So what has gone wrong this year ?

[Portofino]

I have posted before that how something so simple can go wrong so often and be totally unrepairable to boot I cannot understand.

I used to fix them and 48 hours later they would go wrong again. I don't bother now I just buy a new one. I think the float switches object to being immersed in shampoo! The last time in Palma this was wallet busting E250 as I recall. Only £100 ish in the UK but of course I need it NOW!

Have you tried theses ?
Seem shampoo and bilge carp proof -diesel / oil / that morph into soap spillages
I,am gradually swapping over as the floats die .They fit in the shower box .

https://www.bosunbobs.com/en/gb/Whale-Pumps-Electric-Field-Sensor-Bilge-Switch/m-1357.aspx

 

[jrudge]

it was chatting with Whiteligher the other day. He believes there is a market for a real life boat brochure. Sadly I am not sure it would take off as no boats would be sold.

In my experience new boats have as many ( more) issues - it is just that some other bugger is paying to fix it!

 

[petem]

it was chatting with Whiteligher the other day. He believes there is a market for a real life boat brochure. Sadly I am not sure it would take off as no boats would be sold.

In my experience new boats have as many (more) issues - it is just that some other bugger is paying to fix it!

Yep, people aren't told or refuse to believe that things like sliding roofs require annual servicing and maintenance. There's certainly no mention of that in the brochures!

Heaven knows what it's going to take to maintain boats like the Princess R35 where everything is computerised.

 

[vas]

Perhaps when you are next on the boat you could be kind enough to take a pic. I am thoroughly fed up with these bloody things. Thanks

dunno what Pete's got,
but I've got a Whale 8lt grey water tank and a gulper220. Only problem I had in 5 seasons was the electronic floater thing failing (ah, the one PF thinks in post #21 is good I don't!) and I replaced it with a water witch (or something like that) again el. switch.
now I said it, I expect it failing next week when I'm onboard...

V.

 

[Portofino]

it was chatting with Whiteligher the other day. He believes there is a market for a real life boat brochure. Sadly I am not sure it would take off as no boats would be sold.

In my experience new boats have as many ( more) issues - it is just that some other bugger is paying to fix it!

Someone on here once said there’s two pleasures of boat ownership in varying proportions.

Fixing stuff and using it .

Ratios vary but 50/50 is about right .

I do wonder about newby folks contemplating buying a boat with a sort of holiday apartment/ second home mentality.
I have a mate with a new S/Sker San Remo and it’s always crawling with techs .
Went round the other day and he apologised as he served us our ice chilled rose as his chiller had earlier packed up .
He then opened up the engine hatch offering me a look in only to loose grip and the ram wrenched a hinge out of the cockpit floor - tiny screws .

I was in by best kit clothes wise otherwise would have rolled my sleeves up. Aside it all under warranty.

 

[Truro Ex Pat]

Ok I am also having a good year just replaced the ice maker pump myself after having it repaired well I think that is what they charged for!
My passerelle works but won't go into its housing I have an instruction on how to fix it but it seemed complicated so waiting to end of the season before messing it up!

 

[Nosealegsyet]

I do need to get round to reupholstering the cockpit as some cushions are tearing at the seams, but that's going to be expensive, so keep putting it off.

buy curtains in the sale from dunelm, heavyweight material, largest width by the highest drop (that will be 90 inches) and watch a couple of you tube videos and do it yourself....

 

[Nosealegsyet]

Someone on here once said there’s two pleasures of boat ownership in varying proportions.

Fixing stuff and using it .

Ratios vary but 50/50 is about right .

I do wonder about newby folks contemplating buying a boat with a sort of holiday apartment/ second home mentality.
I have a mate with a new S/Sker San Remo and it’s always crawling with techs .
Went round the other day and he apologised as he served us our ice chilled rose as his chiller had earlier packed up .
He then opened up the engine hatch offering me a look in only to loose grip and the ram wrenched a hinge out of the cockpit floor - tiny screws .

I was in by best kit clothes wise otherwise would have rolled my sleeves up. Aside it all under warranty.

Id be one of those folks lol!

 

[julians]

It's funny how there's always something broken on a boat, or if you can truly say it's 100% working perfectly, something will break the next time you use it. This is easier to understand on larger boats where all sorts of domestic things can break, but even on mine which is very nearly as simple as it can be there's always a long list of things that need fixing.

 

[Nosealegsyet]

hi guys, is there a common denominator here? Age? or maybe not? Can you guys share the age of your boat ? Im a newbie, and im finding it hard to digest that a newish boat but we as problamatic as and old one, yet maybe it is.so how old are your boats guys?

 

[julians]

Mine is from 2006,but even when I've owned brand new boats they had issues, they were covered under warranty but issues none the less.

