What parts on your boat have lasted way past its intended shelf life?

[SimonKNZ]

I recently sold a boat just shy of its 30th birthday, with two owners prior to me (one for over twenty years. I'm reasonably sure that neither the standing rigging or saildrive gasket had ever been changed - despite these having a recommended life of 10 and 7 years respectively. That makes me wonder how much perfectly good hardware ends up in landfill every year.
I have yet to hear of a single case of a saildrive gasket failing in normal use

 

[Stemar]

My epirb says replace battery by 2011 still flashes properly to indicate all is well. ( I bought a PLB last year and am going to keep epirb)

OK, but will it keep going for as long and as strong as you want it to if used in anger?

I'm all for if it ain't broke..., but there's a reason why they have change by dates on batteries. Sure, they're conservative, to be sure they'll have the umph needed, but all batteries deteriorate over time, and that one's been going for maybe three times its service life.

 

[Refueler]

Putting on Flak Jacket ..... the 10yr advisory for standing rigging for most people is a joke TBH ...

If you are one who pushes your boat to limits and does so frequently - not just the average weekend yottie - then replacing standing rigging is not a bad idea. If you race - then more often.

But many boats just don't get pushed that often unless caught out. Designers do not put standing rigging that is only just good enough for the job ... most standing rigging as with running - is over-engineered to be safe and carry the loads expected.

 

[andsarkit]

Replaced my standing rigging after 20 years when a strand broke in one of the lowers. Replacement dyform standing rigging replaced after 25 years and still looked good. The masthead rig with twin backstays, twin lowers and now an inner forestay has quite a bit of redundancy so I am fairly happy with a longer lifetime when lightly used.
I think it is a case of "nobody knows" and 10 years was chosen as a nice round number.

 

[differentroads]

Ditto here

I could have added my Walker trailing log but, to be honest, it hasn't had a lot of use lately.

+1 I 'inherited' mine off my Dad in the late 70s (for which read, stole. Except its not actually stealing if its off your Dad and its something you need more than he does, is it?). I still use it a couple of times a year on longer passages once the paddlewheel gets fouled up. It still reads within 5% of my calculated SOG allowing for the easily deduced currents here in the Med.

Offbeat is full of gear thats still original and going strong 40 years after she was launched. The Dometic fridge controller springs to mind, along with the (recently replaced) Sailor VHF radio and the Ghoster - a spinnaker weight nylon 150% genoa that still pulls us along in winds of under 10kn. I suppose its a precurser of more modern Code Zeros. When I took it into a local sailmaker for a couple of repairs he said 'keep it out of the sun and it will be fine for many more years.' Hard to manage keeping it out of the sun down here but it earned its keep a couple of decades ago.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

I think it is a case of "nobody knows" and 10 years was chosen as a nice round number.

Insurance companies do know. That's because they employ actuaries to look at the figures of how much they payout against the characteristics of the risk. Clearly they've noticed that 10 years was when the payouts started to outdo the premiums. Therefore to keep their premiums reasonable, they choose to lower their risk by excluding rigs older than 10 years.

 

[pandos]

Have insurance companies really done an actuarial assessment in terms of pure cruisers with substantial rigging... I doubt that in reality they get sufficient claims in the years subsequent to 10 years of age in relation to boats that have never been raced. To do any meaningful actuarial study.

My suspicion is that ten years has become a mantra arising from defects liability being limited to 10 years for manufacturers so they focus on the loss of recourse to a manufacturer in the event of a defective product causing damage/injury..

 

[escapism]

Each season I hope that my '79 Yanmar YSE8 will give me a reason to replace it with something less agricultural and a bit more powerful, but it shows no signs of weakness, so no good reason to get rid of it. The last check of the injector and pump in '08 showed 'no discernible wear'. Barton 'Australia' winches in the cockpit and at the mast all work perfectly although untouched apart from polish for >40 years. Perhaps I'll service them when they need re-chroming. There are still some original 'Tufnol' cleats and blocks that haven't been replaced, and those that were have been for cosmetic reasons rather than functionality. The only real ephemera are electronic, where there have such massive improvements.

 

[Kukri]

Bought my Sestrel hand bearing compass from Woolverstone Marina in June 1973. I inherited my father’s Walker Excelsior IV - it must be at least my age (67) but has aged better than I.

 

[Refueler]

Insurance companies do know. That's because they employ actuaries to look at the figures of how much they payout against the characteristics of the risk. Clearly they've noticed that 10 years was when the payouts started to outdo the premiums. Therefore to keep their premiums reasonable, they choose to lower their risk by excluding rigs older than 10 years.

I don't think so.

I would suggest the 10 year thingy has come about purely based on what they think is suitable and allows for boats that sail harder and more often than the average weekend yottie.

It has also been supported and become a norm by various Surveyors who wish to cover their 'posteriors' by advising rig of 10yrs or more ought to be replaced ...

