The Weakest Link !!

[Guest]

Proper boat question.

In the humble opinion of the panel. When is a boat getting a bit old for trips to say Channel Islands. Or extended Holiday trips of say 500 miles.
Ok some ones going to say. It depends on servicing etc.

But some parts just go bang in the night and there’s no telling when.
And you can’t go round re. engining, gearboxing, turbo-ing or ruddering just For the fun of it.

Ok. Case in point.
Mines a 12 year old Princess 35 and looks like new with shinny green Engines that’s serviced. Well it costs a fortune anyway.

When dose it become the weakest link, and have to be pensioned off to the river or at least sent to Scotland and the Clyde.

Good Bye.

 

[Guest]

Re: H wants a new boat

You can't get out of it like that H. All the really weird stuff seems to happen on a brand new boat. Once it's establish that it floats, and that the engines go round, and you've got it started so the batteries are alright, then the stuff that'll go bang will be individual bits of gear here and there, like er toilets.

So in my humble opinion, boats are more like an aeroplane in terms of longevity: basically, an aeroplane flies, and provided it gets off the ground (ie for a boat, it floats and the engine starts) then that's the toughest bit. It's not like a helicopter or (to a lesser extent) a car: esp for a helicopter the whole thing is knackered after a while as the mechanism is liable to wrap itself in knots and drop out of the sky.

Of greatest worry would be if of course the carpet was old, or if praps the new carpet was horrid and Ousified, or if the boat became overburdened with doilies, flower arrangements, teacups, shortbread and biscuits. That's the time when it simply needs chucking in a river.

 

[Guest]

Like, matts, unsure whether you are looking for feedback or a get out clause, but your Princess 35 should carry on carrying you across the Channel for many a year, given a bit of TLC.

Serious point though...we had a 35 on a cruise a few seasons back that had a problem with the GRP mouldings that form the exhaust discharges at the transom. When it was built a fitter had obviously discovered the only way of marrying up a smaller diameter rubber exhaust run to it was to nick out several vee-shaped pieces in the moulding, squeeze the not terribly flexible GRP together and push the hose onto that, with a couple of clamps screwed on for good measure.

It held for seven years until the GRP fatigue fractured and left, effectively, a rather large hole just above the waterline at the stern. The good ship was 15 miles off Le Havre at the time.

When we got it back, Le Havre was scoured for tinned veg cans of the right size to form a temporary inner sleeve reinforcement, a story in itself. Incidentally, water was stopped by blowing up a rubber glove and stuffing it up the seaward end, improbable, but surprisingly effective.

Anyway, moral of the story is, I'd check your exhaust runs!

 

[Guest]

My venerable Turbo 36 of 1985 vintage is heading for the Channel Islands this Saturday. She has 2300 hours on the clock and appears to be in better condition than the owner! Boats need to be serviced and above all USED. If they are then boats like your Princess should last for as long as you want her to. Err you do want her to don't you? Or is this a bit of persuasion for she who must be obeyed??????

There is a Princess 388 in my harbour that is lucky if it manages 20 hours a year, the owner is scared to leave the marina on his own. He is worried about mechanical breakdown. Mind you, if I only thought about getting servicing done in May after leaving the dirty oil in all winter I might worry about things breaking down as well.
I can see the advert now, Princess 388, Very Low Hours, superb condition, batteries sulphated to hell, all switches rusty, windlass seized, seacocks stuck fast, turbos you can sketch with, bores glazed to a mirror finish. Lots of original equipment eg oil, impellers, antifreeze, filters. Comes complete with more condensation in the tanks than diesel. Bargain for some poor sod who doesn't know any better.

Thats enough ranting for now.

Dave S of Odyssea

 

[Guest]

Re: H wants a new boat

The main problem with deisel engines is lack of use not overuse. As far as your boat goes... my old Broom was 22 when I sold her this week and very very heavily used, I have had less trouble with her engines (Perkins 145s) in the past 5 years than my mate has had with his spanking new Sealine (Volvos) in the last 2 years.

 

[Guest]

Dave,

Are you on the MBM C.I. cruise ?

