assistance as he was concerned for the “young people’s” safety. . After checking in with them over the course of an hour or so, the CG noticed our position was changing as an offshore breeze and current was sending us farther offshore. The Coast Guard asked the captain if he had an anchor. Quite indignantly he replied he did. The Coast Guard response was “Captain might we suggest you throw it over?” In the stress of the moment he had just forgotten the most basic step. We all learn the most from experience - you’re doing great.

I would have went back to sailing mode immediately, head out to open water and figure out anything after I have a few miles between the boat and anything solid. Easy for me, in an armchair. Thanks for sharing, good learning for me too.

You weren't lucky mate, you didn't run around flapping and began the trouble shooting process. Well done keep em coming.

One of the long distance cruisers - Cornell, maybe - set up his boat's fuel system so that there is a permanently mounted "day tank" (a day's consumption sized) with its own filtration and water separator above engine level and fuel is always pumped to up into it by a manual activated pump, by the person on watch. Rationale is 1) it will always gravity feed to the engine, no pumping issue, and even if you have a pumping issue there is X liters of time till the day tank gets empty 2) You can easily check, replace, treat etc your fuel in the "day tank" without having to deal with the higher amount of diesel in the main tank 3) if you always fill it manually, you can spot far sooner that something is wrong in the main tank, e.g. fuel is dirty, has lots of water in it or that the the main tank got dry (contingency for a fuel level indicator failure) Such a "day tank" (3-4 hours worth of size) may not be so difficult to install in retrofit. Maybe with a possibility to use manual pumping, just in case.

Thought you did a cracking job on fault finding that problem and the previous engine one. We saw a similar issue with a fellow flotilla boat several years ago due to diesel bug being churned up by choppy seas.! I reckon you earned your pay on that one. good job. Very much enjoying the channel.

Well done for sorting it out .... had it myself crossing the channel in a gale.... now always take loads of spare filters...... another great vlog.........

You are doing great, kids! Well done!

Been there done that. My boat had 40 years of dust and fluff and stuff that had blown into the tank when it was filled with diesel. So I jet washed the interior of the tank with a home made jet wash. I used a diesel fuel transfer pump to pump diesel into a copper pipe with a nozzle on the end which produced a jet strong enough to dislodge all the crud. I then pumped the dirty diesel through some CAV filters and back into the tank. I changed the filters when they became clogged and managed to remove all the rubbish from the tank. I had to do this because the only access to the tank was via the filler pipe and I didn’t fancy cutting an inspection hatch as to do that I would have had to remove the tank. It worked. No problems since. I also add diesel bug treatment every time I fill the tank.

Awesome video.. Alot of good content. Handled it really well! Watching from Portsmouth 😉!

Another satisfied customer for onboard fuel polishing! What you did worked so all on board bow to the Captain.

well done guys! things can only get better :)

I'd certainly have sailed (i.e with sails!) into the harbour and anchored up; it's quite a wide entrance, even if you're beating to windward you should get in on one tack or the other. If that sounds like a big ask, then I'd suggest you both take a dinghy sailing course. You'll (a) enjoy it, and (b) when you can sail a dinghy, a keelboat is a doddle - heck, they don't even capsize!

Grew up sailing and worked at a sailing club in my teens, but it has been a while. One thing I notice about a lot of sailing channels is a lack of experience sailing in tight quarters. Remember, the Pardeys sailed around the world without an engine. Practice in tight anchorages, practice beating in a narrow channel, etc. Keep a sail ready to rock even if you're motoring. My father always made me sail through the mooring area, practice picking up a mooring under sail, etc. You can sail yourself into a slip with a little practice, so you could probably have sailed out of this situation. That said, what you did would be my second or even first choice depending on how nervous I was. The other poster made a good point about the difficulty picking up your anchor with a lee shore looming but, honestly, who cares? Worst case scenario you save the boat, call a tow, and lose the anchor. Not ideal, but at least all the people and the boat will be safe!

Wow! In a short trip you experienced two of the three classic engine/drive failures: blocked cooling and dirty diesel. And you handled them! Folks can quibble over the details, but you correctly diagnosed them and got yourselves going again! Better upgrade that dive mask, though. Now you’re due to get a crab pot line wrapped around the prop..... Cheers!

You fixed it and nobody died and no boat was damaged. Great job! Now time to clean the tanks, get some spare filters and think about a fuel cleaning process as, like you said, it’s a very common problem that will return in the future.

Love your videos you have such a good personality keep it up mate!

