A funny thing happened on the way to the Helford!

gingercoastie · 09 August 2003, 14:58

There we were cruising along at 20 knots when suddenly, BANG.

Stop the engine and lift it clear of the water, just in case.

and what do I see?

gingercoastie · 09 August 2003, 15:06

Very slowly limping from the Helford back to Falmouth, due to the vibration, my only comfort was knowing that there had just been a thread on good old ribnet about changing a prop, but then we got the boat out of the water, and....

So any good engineers out there?

Brian · 09 August 2003, 15:37

Well Alex, looks like you got short-changed when doing the Navigation element of you PBL2.

Suggest you see Andy Cox just across from you in St. Mawes.

gingercoastie · 09 August 2003, 15:42

I can only blame the poor lookout my crewmates were keeping.

Thanks for recomending Andy, I have PM'ed him.

Pete7 · 15 August 2003, 14:11

Brilliant, you now have a cleaver prop, they cost a fortune from Mercury.

On a more serious note a triangle of al plate will fix the fin if you want to though many don't and its not critical.

Pete

Peter Smith · 15 August 2003, 16:13

Alex

Back at work now and checking out Ribnet when I saw the pictures of the damage.

Ouch !!.

Sorry to hear of your little accident, where exactly did it happen and do you know what you hit.

Anyway it was great to meet up with you and hope to see you again soon.

Peter

gingercoastie · 15 August 2003, 16:35

Peter,

We were east of the August rock buoy at the mouth of the helford.

We found some large lumps of wood and took 2 ashore with us, there were still some been reported 4 days later.

With the easterly winds Falmouth bay collects all the rubbish from the channel apparently.

The boat is with challenge marine at Falmouth now, and I am awaiting the bad news.

Peter Smith · 15 August 2003, 16:40

Alex

Thanks for coming back to me and please let me know how you get on.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the bill is not too high.

Are you covered on your insurance for underwater collision. My insurance covers me so it may be worth checking.

Peter

gingercoastie · 15 August 2003, 17:01

Peter,

We are covered by insurance, so that has taken away a lot of the pain.

How are the family, after your holiday?

Peter Smith · 15 August 2003, 18:28

Alex

Glad to hear you are covered.

Family are well but Anthony will be in plaster for about 6-8 weeks.

Hope you are all well and we will speak soon.

Peter

Rene · 18 August 2003, 13:51

Hi

Where did I see a prop like that before ?? Ohh on my boat. Damn

I was out last Sunday to rescue a 39 foot sail boat that was stranded on 2 feet of water. The guy on board was so nervous that he gave the wrong GPS position on my way out there. So after a bit of poking around in the wrong places we finally got the right position. Sadly I wrote this on top of an existing wreck position, where I normally go diving. The sail boat came of the ground and got home without any other problems.

Then I wanted to go diving and forgot about last weeks mix-up in positions. The distance from port to wreck was the same as port to ground. So just before I expected to find the wreck on my fishfinder I found 1 foot of water at 20 knots.

Well I don't think the navy had anything better to do than come and tow us back to port.

They where very help full but my prop looks a bit like yours.

So the 50 £ i got from towing the sailboat of the ground is now going to buy a very large cake and some drinks to the navy crew. (I didn't ask anything from the sailboat. I don't think you should, we should be able to help out without asking for money, but it is nice to get some

)

Rene

gingercoastie · 18 August 2003, 15:15

Well had the rough quote today for about £1800, as the prop shaft is bent and I need a whole new lower leg assembly.

Thank god for insurance.

Pete7 · 18 August 2003, 15:15

I not sure there is any money in selling ribs but mending props, deffinately. Took a couple of inches off a prop on a dory in Church Bay, Rathlin Island a few years ago.

Learnt lots of lessons very quickly from that, like how to use an echo sounder, read a chart and carry a spare.

Your engine looks very shiny, ouch.

Pete

gingercoastie · 18 August 2003, 15:17

The spare engine is a very good idea, but all the charts and echo sounders in the world do not help with flotsam.

Pete7 · 18 August 2003, 15:21

I was thinking of spare prop but if you have bent the shaft that wouldn't help, well possibly as a get you home measure. Just as well its insured.

Agreed flotsum is bad news, watched a fridge go past one evening whilst diving, they float really well but hate to hit one. Plastic bags in the solent are a problem at the moment.

Pete

gingercoastie · 16 September 2003, 18:12

A word of warning to all Suzuki owners with "Ultra Long" shafts.

Apparently there are none available. If you need a new one Suzuki will add you to the list until they have about 30 then they will run off a batch. I have been given an estimate of approx 3 months. I have already been boatless for 6 weeks.

Luckily the Suzuki dealer in Falmouth has found away around the problem (don't know how, don't care as long as I get my boat back).

So do not go bending those shafts.

Alex Brown · 16 September 2003, 19:25

How much are they on their own? - maybe I should get my order in now just incase and carry it onboard as a spare

That sounds an absolute nightmare - waiting months for a part.... can't Suzuki whip one off another 115 engine that they have in storage or something for you?

I just sent my stainless prop back to steel developments cos it was vibrating above 4000revs.... just hope that it hasn't damaged the lower half of the engine in the mean time

Good luck with the fix....

-Alex

narked · 16 September 2003, 20:13

Ouch, not good news then. Sounds a bit off that they don't bother stocking parts for these engines, bloody stupid that you're being told you have to wait 3 months before you can even get the thing fixed.

Let's hope the cunning plan of the Falmouth dealer works out then!

Matt

gingercoastie · 24 September 2003, 15:27

Well it's finally fixed.

Call me cynical but I wonder if it had anything to do with my complaint to Suzuki at the boat show.

With regards to the spares problem, apparently there is no need to panic, as if the item is out of stock they will air freight one from japan and it usually only takes 10 days, and every 3 months there is a regular shipment via ship (funnily enough) with the regular items.

So alls well that ends well.