Stuart M Roy BSc(Hons) MSc PGDTech CEng FRINA
Naval Architect and Surveyor
Naval Architect and Surveyor
Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects
Chartered Engineer
Chartered Engineer
Tel. 01489-583346 Email: info@yacht-boat-survey.co.uk
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Survey Notes
Good and Bad Practices
The skeg of this older GRP yacht (1) had a very high moisture content with visible damage to the gel coat and underlying laminates from osmosis. This can be very costly to overcome.
The fit between the plates on this steel vessel (2) is poor and a large quantity of weld rod material has been used to fill the seam.
On a small powercraft, the light gunwale fendering (3) has only been attached with pop rivets and these have corroded and failed allowing the strip to come away from the hull. On a well-built sailing yacht the wooden gunwale (4) has sprung apart at a scarf joint allowing water to penetrate the end grain of the wood.
The propeller shaft on this sterngear was very stiff to turn as fishing line had been drawn into the water lubricated bearing (5). It is best to align the tear-drop shaped anode with the flow and not vertically. The fluted-rubber cutless bearing on this exposed shaft arrangement (6) was worn out allowing the shaft to vibrate. A neat (but tight) engine installation (7) with all cables and service pipes properly clipped up and with plenty of sound insulation around the sides of the space.
This engine (8) had two oil leaks, one of which was allowing oil to spray onto the alternator. Oil could then seep into the unit and damage the brushes.
One of the rams (9) on this sterndrive unit was found to be leaking hydraulic fluid from the power trim system. The alternator flange (10) on this engine was broken so the belt could not be tensioned properly.
Although it could not be investigated without stripping down, it appears that this bronze skeg heel casting is cracked (11) putting the rudder at risk.
Electrical cables should not be run through the halyard exit fittings on a mast as the use of the halyard could then damage the cable (12).