What Could Go Wrong??

[homer]

I would say that the commonest failure I have seen here in the Med is windlasses. Then there are heads (of course) and no end of minor annoying stuff. In the past 4 years we have had 2 days in fog and it was on one of those, of course, that the plotter packed up. Back up systems are essential. Oh and there was a complete instruments failure due to a bad connection in the Seatalk network - just as we were approaching a reef anchorage in the Red Sea - they always pick their moments!

 

[Ariadne]

As already posted,if it can go wrong it will, but keep on sailing and all will be fine in the end. You'll learn all sorts of new skills and how to make shortcuts to 'get you home' before you can reach a swindlers or engineer. Long term sailing is fun. My Mrs call it fixing boats in exotic locations - she probably right but still wouldn't change our life style!

 

[Zanziba]

I hate roller reefing foresails. Mine always jam on two boats. Grrr. I wish I could afford a modern one!

 

[Cardo]

Our electric loo pump kept blocking. Eventually gave in and replaced it with a new, manual one.
Ageing loo broke. Replaced it.
We've had leaky water tanks. We had a new one made to replace the rigid one, and I've recently used the dinghy repair kit to cover up a puncture hole in the flexible tank.
Eberspacher's always playing up. Something new each time.
Watermaker was a dud and gave us loads of issues. Just installed a brand new one the company eventually provided. Working so far, touch wood!
Had problems with the engine due to Eberspacher. Sorted now.
Exhaust elbow on the engine developed a leak. Patched.
Hydraulics on lifting keel have started leaking. Next thing to fix.
Leaks keep developing from windows, or just about anywhere. Keep patching them up.

Plus about a zillion other things. We have an old boat, so she's well worn in, but it doesn't stop things from breaking!

Electronics have not given us any real head aches thus far. But then I did redo most of them before we set off.

 

[LadyInBed]

things that have gone wrong whilst living aboard, in particular around equipment/ system failures

The same things go wrong when the boat is at home or abroad.
Things might wear out quicker because you are using them more when living aboard, but things break due to putting them under too much pressure or lack of maintenance or have reached their Mean Time Between Failures point.

PS failures that I have had over 14 years of 'normal' use:

• Windgen rectifier failed
• Electric bilge pump failed
• Fwd heads macerator end broke off
• Aft heads pump casing cracked at self tapper
• Exhaust elbow rotted
• Raw water pump bearing failed (causing water on belt which then slipped, causing water to overheat, causing exhaust pipe to rupture)
• Alternator pivot holes elongated causing belt misalignment.

Batteries and Cutlass bearings are taken as read that they fail!

 

[michael_w]

A cruising boat's equipment is in one of three states:

1. Broken
2. Being repaired
3. Pretending to work.

After 2 Atlantic Circuits on different boats, I've come to the conclusion that most small boat equipment is not up to the ravages of continous use. Boats large enough to use small commercial vessel/fishing boat equipment seem to suffer fewer failures.

 

[Cardo]

Oh yeah, batteries. Fuggen nightmare. Somehting's up with our 500Ah battery bank that I can't work out. No matter how much charge I put into them by the end of the day, they're down in the dumps by the morning.

 

[NickTrevethan]

It depends on the type of use you are thinking about – extended cruising put wear on sails spars and rigging. It can put more hours on the engine/genny and so on, than a boat which sits in a marina and is only used every other weekend in the summer. A couple of times I found my flexible water tanks had ruptures dumping 200 litres into the bilge. Once a hose split and another 400 litres was pumped down the back up over the side. Its little things like that.

From a systems perspective, I found the wear and tear of living aboard meant things like your domestic water pump and the heater could fail.

Having just moved back aboard a boat (my last stint was four years), I am finding that the original equipment in terms of home comforts doesn’t always fare well under daily strain. So I have replaced the calorifier, the water pump, taps and so on.

However there is nothing in terms of these systems that a reasonably competent person cannot handle. Golden rule of course is that if unsure, ask someone who knows – especially electrics. That said I rewired my old boat – had a great book on the topic. But before connecting it up I had an electrician come and inspect it.

My weakness is the engine – everything else I pretty know how to fix. So don’t worry. If you don’t know now, its probably you will soon learn.

 

[sailorgirl]

We would be fine if we could tow another identical boat laden with replacement parts behind us! Mainly it is not the breaking or the fixing that is the problem it is getting the part you need. Currently hunting down affordable canvas to make a new dinghy cover and dodgers, some method of re-filling gas bottles purchased last year from Calor Gas which seem to have some new style fitting that hasn't reached the Caribbean and a replacement oar for our European model dinghy - these searches have been keeping us busy for weeks.

Some of the more major items we've managed to repair/replace since last June include a replacement chain plate (fixed by the skipper by reworking the old during our Atlantic crossing), a new rudder and had to send back the months old AIS transponder for repairs. Our blog is seemingly a litany of things we've fixed or improved upon yet we still have a long list of things to do!

The key is having the skills or acquiring the skills to be able to fabricate a repair from the bits you or another cruiser has. And you will soon have plenty of opportunity to learn!