Always having the mainsail up is a good policy when under engine power.

The problem I had, was losing the engine with no wind and a 4 knots current
while in the St. Lawrence seaway going parallel to the shipping lane. That
where I learned that the bulbous bow of a container ship produced a wave
that "with luck" will push a boat away of it path.

Having the mainsail up is prudent and when trimmed it goes well with the
engine power.

With my new boat I am considering getting a 9-10' inflatable dinghy with a 9
HP outboard. This way, when there is no wind, if I loose the engine I can
rafted the inflatable against the boat and use the 9 HP outboard to bring
the boat to a safe heaven.

I hope that I will not have to do that by having a good diesel engine and a
good maintenance program.



"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:36:51 GMT, wrote:

Would it be an asset to get the shop manual?

I had a Yanmar since 1982. I had my share of mishap with that make of
diesel. For some reason or another the engine always failed where the
current was strong and many time under dead calm condition. Other time
when
there was wind I was able to get to a safe heaven under sail.

A shop manual is always a useful thing to have but it has been my
experience that the most frequent maintenance issues like water pump
impellers, belts and fuel filters do not really require it.

Engine failures seem to follow Murphy's law and almost always occur at
the worst possible time. We once short tacked one of our old
sailboats down the east river in NY Harbor after losing the engine
coming through Hell's Gate. Very exciting. When I had sailboats it
became our policy to always have the mainsail up when under power for
any distance. That will at least give you some directional stability
while you scramble around and get a jib set.