Stupid things boat builders do.

[Kettlewell]

Pity the poor boatyard worker! They're the ones who have to take care of the problems you find too difficult to tackle.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Because we all “know” how easy it is to build something containing an entire electrical system, heating and cooling system, sewage system, electronics array of systems, potable water plumbing system, power supply and distribution system, storage capacity and propulsion system, head, galley, bedrooms and salon into a (average). 40 foot long, 12 ft wide box.

“Everything is easy for the guy who doesn’t have to do it”

Very true.

And if we are smart and ethical we don't do the things we don't know how to do for a living. I don't plat doctor or lawyer. When I charge for services, I stay in my lane.

My last boat had no bracing to the front end of the centerboard case. Pretty basic flaw, and it didn't work out. The breaker panel was installed before the second liner section and now cannot be removed because it overlaps the companionway molding. Someday I will relocate it, but so far it works. The boat before that (the PDQ in my avitar) had very few basic sins and was easy to work on.

No, I've done enough engineering in my field to know that something always slides by, either in design or fabrication. What matters is whether the builder has a constant improvement program to catch and fix the flaws. Every time I designed a new "X" I tried to eliminate a few flaws.

[BlueH2Obound]

Our 1972 Grand Banks came wired from the factory with ALL of the wiring being RED. I guess they had a special on wiring . . . . . The only wiring that was not red was stuff that had been added post build. . . . . It made troubleshooting a nightmare!

[John_Trusty]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Pity the poor boatyard worker! They're the ones who have to take care of the problems you find too difficult to tackle.

That is EXACTLY what I say to myself when I have to wrote a multi-thousand dollar check to a boatyard. If I had been knowledgeable enough, or strong and young enough, or had a lift and this thousand dollar tool, or .... I wouldn't be in this situation. Just like any other skilled laborer. If you think medicine is so easy, you do the cataract surgery on your wife!

[Kettlewell]

Just like any other skilled laborer. If you think medicine is so easy, you do the cataract surgery on your wife!

The hard part is to find the skilled laborer! I am reminded of a time in Maine when we had a broken exhaust manifold stud stuck in the engine block. I could barely get into the engine compartment far enough to see the thing. The boatyard sent down a little guy who looked like an elf, and he was able to wiggle in back there and with the sharpest set of drill bits I have ever seen he gradually drilled out the stud. He drilled gradually bigger and bigger until he used what looked like a dental pick to pull out that last husk of the bolt. Cleaned up the threads a tiny bit with a tap and put the new stud back in. All while crammed into a tiny space lieing sideways in the dark with me holding a light. Charged me for one hour of labor! I was expecting a $1,000 bill. Skill.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by BlueH2Obound

Our 1972 Grand Banks came wired from the factory with ALL of the wiring being RED. I guess they had a special on wiring . . . . . The only wiring that was not red was stuff that had been added post build. . . . . It made troubleshooting a nightmare!

Haha, had to laugh at that one.
GB probably split a wire order with Chris-Craft, worked on several old CCs where every wire was black.

[thinwater]

I recently went tot he Annapolis Spring Boat Show.



Many, if not most of the boats, had the winch stripper pointing in the wrong direction. Not where you could tug to set the line. Not where you wanted the tail going, in half the cases it was pointed overboard. One piled the rope on the throttle lever.


In many cases the rope would pile on top of the electric winch button, which was way too close to the winch. If the rope comes out of the tailer, is the pile going to drag your hand into the winch?



a. If you don't understand this fundamental you shouldn't be bolting down winches.
b. More importantly, if the stripper is pointing the wrong way, is the winch mounted correctly in relation to the load? Probably not.
c. The QC guy should have caught this and fixed it. Turn the stripper and remount the winch if need be. But with the stripper wrong I don't trust that the mounting rotation is correct.

[pjShap]

With both boats and cars, if a volume-production company can save production cost at the inconvenience of later maintenance, they usually choose to save money. They compete hard on price and "value". Most buyers see features as value, not maintainability. Most of what might be called poor design is just optimized for something else.

Hallberg-Rassy installs systems after the hull and deck are complete, for improved access and maintainability, adding substantial cost (and price). "All equipment like tanks, engine and joinery will come down through the companion hatch. Everything that goes down in the boat can go out without having to take the boat apart."

[Bellinghamster]

Why oh why wouldn't the designer and mold makers of my boat have thought "gosh, it'd be nice if the drains were recessed and places you don't want water to get into should be raised".
Every drain is surface-mounted through a drilled hole with the top of the metal grate at 1/8" above the surface so there is always water on the cockpit sole and on the side decks. Could have so easily molded in a recess so the drain was below the surface, even better to have a small perimeter gutter around the cockpit sole that collect water into them . Cockpit seats hold water across the back so I get to sit in a puddle - would have been so easy to mold a shallow gutter around the back and end so it drained into the cockpit. Propane locker lid is resessed flush with the deck but doesn't have a gutter. It has a foam seal to to reduce water ingress from deck sweepers (or rain) but water just sits in the recess against the foam so locker is always wet, tanks and regulator coorrode...
They almost got it right with the molded fiberglass shower pan and incorporated a sump that holds almost a gallon... but the pan floor is "domed" slightly away from the center sump, the raised nonskid drops back down for a a 3" "gutter" around the perimeter with no channel to the sump. Doesn't sound like much but holds at least 1/2 a quart of water until I sop it up with a sponge and squeeze it into the sump after every shower. Deck hatch risers are separately molded and bedded to the deck rather than a molded "standpipe". Easy stuff to have done when making a mold and would have been "free" improvements on every boat made. A lot harder to retrofit/improve.

Sure makes me appreciate (in hindsight) the thought that was put into some design and construction details of my previous (same vintage) CSY44.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

My least favorite boatbuilder mistake is putting in the engine so that it is not removeable without cutting apart the boat, and/or it is impossible or nearly impossible to get at basic maintenance points.

and tanks too!

[Cheechako]

Some of the things missed, like recessed deck scuppers and no core at through hull penetrations are due to lack of ability to predict the final location of those things and to predict boat balance on the water. Adding ballast to balance a boat is a common thing for marin architects. If an owner wants 4 battery house bank instead of a 2 battery band, the boat balance changes. Boats evolve over the short time most designs are produced and locations of things change.
When you put the first one together you discover things like hose routing and etc that turn out different than initially planned. It seems deck side scuppers through the bulwark are seldom at the low point so water may sit on the deck on the side etc.

[Island Time O25]

My 1980 NH built boat when new cost twice as much as Catalina of that year and size. But they still managed to commit some pretty basic mistakes. Overall quality is very good but these little things irk me and require either acrobatics on my part or expensive removal of the engine to get to the stuffing box for example. Or another quirk (but somewhat easily re.ediated) was placing some lights wiring and junction strips on top of a bilge stringer. Or electrlcal panel placed across the nav station so as to be susceptible to someone bumping into it in rough weather. Easily solved with a plexiglass shield but still why not place it along the hull right by the nav station as in most boats?

[nmccubbin]

When the design or construction error is clearly bad, (and not a matter of opinion on what compromise reasonable), why not mention builder name and model?

[Mirage35]

Originally Posted by nmccubbin

When the design or construction error is clearly bad, (and not a matter of opinion on what compromise reasonable), why not mention builder name and model?

Because I don't want Jenneau to be upset with me?