Boat owners’ near universal whinge

The local fishermen even in their smallest boats have a dedicated engine room even if some crew have to shelter on de k.Probably in a 35 foot yacht there is space for proper engine access and access to tanks etc.Probably have to give over some volume in the galley or shower but the space to properly maintain essential stuff would mean more satisfaction to the owner and stuff would be better maintained.
 
Problem is boat and vehicles basically have the same design of engines. Where as a car you can stick up on ramps and get to the bits usually fairly easily underneath for some reason that doesn't apply with boats!
 
Kukri said:
And then some bright spark had the idea of making the tanks easier to clean by putting the frames on the deck not in the tanks...

I also recall with particular affection the naval architect at a famous British shipyard who had designed a tanker with the heat exchangers for cargo heating on the weather deck. When I pointed out that the things would become a mass of rust in half no time, he replied, ‘Maintenance is the owner’s problem!’...

...maybe yacht designers were taught that, too...?
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You mean from this :



To this :

 
Aquaboy said:
Problem is boat and vehicles basically have the same design of engines. Where as a car you can stick up on ramps and get to the bits usually fairly easily underneath for some reason that doesn't apply with boats!
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mmmm...

My Renault Master van - I use for general carrying and model flying ... the windscreen washer bottle has a leak and pump stopped ... to get at it ... remove front wheel ... remove splash panel in wheel arch ... remove front bumper ....

Easier said than done .... I cannot get hands in to hold the nuts on back of bumper bolts !!
 
The Volvo 2002 was at least designed for boats, with almost everything accessible from the front. The RCA Dolphin was pretty good too, as nothing much needed doing and it took up about as much space as a box of chocolates.
 
Zing said:
Bad design and not enough regard by the makers to maintenance issues.
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You’ve just described a “sail drive”.

Disconnect and/or remove most ancillaries and in some cases the engine itself, then remove gearbox just to change a rubber seal. I’m not sure if it shows lack of regard to maintenance or contempt for the owner. Absolutely crazy design for an AWB.
 
johnalison said:
A day or so ago I found myself watching a YouTube video about building a B24 bomber. At one point a midget (their term) was needed to enter a wing section to carry out some task. Hint for boatbuilders perhaps.
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I worked at one time with a bloke who had previously wired up Concorde nose cones, he wasnt a large man ;)
 
johnalison said:
The Volvo 2002 was at least designed for boats, with almost everything accessible from the front. The RCA Dolphin was pretty good too, as nothing much needed doing and it took up about as much space as a box of chocolates.
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Did your (and others') Sadler 29 have a lift-out cockpit floor and 'baby bath', like the 32? Very good access to rear of engine.
 
Kukri said:
... There’s a screwdriver that I dropped into the engine bilge six months ago, which has worked itself to a spot that is just out of reach... if you see me over canvassed and rail under on the port tack you will know why...
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Magnet on a string ?? or one of things like a litter picker but shorter and flexible ?
 
davidjackson said:
You’ve just described a “sail drive”.

Disconnect and/or remove most ancillaries and in some cases the engine itself, then remove gearbox just to change a rubber seal. I’m not sure if it shows lack of regard to maintenance or contempt for the owner. Absolutely crazy design for an AWB.
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Indeed. Contempt would come to mind.

I’ve just replaced a chain plate to re-bed it properly. The removal and replacement of the cabinetry to access it took 10 days of work.
 
Hydrozoan said:
Did your (and others') Sadler 29 have a lift-out cockpit floor and 'baby bath', like the 32? Very good access to rear of engine.
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Yes. The cockpit sole lifted out and itself made stowage for a folded Avon Redcrest. Although not a problem in general use, the foam seal was not always complete and it would let some water through if it rose above the lip, which was usually adequate.
The main access to the engine was from removing the companionway steps. This was quite a substantial moulding but with practice you could deal with it, and then had very good access. I didn't normally have to get at the rear of the engine very often but I do remember replacing the original oil-filled gland with a Volvo seal.
 
