Bottom painted, blocked up in a corner of the boat yard; work was well underway on the various issues related to the cooling and leaks. We also closed the book on a potential item. During the survey the team from ABT came in to take a look at the complete hydraulics package and the stabilizers. Their records led us to suspect that the seals in the stabilizers had not been replaced and were way over due for service. They also identified a problem with the control panel in the pilot house, it was so dim as to be almost unreadable. Further research provided documentation that the seals had in fact been replaced and ABT offered a goodwill price on the replacement panel that came with new software for the system. A very nice deal indeed and the first of several really positive experiences we would have with the professional staff at ABT in our first 3 months of ownership.
The survey had identified significant rust and pitting on the main shaft near the packing gland; turns out that even the best stainless steel will rust if not given regular exposure to oxygen. Sitting in a pool of non-moving salt water for months at a time, as the shaft in N5516 had done for much of the last two years was not healthy; we needed to find out just how bad things were. The boat yard pulled the propeller and shaft, and sent the shaft out for inspection to a local machine shop.
While we waited for the report on the shaft the boat yard replaced the cutlass bearing, cleaned up the line cutter and ordered a replacement piece. Also lubed and exercised the folding prop on the wing engine and replaced the various sacrificial zincs scattered around the bottom of the boat.
After waiting for a number of days, the report comes back, and it’s not good news. The shaft, after cleaning shows significant pitting, is bent (?) and shows signs of previous repair. We immediately plowed through the incredibly detailed service records that came with the boat, no recorded evidence of any past problems and neither of the previous owners reported ever having had the shaft pulled. The shop also reports that the coupling between the shaft and the transmission was significantly machined to fit and was dangerously undersized. The quote to replace and machine the shaft and coupling was almost twice our original estimate. Something was clearly not right. Andy (our sales guy) connected us immediately with the N55 project manager who confirmed our fears, either we were dealing with incompetence or someone was trying to take advantage of us (or both). We tried talking to the machine shop, who sends us to the boat yard manager who tells us the machine shop is the best in town, everybody uses them and that he has no reason to doubt either their report or their quote. (We later discover that the boat yard added 20% to the machine shop quote as their fee for managing the relationship with the machine shop.)
Andy and the team stepped right up. The leveraged their relationship with a top notch machine shop in Michigan who quoted a price withing spitting distance of the estimate we received during the survey, including shipping to the yard in San Diego. While saving us a bunch of money and easing our fears about the quality of work it did present two new problems. It would take almost 3 weeks to get the shaft machined and delivered to San Diego and now our boat was tied up in a boat yard whose judgement was suspect and who had just lost a hefty fee on the replacement shaft. We were at their mercy.
Next up – The Davit problems, will they ever end?
Congratulations to your new boat! And what a great name you found! How interesting to read about all this work and trouble. I followed the brokerage story of Starfish for a year or so and was asking myself for what price and if ever it will be finally sold one day.
Your blog – so far – is one good recomandation for a check list for brokerage boats for all checks that have to be done: f.ex. Its now logic to me that shafts of the 2 stabilizers – as they go through the hull – need new seals from time to time but I never thought about to check this detail.
Would be helpful to know (at least in about) of the costs and pricing of all these works to be done: this shaft-story, the davit, all fluid liquids to replace (batteries as well?), if it is in the low, mid or high hundreds or thousands or 5digits of Dollars.
Curious to read your next entries! Good luck – and no worry – one day everything will be fine.
Merry Christmas
Jochen Brecht, Hamburg, Germany
Jovhen,
Thanks for your note. For the davit we have no idea, but I’m guessing in the teen’s by the time you calculate the cost of two power packs and all the associated time. In the general aviation business we describe plane parts in term of aviation units (1AU = $1,000). I’ve begun to do the same for the boat, it hurts my head less. So in terms of maritime units (1MU= $1,000) the cheapest part was the replacement stabilizer panel .5MU, the shaft and coupler, including shipping was 6.5MU, install another 1.8MU. We bought 50 gallons of oil, an untold number of gallons of antifreeze/coolant. We set aside about 50MU for the cleanup, upfit and general upkeep and spent all of that and a little more. Thanks for reading!