How a $2.00 part can cost you over $6500.00

[Giulietta]

Jeff...

I am amazed, your smallest post ever.....are you ok??

I had forgotten about the conversion. ehehehehehe

[Giulietta]

Sd, what's OTS???

[sailingdog]

OTS— Off the shelf... not custom..

[Giulietta]

OTS (thanks for the explanantion), just wouldn't hold what these have to hold, and you know that. Plonker...

[sailingdog]

Yeah, but you keep breaking all those fancy custom parts on your boat...and then have to wait forever to get it fixed...

Originally Posted by Giulietta

OTS (thanks for the explanantion), just wouldn't hold what these have to hold, and you know that. Plonker...

[Giulietta]

You give it a bad sense...I don't keep breaking parts, they break because we sail hard, and stress them, for what they were designed to in the first place.

You seem to convey the idea my boat is weak, when its exactly the opposite.

We sail when most return home, and you know that, obviously the risk is higher.

But in this case, nothing broke whilst performing, it broke due to bad assembley, which would have happened with any material.

Now for your information, had my boat not been reinforced at the rudder tube, as your OTS boat is, and it would now be another sub-aquatic ornament in the bay of Cascais.

Take your average boat, (you name it...from Bene to Valiants-well these don't sail att all) at the speeds and stresses my boat goes thru in a normal sail, and talk to me..

If I used OTS parts as you say, it wouldn't go very far, would it??

My boat is designed to do that, to sail hard, not to live aboard, or be a marina Queen...you only break if you use it...

[sailingdog]

Giu-

Take it easy, would ya... I was joking... I know you broke the boom gybing in strong winds...and the whole rudder thing is basically the fault of the guy who forgot the $4 part. My boat sails at speeds and stresses higher than most monohulls, so I know what you're talking about.

I'd have to agree that you need to put some sort of label/warning on the rudder area so that this doesn't happen again.

[sailaway21]

Portagee,
Glad it wasn't worse. Unfortunately, in yacht yards there isn't the same standards of accountability that are present in commercial ship yards. It's ok to have the junior/unskilled labor remove and replace equipment but it's better if qualified personnel are actually watching and supervising. Sometimes post assembly inspection is insufficient and actual observation of the rebuilding is required. I am so glad that constructive total failure did not take place where precious lives were at risk. Rather than hijack your thread, I've posted one in Gen. Discussion on a similar incident with far different results. Older New York sailors will remember it well from the summer of 1973.

[svrenovatio]

Since owning and flying my own aircraft (before I had to sell it to purchase a boat) I learned to always check as much of the work done as I possibly could. Aircraft mechanics, as I am sure you are all aware, must be licensed and keep that license up to date. I would hate to be in the situation you were in and loose the rudder regardless of the fact that you may have a backup. Over the 3 years I owned and flew my plane, I discovered at least 3 things that were done improperly and could have caused mechanical failure. In two of three times, I would have been without power. This has taught me to be ever vigilant in checking any work done on things I own that I place myself or others in.

You do what you can but in the end sometimes it comes down to trust. The problem is that even the best make mistakes. How can you avoid that completely?

[SimonV]

Alex
Sorry to hear of your woes, but look on the bright side. 1. You have proved your boat is not a Catalina. 2. The world is full of idiots to whom we pay large sums of money. 3. Do it once do it right.