Starting to hate boating

How the remedial work going Dave?
Another instance to cause an engine to lag is dry seals on the through hull propshaft.
This happens more often after a boat has been hauled, cleaned etc.
More friction, more lag and eventually no hull seal.

Hope all is going well. J

Talon: The above quotation is factually incorrect with regard to engine lag. Good intent of the post does not alter the fact that physics make the assertion a practical impossibility.

It also helps to keep on the front foot (a cricketing term) with maintenance and general boat loving.

Matt the mechanic who did the work on our various boats was a stickler for preventative maintenace and replacement.

Parts and bits were replaced on or before due dates, or if they were not quite right or looked worn/tired/etc. No "it should be ok till the next service". And if there was a problem on one side, the same part of the other got checked and usually replaced as well.

I was usually standing there saying, are you sure we need to replace it, it looks fine to me, but his point was that it may be fine, but it also may fail 40 miles out, or worse, when you have family and friends standing on deck looking forward to a day out.

Good guy Matt.

Replace everything

So you're saying that if you can't afford that level of maintenance just get the hell out of boating??

I think the point is that if you can't afford that level of preventative maintenance you may not enjoy your general boating as much due to "emergency" repairs.

No not at all:

That level of maintenance is overkill if you are boating close to shore in calmer waters.

You also don't have to do it even if you fish offshore, beacuse most failures are rarely catastrophic and you can limp home on 1 motor or lower revs etc.

Its slimply a fact that fixing or replacing before they go bang or die reduces failures. No more, no less.

Laurence, I am not a boating snob or a fair weather boater. I like hands on boats, not gin places. But its like a car. If you put a new battery in when the old one is starting the enigine with not alot to spare, then there is less chance you end up not starting on a cold morning. Nuff said

Dave, isn't your boat the one with one engine that had been replaced with new?

Hi Ron,

I have dealt with instances where seals/glands/bearing and prop condition all contribute to poor performance.
I may be factually incorrect in naming a specific type of seal or propshaft tunnel. My apologies for that.

Poor RPM can be related to this:-
There is an assumption that existing relation between tightness and eccentricity and between eccentricity and reaction force (and sealing wear) in the sealing can be used to draw conclusion on sealing condition. In this way the position and trajectory of the shaft
journal centre might provide data for conclusions concerning:
a) position of ship’s propeller shaft,
b) wear of journals and bearing sleeves,
c) technical state of lubricating oil,
d) condition of shaft seals,
e) condition of the propeller (whether balanced or not).

how do you get an engine ''to temperature '' while at the dock....I never was able to get the thermostats to open while tied up...
'

What Cap J said is pretty accurate ... i bought my dream boat 8 months ago, and although sea trial went pretty fine , I am STILL working small problems and is not ready to go out as good as i wish ... I have put over $100K in neglected maintenance and is incredible the degree of mess you get from a docked boat ...

My mechanic, a very nice guy from Cat told me some working boats he services have over 20.000 hours on the engines !!!!! the run 10 hours a day everyday ...

preventive maintenance and periodic use seems to be the formula to get rid of clogged turbos, rusted intercoolers, contaminated filter+fuel, frozend parts and impellers, and so .......

i hope to start using the boat this season ..........!!

That's in all likelihood because they can't afford an engine problem. Neither in repair cost, nor in lost income. So they take some care.

Use itself also helps a bit, as the proverb has it: A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Engine Problems

In my job, (Yacht Broker) I get to spend a lot of time looking at boats, both to sell and buy for clients. The biggest problem I see is boats that are in need of repair due not to use but to lack of use! I see a lot of 8-10 year old boats with 2-300 engine hours on the motors and generators with 100 hours on them. I just know while the seller is "proud" of the "almost new" condition and the buyer is excited over this "low use" situation, myself, the surveyors and mechanics know we are in for trouble!