Drawing the line...

Saturday, June 28

I just got home from work, and I am mad and frustrated. The mechanic changed out ECU units this afternoon, creating a boat with even more problems. When I finished my last run, I found out there was no one at the marina to operate the safety boat in case we had a problem with the Queen. That was the final straw.

I submitted a letter to my boss, letting him know that I will not run the boat in its current condition. It really bothers me to think that people will be inconvenienced and/or disappointed by this decision, but it is a safety matter. The way the company intends to deal with the daily ECU/engine failures is to switch ECU units and hope for more failures to try to figure out which black box is causing the problem. I did not sign on to be a "test pilot", and most certainly not with 40+ passengers on the boat.

Of course, the proper action would have been for the company to get a repair person out from Volvo-Penta with an analyzer, diagnose, and fix the problem. Instead, we have been messing with this for a month now, essentially doing nothing. It has gotten to the point where I feel it isn't safe. Drawing this line may get me fired. I am frustrated that I have been put in this position.

From the beginning, I was told that this job should be fun. It is not fun waiting for the next daily failure. We really love Yellowstone, but that passion isn't enough to overlook potentially dangerous problems with the boat.