Well done guys! Very seamanlike :)) I may have sailed back into open water to fix the engine but you seem to have a trusty anchor and sometimes sailing onto an anchor is ok! You may be able to pull the anchor up yourself without a windlass? Or winch it up... but I appreciate that’s not a quick thing to do. Or worse case if you have to let your anchor go quickly (ie your getting dragged onto a Lee shore and you need to sail off quickly)- tie a fender to the end of your anchor line and let it go free. (I always carry two anchors) so one is available should you need to drop anchor again quickly). You can pick it up the next day/ later on under engine :) but I think you are both problem solvers and quick thinkers - you deserve a lot of credit here :)

Hi guys, check the O ring on the deck filler is in good condition. This is where most boats get there water into the tank and its this that causes the bug. These need to be changed every second season or so and lubricated with just a smear of silicone grease. (Dont use vaseline). Sail Safe Guys, Ant, Cid & the pooch crew.

You did brilliantly and didn't panic. You assessed the risk and solved the problem. I take my hat off to you. However I have to say I personally would have accepted the tow immediately. I am retired now but used to be a fulltime regular coastguard in the Orkney Islands and Gt Yarmouth. The sea, no matter how calm the sea state or experienced, knowledgable and qualified a skipper is, will take no prisoners. Safety must always be king. Just a suggestion but I would also think about using what we used to call the CG66 scheme but now the RYA safetrx scheme in your passage planning.

Well done for keeping cool. I would have shat myself! Another great episode tin tin lol.

Fantastic story telling and gripping - knowing this coastline, it had me on the edge. I have found there are two ways to learn sailing - the hard way through experience and the easier way through instruction, but the first is far more interesting to others. A cool head and logical thinking meant that even though your tactics are disputed, you won the day. ] Things I prefer: Petrol outboard engines - no 'bio-gunk' - no pot marker danger: Boats small enough to sail easily and so not having to rely on the engine: Wind with less than force 5.

Well done. Perhaps a comment is that you ought to learn how to bring your boat into harbour under sail. Accepted that in bad weather this is tricky but in normal conditions is something you will master. Engines are renown for letting you down. Love your blog - we have all been there.

duck sake Tormund you let me down with the chop lol! keep fighting the good fight and building up the experience.

I was a delivery skipper for a long time. You guys did great and hind sight is 20 20 vision, as they say, but the most important piece of advice I ever got was "operate as if you have no engine." Not so easy today with modern marinas, etc, and the convenience of motoring through tight spots is very alluring, but, it is a dodgy mindset. You are sailors on a "sail boat." Your ethos for routing/passage planning should be based on having 'no' engine. I can hear people already saying well we have these great little modern engines why not use them and "drive right up to that lovely little dock, right by the bar." That's okay, let people do what they will do. But, when you are a "sailor" your mind set changes. You know one mistake can cost you your boat. I was once told the sea doesn't care. I subsequently changed my mindset to "The sea is not inert, it is actively trying to kill or maim you. You suffer from Stockholm syndrome, you have fallen in love with a murderous conniving sea. It is going to wait until you are on a lee shore with a flooding tide before it puts a lobster pot line around your prop." I have watched quite a few of your videos and send many thanks for the content, and really admire how you are thinking things through. You are doing really great. You are finding most of it is common sense, too. But there is a comment below that advised you should have pulled up the sails and got out of there, given yourself more sea room while you had wind. That was the move to make. But not easy to see when you are just finding things out and hit a snag. But consider my first piece of advice, operating as a "sailor" on a "sailing" vessel will make you sleep better. Imagine there is no motor, and when using the motor, always plan for it to fail just when you need it. Keep the sails ready to deploy until you are at the dock, then pack them. There is a sailing channel called "How to Sail Oceans" it is worth watching, he travels with no engine aboard his boat. Watch his tactics. Proper old sailor style. VERY IMPORTANT POINT: The temptation when there is a problem is always head for shore, to a dock. It is your natural instinct. Drop that temptation asap, it will get you in trouble. Beyond a hurricane the only thing that is going to harm your boat is land, rocks and docks. Never run for shore. Unless it is a medical emergency, first rule is, find sea room, stay out at sea, you have water and food and a boat that floats, stay at sea until you can work out a plan. Last point, if you do not have a sea anchor aboard make getting one your priority. Get a sea anchor and learn how to use it. I never put to sea without one. It is a massive priority. I always rig it so it is ready to deploy from the cockpit. Take a line forward, out through your bow roller and lead it back to the cockpit. Even on sunny days, the ability to stop your drift can be a life saver. You have Stockholm syndrome, remember.

