dear all ,

I have to report a story I wish I wouldn't , but that it ended in the best possible way with lessons useful for us all.

Yesterday we were sailing from syracuse to corfu. In the middle of the day , passing through the wind stream going through the messina straight, we experienced typical Mediterranean conditions: short waves and gusty winds up to 25kt.

mistake #1: the long and narrow window in the side , going from the chart locker to the inside table , was shut down but not closed properly with all the locks...

A wave crashed on the port side: nothing dramatic, but some water leaked in, I would guess 1 liter or so. when we saw it, I immediately closed it - but unfortunately I didn't realise what was going to happen shortly after.

Some of the water , maybe less than a liter, fell above the chart table cabinet. Then, entered into the grid , falling just above the open Wurth 12V panel we know well...

disaster #1: the wurth started blinking and relays went clicking wild. We partially lost some of the channels, including the navigation electronics and the autopilot that disconnected.

Immediately, my fellows on deck notified me of the situation and they took control of the starboard helm. As you know from the previous post, we had experienced a chain failure on the port rudder , with a new chain waiting for me in corfu...

my (wrong) call was that we kept having a double redundancy for the steering control, the starboard wheel and the autopilot, that would have made possible a safe passage (we all know we have a single rudder anyway...)

After 10 minutes of hand steering when I was trying to fix and recover the wurth, the second disaster happened.

disaster #2: the starboard chain linking the wheel to the rudder broke within 48h from the port chain. Exactly the same modality, despite the fact we had opened the electronics console , inspected it visually (but without dismounting it) and greased it with a spray lithium grease for chains.

Now, our double redundancy had been erased in the arc of 10 minutes , and we found ourselves drifting in the middle of the ionian sea, 44NM from the nearest harbour.

My friends were able to furl the jib and settle a small reefed main. With the help of the waldner brake, we fixed a boom angle that allowed us to heave to and stabilise the boat.

The first attempt to restore the wurth panel to restore the autopilot control took about 30 minutes , but was finally unsuccessful. The more I was drying the open pcb and displacing the seawater with a specific electronics spray, the more the twinkling of controls reduced the functionality of the board itself. At the end , ALL the channels of the wurth stopped working, including those that were working just after the accident. As we all know , the wurth is monolithic: you loose control of the buttons , and ALL the boat is affected , including vital elements like the autopilot, water pump, satellite antennas. The fuses were all OK and ready to go , but the relays couldn't be activated ...

Now, we were in deep troubles, so a pan pan was issued on the VHF (without GPS coordinates, they also depend on the wurth!). The Italian coastguard was very reactive , and sent from Catania (50NM) a "Motovedetta" in our rescue. But, as they clarified and we understood later when we saw the little boat, these boats are designed to rescue people , not boats. So we had to find a solution to save Andrew...

As some of you know , I am an active member of the forum. With the help of the information we had exchanged over time, I knew I had to reconnect at least the autopilot drive , the nac, the mfd, the navigation electronics. FYI I had manually splitted the inertial gyroscope onto a different fuse, to keep the forward network active while at harbour.  So , the system would be limited to "follow up" (FU) mode. Who has read the manual knows what it is!

And so we did: with the help of red and wire cables and 5 ports wagos I attached to the big entrance screws carrying 12V that feed the wurth power to the lines mentioned above, that I identified by labels and data from the original boat manuals and data exchanged here in other threads.

Now the autopilot works...but only on follow-up mode , e.g. touching on the mfd screen left /right to move the rudder towards left or right by few degrees....exercise this mode when you can, it's not that easy!

While I was communicating  with the Italian coastguard continuously , my friends reverted direction and traveled to Siracusa in shifts for steering, about 44NM away, going through the same high winds and waves from the strait, escorted by the Motovedetta from Catania first , and from one from the Siracusa jurisdiction approaching the harbour (an incredible historical bay).

please don't forget that also the navigation lights are on the wurth, and the anchor too!, so the authorities didn't want to create any danger to navigation. Admittedly , we also used a pocket 2NM battery powered tricolor light (the one for the dinghy) on top of a 2m hook . And surely the spreader lights, that are on a classic wall switch that wasn't bothered at all by the little water that had entered, because it's closed!

To make the long story short , a pilot boat guided us into the docks, our arrival booked and coordinated by the Italian coast guard. indeed , they considered anchoring unsafe (the anchor winch is on the wurth too, can your believe it?) because the boat would have partial manouverability in case of bad weather.

To make the story shorter,  now we are safe and harboured in the wonderful Siracusa.

Lessons learnt on my side:

1)  the wurth is a single point of failure that is inadmissible for an offshore boat. A series of mechanical switches with a fuse would have done a much better job in the situation, and could have been recovered much more easily.

2) the design of the chart table cabinet , below a window that can be opened, with the ventilation grid right above the open wurth électronics, is criminal. But let's call it inadmissible to be gentle with the designers...

