I don't trust my boat!

[mwest74]

So, here is an abridged version of the story. My significant other(I'll call her my wife for ease of spelling) and I bought a boat in the last few days of summer last year, a 1995 Carver 330 Mariner from a, I'll just call him a "salesman" in Toms River, NJ. The survey was average for a boat of her age and the sea trial was deemed acceptable. So after a couple of weeks, I recruited a crew from work which included a licensed captain. We set off on a beautiful morning with the tide on our way to Chesapeake City, MD. We had a few small minor issues along the way but nothing the three of us couldn't handle. Did I mention all three of us are helicopter mechanics? We made it down the coast of NJ. It handled Barnegat inlet with ease... 6-8 foot waves, no problem. And good people, I tell you my new chariot was running great! Somewhere north of Atlantic city, with me at the helm I noticed fluctuating RPM's on the port engine. We incorrectly diagnosed this as seawater being ingested into the engine from a leaking exhaust elbow. We attempted repairs, but never got the engine restarted. As many of you know, maneuvering a twin screw boat on one engine can be tricky. Try doing it on a boat that is underpowered on one engine in open ocean... and well you can see where I'm going. We were pushed a little closer to the beach than any reasonable person in a boat of this size should be, to make a long story a little shorted we ran aground... three times. Maybe it was just one grounding and three sand bars... either way. Fast forward to today. It turns out it wasn't the engine at all it was the transmission. It developed a leak somewhere along the lines and basically seized up. So I'm out about $20,000 for repairs on a boat I paid $30k for, and I don't trust the boat anymore. I want to sell it. The wife says we spent so much we may as well keep her! I want to take it out to pasture and shoot to put it out of my misery!
This is my third boat. I traded in a 2004 FourWinns 248 Vista. I absolutely loved that boat, but we just out grew it. So my question is: What would you do? Is the wife right? Or, should I cut my losses and move on? I know I'm the only one who can answer this question, but, I'm interested in other opinions and thoughts.

[RGrew176]

$20,000 for a transmission repair. I had to rebuild my starboard tranny last year. Complete rebuild including pulling the engine to get to the transmission was just over $2300. 20K seems like a bit of a rip off IMO.

As to what to do, you are correct, only you can decide to cut and run or hang in there. My transmission is a Velvet Drive. The clutches seized up in mine but fortunately it was stuck in forward so I was able to use that engine and transmission to get home on and to the repair facility.

Is it only a transmission issue? Is the rest of the boat OK? The answers to those and other questions will go a long way in your decision process. Your statement that you don't trust the boat says a lot too. Good luck.

[mwest74]

Source of the post $20,000 for a transmission repair. I had to rebuild my starboard tranny last year. Complete rebuild including pulling the engine to get to the transmission was just over $2300. 20K seems like a bit of a rip off IMO.

RGrew, thanks for your response.
You had your transmission rebuilt. Mine is cooked. When I say cooked I mean it is well done. There is no rebuilding. I need a new one, $7-10K There were other things to be fixed, to tedious to list. The whole point of the bigger boat was to spend time with family and friends. I'm not sure I want other people with their kids on board right now. This boat is hard to maneuver on one engine nearly impossible at slow speeds, like in a marina or crowed anchorage. And with do respect to everyone that reads and replies to this, I'm not looking for ways to reduce the cost. To quote Mark Twain, "The deed is done." I was not willing to pay to have the boat towed to another marina after being wedged between three sandbars and being pulled off a fourth. Besides this particular marina has a good reputation for doing quality work. I mean no disrespect to anyone. Just interested in differing opinions and viewpoints.

[RGrew176]

You're welcome. I hope you can work it out. You have a potentially nice boat there that can do all the things you are planning. Best of luck.

[bud37]

So I have already given my somewhat opinion but something else occurred to me after reading this post.You are a helicopter mechanic,now after one of them comes in for a major repair, ask yourself how is it now viewed.....do the pilots trust the machine or avoid it.....I think you see where I am going..