Interesting video! When things get rough I always think about my engine, sofar our Beta has not let us down (fingers crossed and touch wood...). Last July we sailed from Dover to Eastbourne and found ourselves fighting tide and wind on the nose. Eventually we gave up and motored into the chop for a few hours but made it to the harbour without any rpoblems, just very tired. An hour before Eastbourne we heard an emergency call from Solent Cost Guard on the CH16 of a yeacht outside Eastbourne harbour stating that their engine had failed and if someone could tow them in. As no one answered I replied and made mental prepartions to give them a tow. To my relief a fishing boat must have heard our conversation and offered to tow the yacht in. When I spoke to guy of the yacht the next day he said that the problem was, you guessed it, dirty fuel!! Last year I helped a member of our club to clean out his tank. Fortunately he had an inspection hatch (modern Jeanneau) and with a grabber we pulled out a large gelly like clot out of the tank, problem solved! I have never had the chance to look into our tank but I hope that when the previous owner installed the new engine they probably flushed the tank as well (again, fingers crossed). As we don't have a large tank (I think only about 70 litres on our Westerly Storm) we always carry two extra 20 litre diesel cans and we make sure the fuel is clean and using diesel bug treatment EVERY TIME. In summary, the same situatioon could happen to us anytime, but at least we won't have to transfer fuel canisters from another boat. Next winter I might drain the tank competely just to make sure the fuel is clean. Well done, and all the best for your future sailing adventures. Martin

Great videos. Some great tricks and advice you have found. I sail a family boat 12 years old 47 feet. It’s been in the med most of its life and over the Atlantic back twice. Saw the Dazcat in Plymouth last week on a trip to Salcombe. The amount of tools and spares we carry is mind boggling. But if I can recommend one thing, a cordless angle grinder. If ever you get dis masted, bolt croppers will take 15 to 30 mins to get through rigging in weather. A cordless angle grinder will be low minutes.

it is really amazing the lack of clenliness of fuels these days ...so add that to condensation and diesel bacteria...the gross result could be just that=gross. periodical cleaning is a preventive measure. I use anti bacterial additive annually prior to haul out and wintering as a first measure. then above that and despite not gaving an integral fuel tank, [meanng tank construction is integrates with the hull structure] i still re-ricrculate fuel from the tank and back into the tank through a rough and finer filter until filtrates and water do not appear. i clean the filters after every cycle. that would eliminate water condensate as well as any solids and or sludges. i do sleep better on anchor now. i have a very small sailing boat 25 ft . perhaps it is easier in my case but in principle i find it works.

Well done, again 👍👍👍

All a learning experience. I had similar issue, engine died literally as I was about to enter the lock at Chichester Marina, just enough way on to get to the holding pontoon. I had quite a bit of diesel in the tank but it was clearly dirty. Filled tank and cleaned filter etc and away she went. Putting diesel additive in now and also building my own fuel polishing rig. Patrick Laine and others have done a good video of building one. Stay safe. Andy UK

Did a good job with what you had. Another lesson is there aint no substitute for plenty of chain and at least two decent anchors. But remember, your boat has excellent sailing qualities. Take every opportunity to practice doing stuff without your engine in good conditions and you will find you have much more confidence in a crisis

Great video guys! this was like intense storytime LOL

That freaky. We had fuel problems too this weekend but had to get a tow in to the marina. Duck had me laughing !!!!

Yiiiiw another ep! 🤘🏼

Scary story, auxiliary outboard is a wonderful thing if you can fit one. Great peace of mind even if you never need it 😉

The goal was safe passage and it was achieved without injuries or damage. Success. Everything that has ever been done, could have been done more effectively and we learn from this.

Another fantastic video. When I started sailing I had similar experiences....it's the learning curve. Someday an old sailor gave to me the most important advice. "Don't use sailboats like a powerboats" When you have an opportunity try to sail only with the Genoa. It's easier to control and easier to reef. In that situation could helped to you to sail to a better place even to Portland. It's easy in my chair without pressure to solve your problems but I am just trying to help and show you if you practice to sail more and more you will be less engine dependent. Hugs from Brazil

Aye m8’s, you guys are already legends! Well done. Well decided. Well performed.

Fantastic drone shots. And love your humor.