 

[ghostlymoron]

Each season I hope that my '79 Yanmar YSE8 will give me a reason to replace it with something less agricultural and a bit more powerful, but it shows no signs of weakness, so no good reason to get rid of it. The last check of the injector and pump in '08 showed 'no discernible wear'. Barton 'Australia' winches in the cockpit and at the mast all work perfectly although untouched apart from polish for >40 years. Perhaps I'll service them when they need re-chroming. There are still some original 'Tufnol' cleats and blocks that haven't been replaced, and those that were have been for cosmetic reasons rather than functionality. The only real ephemera are electronic, where there have such massive improvements.

You really should service your winches, I find it a quite therapeutic winter activity and restoring the satisfying 'click' well worth the effort.

 

[Refueler]

You really should service your winches, I find it a quite therapeutic winter activity and restoring the satisfying 'click' well worth the effort.

Must admit I need to do mine ..... my sheet cockpit winches have lost that satisfying click as they turn .... its more like a dull pop .... but my mast halyard jobbies have never been opened up - but click lovely !!

 

[Pye_End]

Therefore to keep their premiums reasonable, they choose to lower their risk by excluding rigs older than 10 years.

Which insurance companies do this? Mine doesn't.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

Which insurance companies do this? Mine doesn't.

The ones that insist you change your rig at 10 years old.

 

[Pye_End]

The ones that insist you change your rig at 10 years old.

And which are they?

Eg. does yours? if so who are you with?

 

[Refueler]

The ones that insist you change your rig at 10 years old.

Often this occurs when some 'smart' surveyor writes in his report rig subject to 10 years or something similar.

Insurance co's are always looking for a get out clause ..... unfortunately odd surveyors in covering their ****s give Insurance companies just what they want ...

 

[Pye_End]

Often this occurs when some 'smart' surveyor writes in his report rig subject to 10 years or something similar.

Insurance co's are always looking for a get out clause ..... unfortunately odd surveyors in covering their ****s give Insurance companies just what they want ...

Mine did that. However, when I questioned this part of the report with the insurance company they said that it was fine, and a change was not required due to age.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Often this occurs when some 'smart' surveyor writes in his report rig subject to 10 years or something similar.

Insurance co's are always looking for a get out clause ..... unfortunately odd surveyors in covering their ****s give Insurance companies just what they want ...

I think you're being unfair to surveyors. The one I used when buying my first 'big' and expensive boat was vastly more knowledgeable about yachts than I was and recommended that as there was no evidence of the standing rigging ever being renewed on a boat over 20 years old it should be replaced. He also recommended several other sensible immediate upgrades and other suggestions for subsequent maintenance. I was happy to accept his advice but didn't use the report to beat the seller down in price. I thought that £1000 for peace of mine was a price worth paying.
In my opinion, surveyors are obliged to take a cautious approach and have no idea what mistreatment the boat has been subjected to. If you want to ignore their advice that's your choice but if you ask for a professional opinion, it will always err on the side of caution.
I enjoyed many years sailing Anemone I never regretted renewing the rigging.

 

[Refueler]

I think you're being unfair to surveyors. The one I used when buying my first 'big' and expensive boat was vastly more knowledgeable about yachts than I was and recommended that as there was no evidence of the standing rigging ever being renewed on a boat over 20 years old it should be replaced. He also recommended several other sensible immediate upgrades and other suggestions for subsequent maintenance. I was happy to accept his advice but didn't use the report to beat the seller down in price. I thought that £1000 for peace of mine was a price worth paying.
In my opinion, surveyors are obliged to take a cautious approach and have no idea what mistreatment the boat has been subjected to. If you want to ignore their advice that's your choice but if you ask for a professional opinion, it will always err on the side of caution.
I enjoyed many years sailing Anemone I never regretted renewing the rigging.

Companys I own that all conduct Surveys on private and commercial

Naviatech Marine Services ..... UK and Estonia (UK was closed after I left UK .... Estonian was incorporated later into Q&Q CSB)

Baltic inspection Ltd

Q&Q Control Services Baltic

They are now suspended as Baltic's market never recovered since 2004.

The horror stories of surveyors I know about in past years when I was providing in UK South ... some were just unbelievable.
Unfair ? some of them should have gone to jail !!

I'm happy that you regarded your guy as professional and worth the costs etc. That's good. But trouble is some jumped on the easy money wagon .... and unfortunately there being no real Official Body to control them ...

 

[jwilson]

Insurers do know that rigging being over 10 years old is more common when claims are made, but I really don't think they divide it up between pure cruisers and racers, or even older column mast cruisers or those with modern prebent rig boats. Two 35 ft boats with similar sail areas, mine a modern cruiser with 5, 6 and 7mm wires on a twin spreader prebent rig. Nearby a 1980s Westerly with 8 and 10mm wires on a single spreader column mast.

I've seen several rigs come down, but all were when racing. One when a big Transpac downwind machine was already triple reefed. Built for 2000+ miles planing in 5 days, it didn't like 20 knots to windward in a slight swell.