What do you say when........

sbw1

sbw1

Well-Known Member
Oct 10, 2006
8,185
West Michigan
Boat Info
This is listed in my signature
Engines
This is listed in my signature
We were in Leland Harbor last year and a guy started his engines up to leave. Only problem was he didn't leave for maybe 20 minutes. His diesels really stunk up the marina and smoked a bit with much of it drifting into our cockpit where we were enjoying breakfast. We went below which helped a bit until the a/c began to draw the fumes in. We turned off the air, got off the boat and went to the club house until he left. His nearest neighbor must have said something as I overheard the guy say it takes awhile for his engines to warm up. The Admiral said it was best to say nothing and we did just that. When we leave marinas on early mornings we turn the keys when ready to leave. We are leaving the slip within a minute of starting the engines. What do you say (or not say) when you encounter a skipper who idles engines for a long time?
 
I think I'd say what I was thinking, that 'the boat doesn't need to be tied to the dock for the engines to warm up'.
 
For me it would depend on whether I ever saw him again. If he was a dock neighbor or frequent visitor, I'd just mention something to him on the side. If I didn't think I'd ever see him again, I'd probably let it go...
 
I don't know how far you are until fast water but I used to start my engines (cat diesels), untie lines and be gone. I had a 20 minute run at no wake speed that allowed my engines to be plenty warm by the time I could bring the powere up. No engine takes 20 minutes to warm up. I would express your concern.
 
If his diesel engines are anything like mine, they will never really warm up until a load is out on them at higher than idle RPM. I never run them longer than I have to at the dock, but often have to run for a few minutes at 1000 RPM to get them up to temp, before accelerating to cruise speed.

As for what to say or not say to the 20 minute jerk? I’m with your wife, live and let live.
 
There’s a guy across the canal that starts his Volvo Diesel powered boat at the dock and lets it idle for 30 minutes or more almost every day. This had been going on for a few years now. He is a couple of hundred feet southwest of me and the prevelant breeze here is out of the southwest. It smokes like crazy. The fumes and soot come right at my boat. Obviously he has some kind of mechanical issue going on.
A couple of years ago I brought it up to him from across the canal:
In a friendly manner, I said something like “I notice you have to idle your boat all the time, is everything alright?”. He replied curtly “that’s the nature of the beast”. I responded the same way with “the smoke, smell and soot blows directly at my boat”. He shrugged, turned his back, and walked away.
He lives in the house directly across the street from his dock property.
I own my dock property, but don’t live in the neighborhood, so I generally go out of my way to get along with the people who live there.
My first instinct was to jump in the car, drive over there, and wring his arrogant neck, but I quickly figured that wouldn’t solve anything.
I’m very friendly with the guy directly across the canal from me, and he is one of the “idlers” neighbors, living about 3 houses away from him.
I told him the story later that day.
He had noticed the excessive idling too, but told me that the guy has been living there for decades, is a complete a$$hole, and that he and most of the neighbors haven’t spoken to him in years.
Bottom line: Under the circumstances there really isn’t anything reasonable that I can do about it without getting myself in trouble so I grudgingly live with it.
I rinse the boat more, and make sure the hatches are closed whenever the idiot starts his boat.
The silver lining is that at least the a$$hole is stuck with a piece of crap that smokes too much and likely has a mechanical problem that for some reason he can’t resolve.
Better him than me!
 
You didn't say if this is a frequent thing (letting the engines warm up for that long) or if he's an infrequent boat driver. If it's an infrequent thing I wouldn't say anything. If it happens whenever he goes out and he's a frequent boat driver I'd probably mention something to the marina owner and ask them to say something to him.

