The Engine will Not Start or Run, You Hear no Starter Sound

• make sure power is turned on. (Do the lights come on?)
• make sure that the battery has power. (Are the lights on?)
• make sure you have power to the starter. (Try shorting across the starter solenoid)
• If you have no power to the starter, check the engine ground. If you have a working battery, you can use jumper cables to engage the starter. R and R starter, take to automotive shop to bench test starter.

The Engine Turns Over Slowly or the Starter Makes a Clicking Sound

• Make sure that you have enough battery power. Turn on a light and see how dim it gets when you engage the starter, a light that nearly goes out means that you do not have near enough battery power.
• Check all you connections from battery to engine. Faulty grounds are the leading cause, check the ground circuit.
• If the battery is fully charged and you get a clicking sound from the starter, you most likely have a faulty solenoid on the starter.
• A trick that may help you get started with a near dead or low battery is to use the decompression lever on the diesel engine. Engage the decompression lever, have someone else turn the engine with the starter, release the lever when the engine is turning fast enough. Of course you could always crank start your engine, I have seen diesels to 120Hp have crank starts.

The Engine Turns Over with Plenty of Power but Fails to Fire

• Make sure that you have enough fuel. (Check your tank, then the filters)
• Make sure that you have clean fuel. (Bleed, bleed, bleed. no water, no air)
• Go bleed the system again, bleed all fittings from lowest to highest, under pressure.
• If you feel confident in having completed the above tasks then check your filters for algae and extreme contamination. Change filters, lead main fuel line into five gallons of clean fuel. On a rare occasion something may have broken internally in the engine but this is very unlikely in an engine that has been just sitting.
• Much more terrifying for most people is when...

Your Engine was Running but has Now Stopped, the Engine Stopped Suddenly, in Less than a Second

• Do not try a restart yet, you do not want to cause permanent damage if you have not already.
• Make sure that you prop is not fouled. Look over the side. try putting the transmission in neutral and turn the shaft from inside the boat.
• Make sure that you did not cook your engine. Turn the key to run and look at the temperature gauge. Does your engine smell hot?
• Make sure that you did not have a major engine failure. Try to turn the engine with the hand crank to make sure that it moves freely.
• This is truly a rare event for an engine to just stop suddenly. If your engine turns freely by hand, then you may try the starter. If you hear and noise at all, stop turning the engine.

The Engine Stops Slowly, Perhaps with a Little Surging

• Make sure that you did not turn off the key or throttle. Try a restart as you normally would.
• Make sure that you have not overheated. Turn over the engine and make sure that you have water coming out of the exhaust.
• Make sure that you have clean fuel. The number one cause of diesel problems is this. Bleed your fuel, then again, then again.
• The past is a good indicator for this one. Surging in the past with occasional shutdowns is an indicator that you need to bleed your fuel system of either air (likely) or water (sometimes). Did you do any work on the engine recently? Check to see that all is right. Often what was touched last (or moved because of a repair) is where I look. You may have rapped on a stretchy nylon or poly line on the propeller and it took a bit for it to stop the engine, check over the side. An internal engine failure is not to be ruled out but is very rare (I had a valve pushrod break one time and the engine just wound down).

Other Stuff that Goes Wrong, X File

No Water Out of the Exhaust, the Engine is Running Hot

• Make sure that the water pump is hooked up. (did a belt come off or is it slipping?)
• Make sure that the system is not clogged; this will also ensure that the pump is indeed working. Shut off the through hull intake to the engine. Remove intake hose from through hull and place in a bucket of water. If water flies out of the exhaust when you test start it this way, you more than likely have a plugged through hull, often a plastic bag! If you get only a trickle of water out of the exhaust then a: r and r your impeller, if it persists b: flush 2 gallons of vinegar into your raw water system and let it sit for 20 minutes - this trick has saved many boat owners from the expense of a slowly clogging saltwater cooling system.
• Check all your hose connections, maybe you are now pumping raw water into your bilge! Rare, weird things include collapsed hoses and sheared impeller spindles. Check your through hull filter if you have one, vegetation and even fish can clog them.

 

A small dictionary of terms, so that you know what is being said and how you should say it! Remember, sailing terms are old (16th - 18th century) and are common sense. It is easier than learning French, Spanish or computers! Capitalized words indicate that the term is defined in the list.

Anchor - Both a noun and a verb. The physical object used to hold a vessel in place. A plow, bruce, danforth, delta, navy or fisherman are common anchors. It all started as a large rock. The act of securing a vessel in place in relatively shallow water.

Backstay - The piece of STANDING RIGGING that runs from the aft side of the mast to the STERN.

Boom - The horizontal SPAR. The FOOT of a SAIL attaches to a BOOM (if there is a boom, HEADSAILS do not typically have BOOMS).

Boom - The last sound you hear as it hits you.

Bow - The front of the vessel, remember, you bow forward. ALL vessels have bows - ferries, double enders, canoes...

Bowsprit - The SPAR that sticks out in front of and over the BOW.

Bumpers - What you have on the front and back of your automobile. See FENDERS

Clew - The rear corner of a sail.

