One had just had just gone back into the water after overhaul of both legs a month or so prior to trip, internal aluminium cooling water flange on transom assembly let go,virtually impossible to even see the thing let alone maintain it,or fix for that matter.
On the second boat the set of gears on the top of the leg decided life was all getting a bit to much and decided the time had come to quit.Serviced this winter.
Servicing would have prevented nothing.
Can I mention all the shaft drive boats got there and back again ......
Don't forget the engines that shroud the boat in a smoke screen
You mean the owners, one is heavy plant mantaince contractor for about 30 years and the other who works for an well known organisation which gets your car back on the road when it breaks down and recently completely rebuilt the AQD40B attached to his outdrive.
Around 100 boats on our club moorings,the vast majority on shafts, have difficulty remembering the last gearbox/shaft problem,there have been one or two,mainly shaft wear and stuffing box problems but a constant ongoing litany of outdrive problems from the tiny minority of outdrive boats. You only need to walk up the pontoons to see the number of boats sporting twin outdrives with one slowly descending to the vertical position and the other halfway down, a sure sign of ram problems and a big spend on its way. .
Eventually most owners give up the battle to be able to raise legs,which rather defeats the whole point of them.
At some point I am going to buy you a drink when you buy your first shaft drive boat...
If they have got ram problems then they need fixing. You can't blame a boat if is has not been properly maintained!
We have no plans to get rid of our current boat. We have plenty of trips planned with this one yet. One of which includes a visit to your neck of the woods, so I will hold you to that drink, even if we don't get an old farts boat just yet
Look forward to your visit and if you need a mooring let me know.
We already nurse a little group of Sealine owners with outdrives who huddle in a special corner sipping their half pints and debating just where it all went wrong.