johnalison said:
Yes. The cockpit sole lifted out and itself made stowage for a folded Avon Redcrest. Although not a problem in general use, the foam seal was not always complete and it would let some water through if it rose above the lip, which was usually adequate.
The main access to the engine was from removing the companionway steps. This was quite a substantial moulding but with practice you could deal with it, and then had very good access. I didn't normally have to get at the rear of the engine very often but I do remember replacing the original oil-filled gland with a Volvo seal.
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Thanks. It’s a long time since I looked closely at a 29 (and before I realised how useful good engine access is) and I wondered if it were similar to the 32, or had been discontinued. I added a rubber seal and cam locks to the cover/cockpit floor; for full servicing the cockpit route gives good access to oil pump (a Beta) and gearbox, and the rear of the H/E and the exhaust elbow if needed.

Not that squatting behind the engine gets any easier, but I do try to think beforehand of all the tools and unguents that I might require - the one compensation, perhaps, that age and experience offers.
 
Until you have owned a Sigma 33 and had to adjust the stern gland (which is a regular requirement) you will not really know what awkwardness means.
The only way to approach it is through the cockpit locker, descending head first from the top of the fuel tank, impossible to turn round so weight on your elbows, while the tools are handed through to you from the cabin across the top of the engine, each on a tether in the hope of recovery afterwards. With your head below your feet working time is limited. To escape afterwards you needed one person on each leg to drag you upwards and backwards until you could turn to climb out. If the crew did not keep talking to reassure you they had not gone to the pub the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in a torture chamber was scream inducing.
 
Kukri said:
[...]

I also recall with particular affection the naval architect at a famous British shipyard who had designed a tanker with the heat exchangers for cargo heating on the weather deck. When I pointed out that the things would become a mass of rust in half no time, he replied, ‘Maintenance is the owner’s problem!’...

...maybe yacht designers were taught that, too...?
Click to expand...


I was 2rd Engineer on a ship owned by Gomba Shipping Ltd that had been built in India.

Access to some of the machinery was awkward, to put it mildly.

As the Chief Engineer remarked: "When they built her they poured the machinery down the funnel and welded it in place wherever it landed".
 
I was working on a Beneteau Antares 30, a nice baby flybridge mobo.
In front of the lower helm is a deep space under the sole. About 18” x2ft and maybe 3ft deep. Reaching down I slipped and was head on the bottom, legs in the air and literally couldn’t move. No room to move my arms at all.
Thankfully my shouts were heard and 2 blokes pulled me out. I was still in there 10 minutes or so and I was beginning to get worried.
 
It's the marine version of the Fat Golfer problem:

If I put the ball where I can see it, I can't hit it,
And if I put the ball where I can hit it, I can't see it.
 
Quandary said:
Until you have owned a Sigma 33 and had to adjust the stern gland (which is a regular requirement) you will not really know what awkwardness means.
The only way to approach it is through the cockpit locker, descending head first from the top of the fuel tank, impossible to turn round so weight on your elbows, while the tools are handed through to you from the cabin across the top of the engine, each on a tether in the hope of recovery afterwards. With your head below your feet working time is limited. To escape afterwards you needed one person on each leg to drag you upwards and backwards until you could turn to climb out. If the crew did not keep talking to reassure you they had not gone to the pub the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in a torture chamber was scream inducing.
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Working on the sterngland of a Rival 34 is also a contortionist‘s job. It involves inserting yourself head first into the space behind the engine via a hatch next to the pilot berth. And the mechanic who had to replace the silent blocks could hardly insert his hands between engine and side panel, so narrow was the space for the engine.
I also reserve a special place in hell for the engineer who decided on the position for the water pump on a Yanmar 3JH3E. Try changing an impeller in a hurry in a seaway.
 
Who else remembers the little 2" heater hose in the BLMC Mini..... that always split and needed replacement in February/March, at night, on a Motorway?
Perhaps the designer of that now works for Beta Marine, and invents the parts one can see but not quite touch as well as the parts one can touch but not see....
 
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