Cutter - A single masted sailboat that has both a HEADSTAY and an INNER STAY.

Cockpit - The location where the wheel or tiller is. Also known as the HELM

Fenders - The first fenders were humans, they were called to hold the vessel away from an object and to secure the vessels safety. A modern fender is commonly made of rubber or plastic, typically in the shape of either a sausage or ball. They are placed over the side to protect the vessel. People can still be used.

Foot - The bottom side of the SAIL.

Foot - What you will stub many times against all the different deck hardware. Also see HEAD

Gybe (jibe) - To make a change of course in which the STERN crosses the wind.

Halyard - The line that you use to raise the sail. To remember, you haul yards of SAIL up.

Head - Modern references mean the toilet, regardless of its location. In times of old, a sailor went forward to the BOW SPRIT, over the figurehead to poop - they went to the "head".

Head - The top corner of the SAIL.

Head - the object that makes the sound when the BOOM strikes it.

Headsail - Any SAIL set on the HEADSTAY. I.e. Genoa, Jib, Yankee and Storm.

Headstay - The piece of STANDING RIGGING that runs from the forward side of the main mast down to the BOW or BOWSPRIT.

Inner Stay - Also know as a BABY STAY. This piece of STANDING RIGGING goes from the front side of the mast to a location on the BOW DECK.

Jackline - A line (tubular webbing or rope) that runs from the COCKPIT to the BOW that allows you to clip in your harness leash. Use these in harsh weather and when single handing.

Lines - rope after it is on the vessel. You have dock lines, lines to secure cargo, JACKLINES and towing lines. Also see SHEET, HALYARD, and RODE.

Ketch - Two masted rig with the mizzen mast being shorter. To distinguish from a YAWL, the mizzen mast on a KETCH is forward of the rudder post. An easier way to distinguish a KETCH from a YAWL is that the MIZZEN MAST of a KETCH is approximately 2/3 the height of the MAIN MAST.

Leach - The trailing side of the SAIL.

Leach - A nasty fresh water organism that sucks your blood. A lawyer.

Luff - The forward side of the SAIL.

Luff - Allowing the sail to "shake". SHEET in the sail to stop this annoying noise and damage to the sail OR let out the sail (allowing it to LUFF) so as to depower the SAIL.

Mast - The vertical stick on a sailboat.

Mizzen Mast - The shorter aft MAST found on sailboats such as a KETCH or YAWL.

Rigging - This is really broken into two parts. STANDING RIGGING , commonly called rigging is all the wire (cables or rods) that hold the SPARS in their locations. RUNNING RIGGING is cable connected to a block and tackle system or release cam that allows it to be removed or installed easily.

Rode - The line (or chain) used to ANCHOR a vessel. A vessel was secure in port (or the dock) but rode (rides around and moves) to the ANCHOR.

Rope - Is what you buy in the store. It is the not a term that is used on a vessel. See LINES.

Running Back Stays - This is STANDING RIGGING that runs from the aft part of the mast to the STERN DECK. Often this is cable attached to a block and tackle set up that allows the piece of RIGGING to be released.

Sail - Any piece of canvas (dacron, mylar, kevlar, nylon...) that you fly from the SPARS or RIGGING. A SAIL has three sides (LUFF, LEACH and FOOT) and it has three corners (HEAD, TACK and CLEW).

Sheet - Any LINE used to control a sail. It is either attached to the BOOM or the CLEW of the sail.

Shroud - The STANDING RIGGING that goes from the sides of the mast down to the deck or topsides adjacent to the mast. A whole host of terms here: SPREADER STAYS, INTERMEDIATE SHROUDS, FORWARD SHROUD, AFT SHROUD, LOWER SHROUDS and some combinations.

Sloop - A single masted sailboat, also known as a MARCONI rig (named after the inventor of wireless transmission at sea - the sloop rig looked like the Marconi radio masts).

Spar - Any "stick" on a sailing vessel, including the MAST, BOOM and BOWSPRIT. Most people use this as a modern term to refer to the mast only.

Spreader - The horizontal "sticks" that protrude from the sides of the mast.

Stern - The back of the vessel, remember, stern steers. All vessels have a stern also.

Tack - To make a change of course in which the BOW crosses the wind.

Tack - The forward, bottom corner of the sail.

Tack - A sharp pointy object a.k.a Joseph Slocum's Intruder Alert.

Winch - A drum turned by a handle or motor, used in raising the sails, controlling sheets or raising ground tackle.

Yawl - A two masted sailboat where the MIZZEN MAST is about 1/2 the height of the MAIN MAST and behind the rudder post (much less common than a KETCH).

Yawl - A hip greeting given between Southern Sailors e.g. Hi YAWL, it is a beautiful day to go sailing - YAWL want to come?

This is hardly a complete list, there are hundreds of sailing words in modern use and thousands of words now abandoned. I have given you a taste of the language so that you will know a little bit about the vessel and to encourage you to ask more questions about the terms.

What is a dunsul, wishbone boom, wishbone rig, cat rig, gaff, poop deck, belaying pin, wing keel, capstan, ORC, or spanker?