3) there should be at least a water protection around the critical electronics that's not present on the wurth (ais and radios kept working flawlessly). A water protection for ingress into the cabinet , and a second water protection around this PCB that's fully exposed.

4) the chains in the steering system need to be inspected and lubrificated regularly, in particular those that are not accessible. Keep chain or full linkages spares on your boat , replacement is as easy as  in your bycicle...why the manufacturer doesn't indicate that's required and mandatory?

5) The quality of the chains is doubtful, the system is probably not from jefa. The first chain showed corrosion, and the second chain will be inspected today. It snapped with negligible load, no noises, very smooth movements before, and no  notice...I sail 99% of time with the autopilot, so there is no load on these chains!

6) Inspect all your windows before sailing, but in particular the one above the chart table...I would even add: the nearby window is above the main PCB, and it has again AC ventilation holes right above the large card. So, both port side windows MUST be closed for safe navigation!!!!

7) the wonderful and professional job of the Italian coast guard....difficult to say more than thank you.

I am writing this long message to avoid this issue to happen to other people. 

And if somebody can advice me on a different solution to replace the wurth completely, I am definitely going to adopt a design that will keep the failure localised to few channels and that I can replace /displace easily to avoid catastrophic consequences that may have been dramatic in different circumstances....the benefit of a relay controlled by a capacitive button  to avoid lifting a switch is simply none.

in due time I will provide with pictures and more details...

This is not a nice situation, I understand perfectly what you mean, since I had the same when the boat was almost new... a big wave hit the top hatch! and passed between the fiberglass and the gasket.. lots of work after that but no significant damage other then drying up everything.

And regarding the chains, also similar event when the quick release link jumped off on a violent pilot reaction. After looking everywhere to try understanding the reason, I realized there were absolutely no grease neither on the chain or the pinions.... The boat was 6 months old and it was a jeffa system.

Since then, I have spare chains and quick release links on board.

Hope everything will be ok for you now and have a great journey!

Hope it helps!

On my 505 there is the same opening window above the chart table and Wurth panel/electronics board. That window NEVER ever gets opened, not even anchored in a bay with sweltering heat. Who knows what crazy jet skier manages to do a close pass...

Well managed. My main concerns for long passages has been loosing the rudder to damage. We carry a Seabrake drogue to use for steering in such an emergency. I know a cruiser who was on a rally to PNG from Australia and the organizer made all boats have a drogue. This guy hit something when on the seawards side of the Barrier Reef north of Cairns and successfully used the drogue to steer the yacht back to Cairns (about 100nm).  Another friend just used the same Seabrake as a sea anchor whilst crossing from NZ to Fiji when they encountered strong winds (max 58kn). A handy thing to have onboard. Did you overwinter your 575 in Sicily - Marina Di Ragusa? We wintered there 3 years. We always loved visiting Syracuse. Good luck on the repairs.  

I understand what you say, great suggestion . indeed I always have a Jordan series drogue on board , but I admit that I didn't have on the spot the reflex of thinking about it as a possible steering system . admittedly , 44nm  seem little  to achieve at the end and we had a lot of food and water available ...At the same time , I never exercised the use of a drogue for steering....so it surely would have implied some trials. I feel that , under stress , you ultimately resort to the practices you think you know better , and automatically discard those that you know less well...

I think the Jordon series drogue may cause too much drag to be useful for steering. Indeed our Seabrake 48 is a little big for steering but it was the only size I could buy at the time. The correct size for us seems to be the 36 according to Seabrake. The larger size 48 would be great as a sea anchor so we will probably get a size 36 as well once we get to Fiji or NZ.  

Glad it all ended well for you ,crew and boat!!

Duncan

Duncan

Our boat was not supplied or do we have a emergency tiller. I thought the redundancy came from having the steering wheels each drive the rudder gear box independently covered the situation of a broken drive chain. If one side chain/cable is broken the other side still operates. I thought this was designed this way because the top of the rudder could not be accessed with the tender in the garage.  I have a friend who had a 415 and the cable broke on his steering and it disabled both steering wheels. His boat was supplied with an emergency tiller which he said was very difficult to use in open ocean whilst sailing. His autopilot control still worked and that is how he steered to yacht back to port when the steering cable failed. 

...and don't forget that the stern door is on the wurth too!!! opening the door  would have meant to fix the wurth or to release the hydraulics...and the dinghy winch is on the wurth too! I've never tried , but how to release the dinghy without unwinching? here there is no manual release as far as I know , so the dinghy winch belt should be cut if accessible  ...

for information of everybody , when Charlotte Jane III, hanse 588, had been abandoned in the arc 2021 it had been rescued by a professional recovery crew by means of an emergency tiller (more precisely: there was an emergency tiller on deck , and the dinghy dock was empty!). I've seen it with my own eyes when it was put on dry in Rodney bay, I may even have pictures ...and yes , despite the rumours of a whale, the rudder was in perfect state and intact.

it would have been tremendously important for them to release the details , but as far as I know it never happened.