Even with dirty fuel in your tank, a filter change will get you through a while before the new ones clog (always carry multiple spares!). Knowing how to change fuel filters and bleed the system even under duress is diesel boat safety 101. You did great Cap!

I have same problems. The main fuel tank is inside the keel ... I use a diesel pump to polishing the fuel through a 30 micron water separator. Here is a T-valve to feed up my day tank with 33 Liter clean fuel. From the main and the day tank is possible to suck through separate 30 micron prefilter and After through the fine filter. The „OVENTRUP“ valve between the tanks and the engine can change both lines directly. Now, with the day tank, never problems again. But during polishing, I found mud again and again. Great to see, panic is the last! Keep cool. WELL DONE! Nice haircut ,-)

We've all been there! Well done - let the coastguard know where you are and what's going on, they won't launch thunderbird 2, but you'll be monitored until you can sort the problem.

I bought my old dufour about 7 years ago. She'd been sat for 4 years down in Watchet with a full tank of red. Me and a couple of mates got her back up to Lydney no problem. The first time I took her out down the Severn we had a SWesterly blowing straight up the Bristol channel (nothing new there!). I decided to motor until we got clear of the bridges (M48 and M4). We just got upstream of hen and chickens (just above the old Bridge on the Welsh side) when the bastard engine died.. The tide was running fierce over hen and chickens so we wacked that head sail out bloody sharpish! We sailed her down to Portishead and dropped the hook the mud just outside what's called the hole, we had 4 hrs to wait to be able to lock in to Portishead. I always carry spare diesel and I usually have odd bits of pipe on board. So I rigged up a 5 ltr can as a the tank, stood it in the sink - had it piped into the lift pump. Bled it through and got her running, cooked a bit of grub and opened a bottle of beer. When I was about to leave the lock and head into Portishead marina the bastard engine died again. I hadn't plumbed the return into the fuel can and it chucked the diesel back into the tank, what a tosser! I tried cleaning that tank about 3 times but every time I went out the engine packed in. I could plumb a can into that engine in minutes! At the end of the season I took the tank out - couldn't believe how much shit was in the thing

Well done on the trip it can be a tough place to said between Poole and Weymouth as my yacht is moored in Portland marina

If a situation is particularly dire you can always tie your dinghy alongside amidships or on a stern quarter and use your outboard as an auxiliary! In any sort of sea if your yacht is bow to the swell, amidships is where the motion of the yacht is likely to be least pronounced and therefore boarding a dinghy from the yacht safest. The dinghy scenario would probably be better than nothing in many situations if you can actually maintain any headway at all on such a small motor as a location on a stern quarter will enable you to control your heading better as well. Also it is not a bad idea to have your dinghy readily available in the water at such times anyway.

Agree with Premier4378... Getting the jib up gets you back in control, and able to steer, etc. You can very effectively jib-sail onto a mooring buoy, and in Portland Harbour they are free, and the marina staff are extremely helpful (I think we may have been there at the same time). If you're not confident jib-sailing into a marina then they'd have sent a boat out to you to help you in.

great video! loved your last instagram posts by the way!

Yes dirty fuel is a real problem always keep your tank clean, Have your fuel polished if you can or even build your own polishing system on board it costs money but well worth it. Another problem can be a blocked exhaust elbow look at that at least annually its time consuming but will give you peace of mind. Over heating or dirty fuel are usually the problem. these problems always occur just when you don't want them.

Warning of the engine repair , if you get air in the system it will keep loosing power intermittently so do not count on it for at least 15 min or so after any work on the fuel system .

New discovery. I have just subscribed. Love the channel.

Forgot to mention before love the new look you’ve gone from captain Birdseye to tintin. To save ant water getting into your fuel filter do you have a water separater before the fuel filter ?, also if you are stuck like that again if you can siphon fuel into another container the fuel/water will separate so you could use that if pushed

You're my hero too Dominic if you keep my favourites safe!

Well done I’d say. Steps you plan are considered wel. Just signed in to your vlog and enjoying it. already I would

I think you showed the right attitude of thinking through the problem and taking advantage of your opportunities but maybe it’s good to think of yourself in the first instance as a sailing boat ie: use the sails to get yourself to a place where you can anchor safely and then if necessary call for a mechanic if you can’t fix it yourself. I think you had good options in Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay. But there will be other times and it’ll never be the same twice! Good luck.

Little tip on the outboard kill cord. I was trained to always have it over two joints i.e. above elbow or knee rather than wrist or ankle - less likely to slip off like that. Really enjoying your videos - thank you.