Holland: SeaHelp rescue operation, engine failure!

SeaHelp, Europe’s largest seaside breakdown service, maintains several bases in the Netherlands in the Dutch watersports area with IJsselmeer and Markermeer, which are very popular with Germans and Austrians. Membership is worthwhile, as the following mission report on motor yacht salvage at Markermeer demonstrates.

It was an ordinary weekday when a 10.5m Mencken Newport bass skipper with a V-engine was caught in front of the port WSV Blocq Kuffeler The SeaHelp emergency phone was contacted west of Lelystad on the southeastern shore of the Dutch Markermeer. The ship’s master heard a “strange noise” from the engine’s propeller, followed by a loud bang, then the boat threatened to run ashore at Leegerwall.

The rescue boat SeaHelp, an 8.5-meter rubber boat equipped with a powerful 250-horsepower outboard motor, immediately set sail from Edam on the opposite west side of the Markermeer and arrived at the stricken ship a short time later. Tim de Boer, who is coordinating rescue operations with his company Reddingsdienst’s boats in the Netherlands on behalf of SeaHelp, found that the boat had drifted into bushes on the bank, but found it undamaged.

Shortly after receiving the emergency call, the SeaHelp rescue boat was on the scene

What happened? The boat is equipped with a V engine.Says Tim de Boer, who has been involved in rescue operations in the Netherlands for 16 years. “V-Drive is a drive system with two shafts forming a V, hence the name of this drive”. The motor is connected to the transmission shaft via a bevel gear. The second driveshaft returns to the stern of the boat, under the engine, to the propeller. The two shafts are connected via an angle gear (resulting in a V shape).

This is exactly where the problem lies, says rescuer de Boer. The blast the wrecked captain heard was the propeller shaft, as all the bolts from the linkage to the bevel gear suddenly loosened. The SeaHelp team acted quickly: the Newport Bass was carefully pulled from the bridge using a towline and then towed to port in nearby Lelystad.

The damaged boat was towed, lifted, and prepared for repair

There we raised the boat and prepped it for the gearbox repair., says Tim de Boer after the assignment. He put his cell phone to his ear again. He says amicably goodbye, starts his boat’s outboard motor and sets off – for another stint on Dutch waters.

SeaHelp currently operates four operations centers in water sports hotspots in the Netherlands

“Together with Dutch partners, we currently operate four bases in water sports hotspots in the Netherlands, which are in Stavoren, Enkhuizen, Edam and Muiderzand”says SeaHelp Director Wolfgang Dauser.

In the area of ​​water sports that is particularly popular with German sportsmen, SeaHelp offers its proven professional service around the clock. “It is definitely worth becoming a member of Europe’s largest breakdown service if you are traveling by boat in the Netherlands”says Wolfgang Dauser.

SeaHelp’s “all for one, one for all” principle provides individual safety within a large community of safety-conscious skippers, says Wolfgang Dauser. Minor and major breakdowns can happen quickly, for example when you’re sailing on the IJssel or Markermeer, and many skippers sail there without a driver’s license and liability insurance. Then it usually gets very expensive and the holiday cheer is gone.

“Against this background, it is always helpful to know about SeaHelp’s protective shield and to have a partner by your side who can help quickly and easily in an emergency.”, says Wolfgang Dauser. This also applies particularly to the Netherlands.

Stavoren, Enkhuizen, Edam and Muiderzand bases are operated in the Netherlands together with SeaHelp’s Dutch partner Reddingsdienst. The Netherlands Helpline phone number: 0043 50 43112.

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