A little tale from Boatone

[boatone]

When problems arise which, on the face of it, lead you to think you may be facing significant expenditure sorting out fouled prop, gearbox bearings, etc etc stand back a little and think basic.

I ran for three days upriver on the port engine alone due to the starb'd one having severe vibration and indications of ragged engine/gearbox/stern-gear performance.

Finally tracked the problem down to a floor bearer in the engine compartment, the starb'd end of which had somehow managed to slip out of its supporting saddle - probably while I had the whole floor up during the service work I did in the winter. Result was the starb'd end of the beam was actually sitting on top of the engine itself ! There are cut-outs in the beam to accommodate various protrusions on the engine but the beam had dropped well over an inch.
Piccy shows the setup quite clearly.

Anyways, big thanks to ChrisD for helping me sort it and we had a lovely ride back to Bray from Henley using BOTH engines

 

[jecuk]

I had a similar situation in Hurley lock a week ago. Lady Gay lost the starboard engine coming into the layby. Was running but wouldn't go into gear. Made for an interesting mooring situation as she doesn't run well on one engine at low speed given her single rudder.

Was worried it could be something serious but these are new engines and had just been fully serviced. Pulled the morse controls up and a cable had popped out of its mounting bracket meaning there was no resistance for the gear changes. Quick fix and all was good.

Didn't even miss the lock in.

Makes you realise that most of these boats are quite simple and most problems can be solved with some time and thought.

 

[oldgit]

Makes you realise that most of these boats are quite simple and most problems can be solved with some time and thought.[/QUOTE]

Nice simple cables and mechanical bits,no "work of the devil" elektrikery engine ECUs or throttles.

 

[No Regrets]

And this is the appeal of old technology for me!

If it breaks, you can usually effect a repair of some kind. Modern stuff only needs a glitch to render the whole boat unusable, and then costs a fortune to fix, assuming the problem can be found!

I appreciate the benefits of technology nevertheless, but at 5mph it's just not required....

 

[oldgit]

And this is the appeal of old technology for me!

If it breaks, you can usually effect a repair of some kind. Modern stuff only needs a glitch to render the whole boat unusable, and then costs a fortune to fix, assuming the problem can be found!

I appreciate the benefits of technology nevertheless, but at 5mph it's just not required....

Basically all you will ever need is Gaffer tape,one of her kitchen knives and possibly a bit of that chocolate block connector stuff ?

 

[boatone]

Basically all you will ever need is Gaffer tape,one of her kitchen knives and possibly a bit of that chocolate block connector stuff ?

Well. I wouldn't want to prick your nostalgic little bubble but having a couple of steel "L" brackets in my dunny bag and a ready charged decent torque electric drill/driver turned out pretty useful.

However, there is no doubt that ,once again, my little stash of stuff that SWMBO is for ever asking "do we really need that on board?" turned out to have "thats just what we need" in it !

Word of warning to anyone contemplating downsizing boat - whereas on the previous, bigger, boat it was "do we really need all this space , it just fills up with junk" on the newer bijou compact, yet sturdy, model we now get "what on earth do you need that for, there's nowhere to put it?"

 

[peterandjeanette]

Word of warning to anyone contemplating downsizing boat - whereas on the previous, bigger, boat it was "do we really need all this space , it just fills up with junk" on the newer bijou compact, yet sturdy, model we now get "what on earth do you need that for, there's nowhere to put it?"

You could always tow a dinghy - for the junk, not SWMBO.

I'll get my coat and run like hell.

 

[No Regrets]

Obviously a Broom wouldn't fall to bits like that...