During emergencies on commercial vessels each crewmember reports to an assigned “station.” The captain stays on the bridge and oversees emergency efforts. He also calls for help and arranges safe evacuation of passengers and crew. The mate goes to the problem to direct damage control or firefighting efforts. The engineer stays in his engine room until his skills are needed elsewhere.

On your boat, there is a good chance you wear all three hats: Captain, Mate and Engineer. If you’re prepared ahead of time, someone else aboard can operate and navigate the boat and communicate with rescuers. But that still leaves you to deal with the problem.

Of the scrapes I’ve been in, it’s my Engineer hat that has saved the day. After an electrical fire at sea completely disabled the entire DC system, I was able to rig power to one of four engines to get us home. When I lost steering offshore — twice — once with both rudders pinned hard to port by power steering — I made repairs on the spot. When a 4-inch shaft came out of its coupling and slid aft, pinning the rudders and threatening to flood the engine room, I secured that shaft back in its stuffing box.

In short, the Captain is responsible for lives. The Engineer is responsible for the life of the boat. Personally, I’d rather take my own ride back to port with all hands safely aboard and not rely on the U.S. Coast Guard’s transportation.
So what does it take to be a competent Engineer?

First is skill with tools. A stout pipe wrench and 3-pound hammer will free just about any stuck part — or break it if you don’t know how much torque is too much.  Familiarity handling wrenches, ratchets, pliers and screwdrivers speeds any repair. There is a feel for the nuts and bolts of repairs that only comes with experience.

It also takes knowledge. Basic electrical competency helps circumvent problems — like jury-rigging power to a disabled engine a mile from a rocky coast with a 20-knot onshore breeze. Or knowing how to put a transmission in gear when a shift cable breaks.

Professional mariners acquire both skills and knowhow by working up the ranks from Ordinary Seaman.

Recreational skippers don’t have the apprenticeship option. But even if you don’t work on your own boat — and unless you’re willing to learn how to do it right there are advantages to calling in a pro — you need to take interest in the work you’re paying for. Get to know your engine mechanic. Learn what he’s doing and why. Read up on basic wiring, and then look over your electrician’s shoulder. Follow the insurance surveyor around your boat and ask questions. Get your hands dirty other than from the ink that smears when you sign the check for repairs.

In my view every skipper should know how to change primary and secondary fuel filters and prime the fuel system. You should be able to change a seawater impeller or the whole pump. If you can bypass a faulty starter solenoid to start an engine, and you can change that solenoid, the entire starter, or the alternator, you’re already a pretty good engineer. You’ve got to understand how your steering system and engine shift and throttle controls work. You must know where all intake and discharge through-hull fittings are, know how to replace hoses and hose clamps, and be able to both operate and maintain seacocks. If you can troubleshoot and replace a faulty bilge pump or float switch, you know how to check your bonding wires, and you can verify with a multimeter whether a shore power fault is on the dock, in the cord or on the boat, you’re a decent electrician.

To some, learning how to fix your boat might seem a bit much, but this is my blog and therefore my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

Back to my title. In a commercial setting, if the captain goes down with his ship, it was his own choice, staying on deck until the last soul has been saved. The engineer, on the other hand, goes down because he’s in the bilge trying to save his boat’s soul.

I’m definitely not advocating a literal fight to the death. But don’t give up only because you never learned how to swing.

— Cap’n Vince.