Adrian

 

[Guest]

When you don't do the trips because you are concerned about whether the boat is up to it is the time to change it (or do those rebuilds!)
There are enough unavoidable reasons not to go - price of fuel (petrol anyway), weather, crew, company, family issues etc - to get through all these and then hesitate because you are not sure about the boat.......thats the time to do something about it!

Happy tripping

 

[Guest]

It's not any of that. I've sung One wheel on my wagon
on many trips.

But Ive found in the past especialy with volvos, there gearboxes ect. That the cost of repairs vee boat value
is an ever increasing line.

Just wondered what every ones opinion was.
Dont worry its off round cornwall next week and through the summer will do 1000 or more miles.
Just hoping I could have got some thing printed out
to convince the wife that the boat would self distruct
a week on thursday and she needed a new one!!

 

[Guest]

Re: Old Boat Problems for Women!

1. The beds will have lots of those insects on them that look awful under a microscope, and although you will have built up a resistance to them by now, they're there.

2. There are similar micro-insects in carpets, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, and in the curtains. Washing or replacing them doesn;t work : they fly about as its being fitted or cleaned and just makes it worse as apparently they love a nice clean surface on which to breed.

3. Some of the zips can snag fingernails.

4. The toilet discharge pipe in boats of five years old or more makes an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Later ones have more plasticiser in the material, which eliminates the problem. Swapping piepwork doesn't solve this, as all valves and the entire system has to have matched componentry, but some of the main new units won't fit in the older boats, so that's that.

5. After a while, in the cockpit, there's usually a build-up of residue from cleaning agents on the cushions, which can cause skin problems, even with trousers on which can in fact make it worse as they cling to the material for longer. It isn't a problem now, but later in life the irritants can cause saggy skin and extra wrinkles.

6. New boats have better and more space-efficient storage for clothes, and much more hygenic with tighter-fitting computer-built high-gloss joinery with fewer places for the bacteria to breed.

7. Old boats don't look quite as wonderful as new ones, it's true. A lovely new boat would be just perfect and they are lovely when they're new. Not that you need a new boat, but remember when you first got the boat? Wasn't it wonderful? But it'll be fine on the current one, it'll be fine, probably anyway. Although do you remember that new, oh well no, it doesn't matter. Most people like old boats with their bugs and bacteria don't they, especially blokes I suppose, we're just old stick-in-muds haha. Most blokes wouldn't mind looking at other boats, but we've got used to this boat with that beige-coloured ornament here from my Mother that you I thought you liked, and it might not go with a new boat.

Will this do? print it off and cut off the bottom bits.

 

[Guest]

Re: Saturday?

We are booked on the MBM C.Islands cruise this weekend. However I need to get to Lymington from Ramsgate and after looking at the latest weather it looks like I am in for some fun and games Thursday/Friday. You should be able to recognise us, I will be the one kissing the ground with relief shortly after tying up !!

Dave S

 

[Guest]

Thanks Matt NM

,,

 

[Guest]

My Birchwood is the same age as your Princess and has the same engines but water and fuel fillers separated by half the length of the boat. I have always kept her in the water through the winter with only a couple of weeks out for anodes/antifouling/etc.

The engines are run at least once a week and usually more plus I generally have at least one lengthy trip per annum - 500plus miles. I generally cruise at 3000 rev's which gives a circa 15-16knts unstressed but with turbos running nicely and about 10 gal/hr. At the end of every trip short or long I open her up to flat out for a couple of miles followed by the remaining couple of miles into the marina slowly winding down. The idea is to blow any crap (can I say that?) through and out. I now have just over 1000 hrs each engine and the only major (touch wood) other than regular servicing was a replacement oil cooler. Oil and filters in engines and gearboxes changed twice a year so that might help also.

The weakest link for me, however is every time I think of the cost per hour and the fact that I could probably be retired now if I had put what I have spent on boats over the years into pensions.

Anyway, if you want to sell your Princess on the Clyde, I will be happy to keep an eye on her and show people over her if you put her in KIP. I think I am going to sell myself as its getting ever harder to justify the cost as compared to chartering in a warm climate a couple of times a year.

Nick