Older boats are more unreliable though in my experience.

 

[julians]

The marine environment is a harsh one, they're not like cars

 

[jrudge]

Have you tried theses ?
Seem shampoo and bilge carp proof -diesel / oil / that morph into soap spillages
I,am gradually swapping over as the floats die .They fit in the shower box .

https://www.bosunbobs.com/en/gb/Whale-Pumps-Electric-Field-Sensor-Bilge-Switch/m-1357.aspx

It think it is a great idea BUT the box manufactures have that sussed. The pump and float are now as one ... or were in the last few I have bought.

 

[BartW]

Ok, there we go

1) First week in july we felt the power of the bow thruster was weak, visual inspection showed that the propeller had lost one blade
Ordered a new prop from Vetus, son brought it onboard, and some time later I got a side mooring, and took on the dive gear and replaced it,
The two other blades where ripped off during the sideway mooring against a strong wind, but we were just able to throw the ropes …

This is what’s left from the prop hub





And these are the tools that I used for replacing the prop under water, (with a scuba dive set)




2) Jetski (Yamaha Superjet) trouble
- knackered battery, ordered at the local Italian chandler, delivered last minute after much swearing ...
- insufficient movement of the choke valves due to corrosion, a drop of grease saved the day
- Cooling water hose disconnected and was burned against exhaust damper (Andymac knows about that one)
- Big 100mm diam exhaust gas hose had a crack, (exhaust gas going in the air inlet causing drop of power), was able to repair temporarily by shortening that hose, ordered new hose from asap uk, on its way.., but jetski is still working and more powerfull than ever ;-)

3) Tender issues
- Knackered battery
- Finally got the fuel level gauge working (after 6 seasons of using without and after much swearing falling without fuel, and faffing to get the air out of the fuel hose...)
Problem was that the connector with the fuel level sensor was connected to the wrong socked (as delivered from Novurania)
- Replaced the remaining original very bad quality US seat hinges
- Re cabled the power supply to plotter so that it can be swiched on and off with a external switch (avoiding its stay’s on all night)
yes I know, this should have been winter jobs, but some of my guests love faffing on boats instead of visiting the village Carloforte, when the wind forecast is too bad for going out,

4) One generator stopped running because of high temp, -> worn belt from the alternator and closed circuit cooling water pump, spare belt was onboard, replacing took 15minutes, but getting at it and putting everything back in place took half a day

5) My 27yo Gianneci blackwater tank discharging pump stopped pumping, (but it kept on running and vibrating…) opening the pump revealed that there was a peach nut, obstructing the entrance (hose diameter reduced from 35mm to 25mm isch) god knows how the nut got in to the tank ! The nut had even passed the big one way valve at the entrance of the pump !

6) Bilge water alarm in engine room, fresh water leaking, one of these “Speed Fit” EPDM water hose connections had a crack, spares are onboard, easy fix

7) The hinge of our retrofit transom door, one SS welding is starting to crack, job for coming winter, with some care, we can use it with the crack until then.

8) One of the scuba tank compressors (we use them mainly for filling the inflatable water toy’s) started giving short “explosions of air” when hot,
it’s the 9bar overpressure valve between first and second stage, going bad, (could swap with the valve from the other compressor) easy job, but difficult acces = lots of swearing !!!

9) Our inflatable Golden Swan got a big crevasse, she is beyond repair , the girls were to rough with her..

Apart from that I had to replace a few hinges, and tighten some screws on furniture
but holliday’s were never in danger,
just one more week to go !

 

[vas]

It think it is a great idea BUT the box manufactures have that sussed. The pump and float are now as one ... or were in the last few I have bought.

scrap the lot and fit a Whale grey water tank with it's matching Whale gulper320 pump (the 220 I have is a kludge as I couldn't find a 320 locally)

V.

 

[jrudge]

Someone on here once said there’s two pleasures of boat ownership in varying proportions.

Fixing stuff and using it .

Ratios vary but 50/50 is about right .

I do wonder about newby folks contemplating buying a boat with a sort of holiday apartment/ second home mentality.
I have a mate with a new S/Sker San Remo and it’s always crawling with techs .
Went round the other day and he apologised as he served us our ice chilled rose as his chiller had earlier packed up .
He then opened up the engine hatch offering me a look in only to loose grip and the ram wrenched a hinge out of the cockpit floor - tiny screws .

I was in by best kit clothes wise otherwise would have rolled my sleeves up. Aside it all under warranty.

Agree I love fixing stuff about 80% of the time. Some jobs however give me a major sence of humour failure.

The boats on my pontoon are relatively light used ( as in there are no people on most of them most of the time. Every day last week 3 marine tech vans rolled up. The bills people who dont like fixing stuff themselves must endure does not bear thinking about. Most if it is simple but it does take time. Fixing the gen hose. Remove it. Measure it. Buy It. Fit it ( flows round the boat) Test it. Clean up. 2.5 hours?

