Gould 0738 wrote:
Had an experience out on Elliott Bay yesterday that seems funny enough to
report on, in retrospect.

I was invited to write a review on a pretty nice boat. Because what happened
could have happened to any boat, the brand name isn't important. The boat is
powered by twin 225HP Honda 4-stroke outboards. These are big, heavy engines
and the weight may have been a factor.

Gee can't help but think you're happy to comment adversely on the
Hondas, what "you" think they're too heavy?? but of course your "local"
customer with the unsafe boat that's a different matter.


We were doing speed trials back and forth across the bay, noting RPM, speed,
and fuel consumption reported by the Raymarine plotter and the Flo-Scan.
The local representative for the boat was quite proud, (and with some
justification) of the boat's performance.

Gee he even put your life at risk & you still spruik the defective
boat??? A marketer is a marketer till death hey, I can see it now here
lies (oops did I say lies??) & he'd like you all to know the coffin is
well finished on the inside & brought to you by the local red neck
packaging Co.??


"Let me show you how well it turns at speed," he said, as he brought the wheel
hard over to starboard. We veered from our course a few degrees, and then the
wheel spun idly on on its shaft. "I've lost steering!" he said. No doubt.

Oh well. Slightly better (but just) to break down with a magazine guy aboard
than with a highly motivated, red hot buyer. :-)

I tracked down the problem. When the boat had been rigged, one of the
connections between the hydraulic steering rams and the wheel (aka pump)
had not been adequately secured. Under the port hatch to the lazarette, I
spotted a black plastic tube dribbling hydraulic fluid into the bilge, and an
empty copper fitting on a nearby length of identical plastic tubing. "I found
it! Maybe if we hook things back together we can continue on. Got any steering
fluid? The nuts too tight to turn by hand! Got a wrench?"

Um, no. No wrench, no steering fluid if we did have a wrench, and no real
chance to fix the problem as a result. As easily as the plastic line had popped
out of the fitting, it showed no inclination to be shoved back in. :-(

Fortunately, we had two brand new Honda outboards that were running like Rolex.
(And according to the optional upgrade cost for these engines, they should!)
The proper thing seemed to be to use throttle and gearbox steering to head back
to the marina and call for a repair person.

Oops there we go again, the only problem was the price of those Hondas
& what not enough tools?? no mention of the unsafe & clearly unpressure
tested rigging??? What with the weight of those horrible Honda & all
those tools it'll sink like a brick when the steering fails at high
speed, yes??? Good news is it'll probably have scated back to the
dealers downtown showrooms anyway:-)

Oops. The starboard engine had turned slightly farther than the port when the
hose parted. Makes sense, I would suppose, because the hydraulic circuit failed
on the port side and the starboard engine would have had sustained hydraulic
pressure for a split second longer.

Don't expect you to know this but the fact that your customer didn't
correct you speaks heaps for their understanding, if there were any room
for doubt left that is.

Twin OBs don't turn in unison any more than the front wheels on your
car do. The inside engine (or front wheel) needs to turn more sharply
than the outside engine. It's referred to as the ackerman principle &
ALL good boat riggers are well aware of it (you & your weren't)

If the turn was to starboard as suggested, the starboard engine should
indeed have turned further (tighter) than the port.


To steer back, we finally wound up running dock lines around the engine
cowlings and securing the lines to cleats at the transom. Once the engines were
secured from swinging, we were able to get back to the marina with throttles
and shift.
Not exactly an impressive climax to the test of a $200k boat- but the fault was
with the rigging, not the design or the hull.

Well covered Chuck your customer can't be expected to supply a safe
boat for a mere 200K or your proper dollars. & as you spruik the front
did have a point on it & after all that's a radical improvement over the
last couple of thousand years or boating.

Lessons to be learned: Carry tools, at least a very few basics, even on a brand
new boat.
If it's a boat spruiked by Chuck that is.

Carry at least a pint or a quart of every vital fluid, even on a
brand new boat. Have better redundacy for steering.

Hands up all those with a standby tiller system on OBs?? Form an
orderly line in alphabetical order please:-) Really Chuck it was not
rigged properly & such that given the total power it could have been
extremely unsafe (gees it was!!) so you should report this as much much
more or at least as much as you do when you say how shiny the hull is in
your articles??? Tricky never get another boat from them?? yep probably,
but then you would carry some respect with readers as a reviewer, the
choice is yours, but it seems you've made it as you have many time
before in this NG.

(On my own boat, if we ever
loose steering we can put a manual tiller on a large nut atop the rudder
quadrant. Never had to do that, but we keep the tiller stowed aboard just in
case).




I'm not picking on you I promise:-) just road testing my new system,
the blokes only set it up for me this morning; wow it's fast & got so
much new stuff!!! I've been with old faithful since 99-2000 so I'll need
to learn all the new tricks I guess.

Best regards,

K