Oyster Problems?

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Oyster . . . . There was also one abandoned many years ago off the Faulklin Islands after it hit an iceberg.

Hmmm . . . . 5 years ago (2010) . . . . We were down there at the time . . . . They had been having a lot of boat trouble before hand . . . . Broken autopilot and engine trouble. The owners were also a bit of scam artists, for example noted as claiming to be British lords . . . But in fact were not on the lords list at all.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

Hmmm . . . . 5 years ago (2010) . . . . We were down there at the time . . . . They had been having a lot of boat trouble before hand . . . . Broken autopilot and engine trouble. The owners were also a bit of scam artists, for example noted as claiming to be British lords . . . But in fact were not on the lords list at all.

Seems like I remember some of that Britsh Lord stuff too. We were also having some engine problems last week (CF thread "Slow Coolant Leak"), I'm just glad we got it sorted out before we needed to abandon ship. :-)

Ken

[44'cruisingcat]

So would a grounding possibly cause the keel to fall off? Do Oysters have bolt on keels?

[poiu]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

So would a grounding possibly cause the keel to fall off? Do Oysters have bolt on keels?

Oysters have bolt on keels. They are bolted onto a large stub extension just below the base of the hull. That section is extremely solidly built and the keel stub is wide and long and tapers down in cross section. All that working to spread the forces. There are a large number of high tensile strength bronze, large diameter bolts used. There is no flex, no fatigue failure likely therefore and as they are not stainless bolts no corrosion related problems.

The keel won't be the problem if it is a standard build, almost certainly. I would be quite happy to drive mine onto a reef

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by poiu

... I would be quite happy to drive mine onto a reef

A testimonial for the ages.

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

As I remember, there was to be special engineering involved to isolate sound and vibration from the outer hull and engine compartment to an inner hull, kind of like a floating inner hull.

Well, that approach seems to have worked... As noted previously, she certainly departed the scene very 'quietly', indeed...

;-)

[Kenomac]

My wife and I, the German couple next door in the anchorage aboard their Oyster 53, and Poiu are most certainly not loosing any sleep over this issue.

Oyster will sort out the cause, correct the problem so that it doesn't happen again. It's a design element that hasn't been incorporated into the regular production line.

Just two weeks ago, I watched as a 90ft Swan dragged anchor next to me and ended up sideways on the rocks for four hours in thirty five knot winds. The winds eventually let up, two tug boats pulled it off the rocks, then the boat set off two days later on another charter... No visible damage. The Swan... Like the Oysters, is built to take it.

This one-design 90ft Oyster Obviously had an issue that needs to be sorted out.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

The Oyster which sank is also the very first Oyster yacht in over forty years to suffer this sort of demise. There was also one abandoned many years ago off the Faulklin Islands after it hit an iceberg, and I think another off China 10 years ago when the new owner hit the panic button during a typhoon.

I was never very good at math so check my addition here - doesn't that make 3, not one?

[Exile]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I was never very good at math so check my addition here - doesn't that make 3, not one?

I read Kenomac's comments to mean that a total of 3 that have suffered some sort of demise, but only 1 (the latest) that MAY be attributable to a problem with the boat's construction. At least to the extent we've heard about anyway . . . .

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I was never very good at math so check my addition here - doesn't that make 3, not one?

One sank, two were abandoned due to owner error/incompetence/stupidity.

Thanks for checking my math.... Much appreciated.

[barnakiel]

There were also some electrical fires, I think. And some turning blocks pulled out of the deck together with a huge chunk of the deck ...

Nothing out of line with today's production boats, cars or planes.

Spanish work of mouth (a.k.a. social medias) say she may have lost her keel as she was found upside down and later sank during attempted tow).

b.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Nothing out of line with today's production boats. . . . .

Yea, we were in Antigua when a newly launched Swan 53 (I think) came in. They had had a genset fire, pulled their traveler out of the deck and broken the goose neck off the mast and gotten salt water down their diesel tank breathers. There might well have been some operator error in all that . . . but it was a 'high end' pro crew, so I suspect some were truly boat QA issues. The owner was not amused.

On the other hand . . . We are good friends with the owner of an Oyster 72 (Kenomac will probably have heard of Billy Budd). We looked after the boat in the beagle canal (in the winter) when the crew went on 6 weeks vacation. The engine room was too tight, but the boat was doing excellently (it surprised me how well it was holding up), . . . . except the dodger got crushed down over the companionway when it took a breaking wave (which I actually attribute to operator error - pushing to hard in the conditions). They had had quite a bit of teething problems when the boat was newly launched (had to go back to the yard for a winter, and various threats of lawsuits were made) . . . but once the teething was solved it was pretty reliable.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

My wife and I, the German couple next door in the anchorage aboard their Oyster 53, and Poiu are most certainly not loosing any sleep over this issue.

Oyster will sort out the cause, correct the problem so that it doesn't happen again. It's a design element that hasn't been incorporated into the regular production line.

So you know what caused the sinking then? Surprising, as it seems even Oyster themselves don't yet.

[S/V Illusion]

In a world when people spend a lot of money on our boat, denial seems the most common answer here. Or, it was the operator's fault. Rationalization is an interesting reaction. Apparently, oyster owners are expert at it.

[DeepFrz]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

In a world when people spend a lot of money on our boat, denial seems the most common answer here. Or, it was the operator's fault. Rationalization is an interesting reaction. Apparently, oyster owners are expert at it.

So was that a Freudian slip or do people actually spend a lot of money on your boat?