 

[admillington]

With regard to the Radar, I assume it is Raymarine open array - there is a power switch on the back of the base unit - mine often gets turned off when the boat is cleaned. Worth a try before you take it apart.

Andrew

 

[Elessar]

So how is everyone doing so far?

Compared to Williams Rib hell last year and Generator misery the year before ( which only lasted 3 days to be fair) my tally so far has been reassuringly mild.

Boat is a Squadron 58 2004.

1. Flat rib battery. Assumed needed replacement but surprisingly not

2. Generator stopped. No Coolant flow. Turned out to be a tiny chafe hole in the supply pipe ( that had anti chafe binding on it ex factory so it laster 14 years) which was suddenly not so tiny. Bunged it up with leak stop for lunch and E30 an an hour later all fixed. Had not been self priming for a while so I suspect that is why.

3. Ice Maker. Flow hose had perished. Due to spectacular design all water is over the electrics ( anyone thought of doing it the other way round) so any leak pops the power. There was spare hose so cut and re connected. Same the following day. Hose dead so replaced. Ice making restored. Few days later same again. This time ice maker off, as it defrosts bit of water flows out the front and over the switch ( which is again below the water ...). Fixed with a dab of silicone

4. No water from the taps. Have 2 water pumps. Turns out one does not work ( new one ordered- boats.co.uk say the bottom one always fails). The second one had a combination of the wires falling off the pressure sensor ( which whilst a simple job are almost impossible to get back on as they face away from you at arms length) and then a faulty pressure switch which was solved with a clout from a pair of pliers. Will remove the lot, replace pump and set up property by adjusting pressures on next visit.

5. An unfeasible number of the cr%& LED bulbs I bought have failed. Halogen would have been more reliable. New batch bought.

6. The radar ( which I never use but turn on from time to time to pass the day away!) has stopped revolving. I will investigate next time I am there. Drive belt / fuse / connectors I suspect. We will see. It does not really bother me.


As usual nothing stopped it moving, no dismantling of toilets and the AC worked fine - so all in I would call it a success!

Rear shower float switch.

Outboard usual shenanigans.

Genny packed up needed replacement capacitor.

Windlass footswitch.


All fixed and trivial compared with an ongoing battle with diesel bug. Broke down 5m outside the marina on Saturday.

Have now cut a hole in the top on my tank (and the furniture above it). Fuel has been mostly pumped out through a sieve.

The remaining 150 litres or so is being sucked out by a wet and dry vac on Thursday and filtered before being put back in. Got to get it back together before the weekend.

It is getting me down.

 

[jrudge]

hi guys, is there a common denominator here? Age? or maybe not? Can you guys share the age of your boat ? Im a newbie, and im finding it hard to digest that a newish boat but we as problamatic as and old one, yet maybe it is.so how old are your boats guys?

I had a brand new Squadron 65. It never had a failure such that it would not move, but it did have plenty plenty issues.

Radar, autohelm, hydraulic overheat, Air con, eplex system ( runs all the boats DC systems - one total failure two other more local ones), battery failure, charging issues, freezer failure, AC condensate in bilge, mood lights failure ( replaced) , search light, generator issues, dishwasher etc ...

The majority of these were not down to Fairline as in build quality ( some were) but Garmin, battery suppliers, eplex suppliers etc etc etc. The list above is only the memory items and maybe squed one way or other. Sure Fairline could take the stick for some fittings not having big enough screws etc but these type of issues were honestly in the minority.They did of course specify the kit, but who can criticise them for installing Garmin kit, standard marine fridges and freezers etc.

My S58 2004 which in fairness I did take to bits when I bought it and fixed, refurbed, adjusted , serviced pretty much everything has far far less issues.

I think it is down to

a. there is a settling in period where you have a load of kit on board that is new and some of it just will fail. The marine volumes are small compared to cars.

b. once this period is past stuff will always go wrong and need fixing from minor to major

c. then yes of course age takes its toll. My ice maker hose. The unit was new old stock 3 years ago. It was however 10 years old on purchase in a sealed box and time takes it toll on hoses etc etc etc.

That said that is why I always get it serviced by a mechanic not me. Most is simple - oil etc. but someone who knows the boat saying the xxx wears out and I looked at yours and it is ok but knackered saves in season problems. Hoses have got me twice so far this year. On a light aircraft all hoses a changed every 10 years. My boat is 14 years old ..... so someone who made that decision knows what they are talking about. My winter list .... replace the hoses !

 

[Bouba]

Ps, anyone know if such a thing as a reliable shower sump unit exists?

Yes