I have Cats in my boat. The last thing we do before unhooking the power cables and taking off the last dock lines is to start the engines. 5 minutes of idling just gets the oil moving and warmed up a bit.
 
it depends if he is over cautions for warming up and checking systems or the ignorant guy who just fires up and smiles 'f**k you' into your face enjoyng you breathing his exhaust fumes while he trinks coffee .

in the second case tell him friendly that he is not alone in the marina and next time you will report this to the harbor master . then walk away , do not accept any argue discussion and remember you nerves about that are jot worth your boating time .

i do not understand this , we are all boaters and help each other or not ?
 
aerobat77 said:
it depends if he is over cautions for warming up and checking systems or the ignorant guy who just fires up and smiles 'f**k you' into your face enjoyng you breathing his exhaust fumes while he trinks coffee .

in the second case tell him friendly that he is not alone in the marina and next time you will report this to the harbor master . then walk away , do not accept any argue discussion and remember you nerves about that are jot worth your boating time .

i do not understand this , we are all boaters and help each other or not ?
Click to expand...

As it happened, he was drinking his coffee. He was also waiting for his wife to return to the boat. Not sure where she was for the 20 minutes. I believe it was probably ignorance although he had to see where his smokie exhaust was gong. Never met him before and we will likely never cross paths again.
 
I got a guy two boats west of me with an older 40’ formula with stinky smoky Cummins in it. He always fires it up at least 20 minutes before he departs to “warm it up.” Just last week he started it up and then got the hose and literally washed the entire boat while it was running. His wife even got out on the bow and washed it a second time after hubby already did it.

If you know Lake Michigan you know the predominant winds are from the west. I have searched high and low for the words to politely tell him to warm it up out on the lake. This message is coming very soon. After 2 seasons of dealing with this, I can’t ignore it any longer.

Unlike 2 stoke outboards and some older gas engines, once started, diesels won’t just suddenly stall. There is zero reason to not start them and leave.

Like most here, I start mine and leave. Although CRM Mans don't smoke, it would still be rude to sit and run them at idle. And as also mentioned here, they won’t come up to temp without load anyway. I’m usually 15 minutes out before they reach 185 and I spool them up. Now I will say that after three straight days of the boat next to me smoking cigarettes 5 feet away from my aft cockpit, I did actually fire up for at least 15 minutes before I left the slip!
 
HA! Cigarettes are becoming a common annoyance at marinas too. Seems like people who boat are starting to smoke again.
 
tc410 - seeing you have twin 900 MAN : next time tie up your boat very good and then warm up your engines in gear reving them - and enjoy his manouvering in your prop wash ;-))

one correct thing has been said : only old carbed gassers need maybe two minutes of warmup to prevent stalling, fuel injected gassers or diesels are from a technical point of view ready for manouver right after startup . and i fully warm up my engine running the first 15 minutes at cocktail speed instead of wasting fuel and annoy people idling at the dock.
 
Yeah, that's rather rude to start diesel engines and allow them to idle for a long time, especially when nearby boats have people aboard. The Cummins on my SR definitely produce smoke and fumes when running, especially before they're warmed up. The diesel smell doesn't bother me but the Admiral doesn't like it. I generally start mine and allow to run at 800 RPM for as long as it takes to unplug the shore power and deal with the lines; probably around 4-5 minutes. By that time the temp gauges are just starting to move. Then I idle under load to get the boat out of the marina and no-wake zone, which is about ten minutes. I've never had an engine stall while maneuvering so I don't feel the need for extended warm-ups, but I imagine others have different experiences.
 
My marina is a 15-minute cruise at idle to open water... My engines are fired up, boathouse lines are untied and we are underway immediately.
 
Starting my motors is one of the last things I do before leaving the dock. No carbs, so no need to worry about a choke.
No reason to waste the fuel.
There is no oil alarm when I start them so in addition to what the gauges tell me I know there is oil pressure, and I have to go at idle speed for a few minutes to get to open water anyway so the oil will be circulating for that amount of time before I push the throttles forward.
 
If it's not necessary to run diesels at idle for an extended period as some suggest, is this another form of "coaling" by jerks? I was headed home on a two lane highway the other day with the top down and a dude in a pickup coming towards me floors his throttle, and puts out a dense cloud of black smoke for me to drive through. No question about what was going upon there. You see people do that all the time. Is idling a subtle form of passive aggression, stupidity, or is it required for some boats as a part of startup?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,163
Messages
1,427,620
Members
61,073
Latest member
kolak3
Back
Top