Update: jeffa just told me two very important things.

1) the system is NOT a Jefa system!

2) these chains MUST be greased regularly

Do keep us posted as you replace your Wurth panel. 

Kipwrite

Hanse 505 #123

But be aware that a pan pan in Greek waters becomes more complicated.We witnessed a sv that called out a pan pan because of engine trouble and were foreseeing problems coming into marina (Syvota).Coast guard showed up and made arrangement for towing sv last hundred meters to dock.They then seized boat docs and requested boat repaired and full survey(out of water) before releasing the vessel.Apparently they want to make sure boat is seaworthy.....

And the engine issue was bad fuel/wrong tank by the new owners of sv.It became a very expensive pan pan .

We were advised by many of the small marina operators in Greece,that if towing is needed ,to call them beforehand if not in danger and too far from help.

Marc

this is a very interesting comment. one of the difficult decisions was indeed "when" to call a pan pan. The day was getting darker , and I knew I didn't have navigation lights operational, and I didn't know if the ais was working. One parameter was distance from the coast: how long a rescue boat would have taken to reach us ? it was at least a couple of hours , so in the dark...the localisation of a boat without lights may have been tricky, the first radio message I had to use my phone for the GPS coordinates and the phone was low on battery: the house usb chargers were not operational . But to know if they were seeing us on ais implied to call them and explain the situation. I could have called "them" without a pan pan explaining the situation , but the recurrent question they made was "are you able to navigate properly and without limitations"? at that moment, we had no rudder control at all...and I wasn't sure when /if I could have fixed it. Just imagine we were on the trajectory of a tanker...

For your information , I had a box of spare fuses that I started replacing thinking that it would have changed the situation....after having replaced two, i realised that the fuses were working , simply the wurth was keeping everything off!

I will share the pictures for the purpose of making your sailing safer.

my conclusions:

1) I use most of the time the autopilot, 100% of the time outside the harbour. There were , on each chain , multiple pre-existing cracks and fractures ready to break at the smallest load. I have carbon wheels that have low mass and low friction, so the "normal load" was very low ...

2) where the chains broke , it's clear that the fracture had started  earlier on: there is already oxidation! the catastrophic failure happened when the cracked element was subject to a higher load.

3) the master link of the chain is japanese, but the rest of the chain is from Spain. I am sure that Spain can produce excellent quality chains , but the doubt is that significant lower quality chain has been used. the master links are in perfect state , while the chain elements are badly oxidised...

4) I realised that some of the cracks present on the starboard chain , the second one that broke and that I inspected after the first failure, aren't visible from the outside of the hub because they are on the inner  side of the hub. so a visual inspection without dismounting the chain wasn't sufficient to know if the chain was compromised , as the events have demonstrated. and the grease made the movement smoother but the chain was already damaged....so your need to dismount the complete chain if you want to verify  its integrity.

5) I acknowledge I didn't grease these chains while I greased the lower chains connecting to the gearbox yearly. the difference in oxidation and fluidity of movement was striking. As Jefa insists, chains needs to be regularly greased, including these ones !!!. but I go further: I really had the impression this chain had never been greased at all! On the first chain that broke, there were no traces of dust nor dishomogeneity in the oxidation patterns ...

few pictures to show you the data and let you form your opinion.

Well managed crisis IMHO.   

I've often thought of just pulling the Wurth panel and putting in a panel of blue sea breakers.   The single point of failure occurred to me, but I had not realized it was as bad as this experience proves.

It would be interesting to see what alternatives people have either explored or implemented.

Leon had suggested the same product!  the 8380 is a perfect upgrade, it fits on the door and you just have to do a larger cutout. You will have 22 breakers , easily replaceable....it would have been my first choice , but the only problem is that delivery here in europe is 12 weeks...despite I am not pressed , it's too long .

In alternative I am  being suggested the panels of bep marine too, 904NM and 901H mounted on the oysters...

They are only 16 switch or 8 switches in the format fitting the door , either I stick to 16 channels or I could put both for 24.

I am still thinking a good way to "pool" multiple cables. it is required , for example , for the interior lights (there are at least 4 or 5 cables managed by the same control). should I use simple wago connectors like the ones on the picture , or organise something different and better structured ? suggestions ?

https://defender.com/en_us/blue-sea-systems-dc-branch-circuit-breaker-panel-8377" rel="nofollow - https://defender.com/en_us/blue-sea-systems-dc-branch-circuit-breaker-panel-8377

Italy is half way. if it would have been an Italian boat , they would have inspected and validated that the boat was seaworthy. My boat has a French flag. So, they understand that such a procedure should be respectful of the French seaworthiness rules , not the Italian ones . because they are not competent on the French jurisdiction , they simply ask me to declare to the capitaneria di porto when the boat is seaworthy, mandatory before leaving the harbour, and as captain I will assume the responsibility for it.