Totally natural feeling IMO,if you can't get past it sell it and move on...again good luck man......

[Viper]

Really difficult to offer an opinion solely based on the info you provided/didn't provide. If you've got $20K of repairs ahead of you, then the tranny should be the least of your worries as there's no way it should cost $7-10K to replace. If that's what they're quoting you, then what is the other $10K for? If the cost to replace the tranny is that inflated, one has to wonder how realistic the cost is to do the rest of the work. If you're going to make a decision on what seems to be inflated numbers, you could be making a mistake. Does the rest of the work relate to grounding, such as running gear? If so, have you considered an insurance claim. If it's not related, is the rest of the work a surprise, is it something that should have been caught in your survey when you bought the boat? Are they items that need to be addressed all at once before you can continue boating or can they be addressed over time? More info would help. Did you get a survey, including a mechanical one when you bought the boat?

PS; those that know me well enough here know that I always caution criticizing labour costs that others have provided because we're basing an opinion with no eyes on the actual application. Every boat is different but this seems way off to me and that's coming from a Canadian perspective with our high costs for everything including door rates. A rebuilt unit would suffice so for the amount you're talking about, they're either working at a snail's pace or the door rate is ridiculous. Make some phone calls and get other opinions is my advise before you make a final decision.

[mwest74]

I'm not asking for opinions on the cost of the repair. That's why the lack of info. I'm asking if you had this type of work done could you trust your boat again? I don't want this to turn into a debate on how much I paid and for what. There is always someone that can get a better price than you. So please, with all due respect to everyone, I don't need opinions on how much something cost you. A new transmission from the manufacturer runs about $9k.

[Viper]

Source of the post....... So I'm out about $20,000 for repairs on a boat I paid $30k for.....

With the above statement, I suspect most of us figured the expense is what was pissing you off the most, hence the direction of the replies. In any case, Bud37 brings up a fair point about chopper repairs. Trust is in the eye of the beholder so-to-speak. Just about anything can be repaired, whether you can trust the piece of equipment afterwards or not really depends on several factors, some of which you have control over; who does the work, the hardware they use, and what you know of the condition of the vessel. Were we never to again trust anything that breaks down, we'd never get into the same car, chopper, plane, etc. again. Ditching one boat due to a failure in favour of getting another boat assumes that no other boat will fail, and we all know that's unrealistic even for new boats.

I don't know all your circumstances but were it me, I would have it repaired and unless I knew of a reason to think otherwise, I wouldn't have a problem trusting the boat going forward but that's just me. Having said that, it's mechanical and it will eventually break again. This is to be expected and one should be prepared for when it does. The best we can do is take proactive/preventative measures in hopes of minimizing major breakdowns. On the positive side of all this is that most of us can say that the amazing memories we've made while everything worked well far outweigh in their personal worth any failure. In the end though, only your emotions matter here and if you can't get past this/never trust this vessel again, then it's time to move on as it will inhibit your ability to enjoy it fully.

[km1125]

I'm a little confused on if you've already spent the $20K. If it's a choice between putting the $20k into this boat or putting into a replacement, then I'd understand.

If you already put $20K into the boat, then you likely did a LOT more than just the transmission. MANY other boats are out there and reliable with older equipment, so if you replaced some old equipment with NEW and it was done with quality work, then you are quite a bit ahead of similar boats with the older equipment. You should feel much better and enjoy the use of he boat. If the money is already spent, then look at it as "all upside" on ANY enjoyment you get out of the boat. Note though, as Viper has, that boats and boating does require maintenance and repairs. Just because you put $20K into a repair due to a failure doesn't mean you won't have any future costs like that. Keeping up on check and preventative maintenance will help avoid big costs though.

[SanJuanDreamer]

I have a full repower coming up within the next two years.
When that time comes, I'll ask myself, "How much do I like this boat?" and "How much do I like boating"?

If you like both, then really...transmission will be one less thing to go wrong...