I'm very happy (and lucky) I'm out

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WALSHIE

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Pulled my boat today using the 1969 Pettibote crane and I must admit, I was very nervous but she handled my 8.5 tons like it was no problem.

What is a problem is my starboard side strut....the damn thing was completely broken. In fact, the prop was gouging the hull. What's more interesting is I'm not sure when/how this happened. At first, I thought it might have been metal fatigue or a bad cast but there seems to be evidence of a hit. The rudder is a bit loose but doesn't appear to be bent. The prop looks good other than the tips which were grinding away at the hull so they are polished clean.

I last ran the boat hard on October 3rd where we went for a ride, six guys. The boat ran great. I next went over to Croton Point. I do recall towing the dinghy both ways so I did not get up on plane. I am totally confused as to when this happened.

Here are some pics but they are large as I did not have time to re-size.

http://www.crotonyachtclub.com/cwalsh/strut2.jpg
http://www.crotonyachtclub.com/cwalsh/strut3.jpg
http://www.crotonyachtclub.com/cwalsh/strut4.jpg
 
Holy schmoly! Not much you can say other than it's a good thing it's the end of the season and you pulled it out now. No telling how bad things might have gotten if it was like this at the beginning of the season or during a long cruise. Fiberglass damage doesn't look too bad from the pictures, but it's probably going to be another "boat" situation to repair the strut.
 
Could you have been so far away (up on the bridge) that you couldn't "hear" what was happening or feel the vibrations? Nasty break for sure, and you are very lucky it was end of the season and not on a run to the city. On the other hand I am sure there will be plenty of help to be had right there at the club in getting it repaired.
 
Nothing a little JB Weld can't fix!!! LOL!!!

Good thing it happened this time of year. You seem to be a handy guy, you can try to fix it yourself. Aligning the saft is a pain though.

Jonathan
 
Yep, I'm considering fixing myself. The shaft log was definitely NOT leaking as I winterized the boat on Saturday in the water and the bilge was dry. I'd send the prop and shaft out for verification being true and I agree, the only PITA would be aligning the shaft. I have little clue how to do that. I assume I install the strut, slide the shaft in through the thru hull log then move the transmission to align properly. Doesn't sound like much fun to me! Any advice?
 
wow!!! You are WAY lucky you discovered this! Look how tough that silverton hull is though! ;)
My wife makes fun of me but just about every single time we anchor out, provided it is not winter, I get my mask and dive down under the boat and look everything over from one end to the other and check the props, shafts, rudders, anodes, etc. etc. I think I'd have a heart attack if I dove down and found that on my boat!! :)

Glad you discovered it before it was too late walshie- a fun winter project.
 
what' the brown line on the cutlass bearing housing ?

I dont' think that you ran that engine like that... I can't imagine the noise the prop woudl have made on the hull, or that anything more than a few turns woudln't have gone thru... or that the shaft woudln't have self destructed.

are you sure it wasn't damaged when they hauled out ? were you there? did they put the sling in the wrong spot although usually the strut would fail at the hull, not in the middle.

whatever you do, make sure you get the shaft out and checked, and closely inspect the coupler, etc...
 
Pascal, it's a working club so I was there. I drove the boat into the slings, made sure the slings were at the point where marked "SLINGS" and jumped off the boat to grab a line. I positioned the straps, blocking and jackstands myself.

Even at that, I was thinking it could have happened at haul. But, if you look closely, there's damn barnacles inside the break itself. Therefore, it must have happened at least a few days ago. The odd part is the prop does not appear to be damaged other than a nice polished surface from hitting the hull. The rudder seems fine as well.

However, if you look at the pic, there's signs of an impact on the strut log. I almost wonder if I was hit at the slip but that's crazy. When backing out yesterday, it didn't feel right and I was kicking up mud (I now know why). The last time I used the boat, I went about 1/2mi to anchorage towing the dink both ways so I didn't go fast at all. It could have happened just as I returned.

The time before that, it was me and 5 other big guys, we ran on plane and everyone was impressed how well the boat rode....also, they were fellow boaters and in the cockpit as I drove. They didn't hear or feel any vibration. As crazy as it sounds, I think it happened at the slip. I think the prop would have eaten through the hull in short order if I used the boat for a mile or so.

Weird, simply weird!
 
If that was the remains of a zink on the shaft ahead of the strut, you may have electrolosis damage to the strut, as what was left would not have been very effective. The strut would get weak and brittle if there was electrolosis. Also check the bonding cable connetions on the inside of the boat for that strut. Might be worth checking the others as well. I would suggest putting 2 zincs on each shaft or getting a diver to replace them more often.
 
Yes, that is the remains of a zinc. Someone else mentioned this as well. That might also explain the lines on the strut log or they could be from the impact also. The strut does not get a zinc and is probably isolated from the shaft (and its zinc). There's definitely signs of a side impact...you can barely see it in the photo though.
 
struts usually have a bonding wire attached inside the boat, to one of the studs...
 
Yikes!!! Glad you didn't have more trouble, Chris!!!

This actually is a deja vu for me, since the exact same thing happened to me years ago on my old Carver. The strut sheared right in half, and I didn't know it, never felt anything, and I drove the boat merrily digging a hole in my bottom. The scary thing was I was out on a date running around NY Harbor at night with a young lady. Thank God nothing happened to us...

In my case, with the balsa cored hull it was an even bigger problem...

Also, recently my friend Mark had the end of his shaft, including prop, shear off outboard of the cutlass bearing and drop to the bottom of the Hudson. Everyone says he hit something but he doesn't recall doing so...

Could all of these incidents have simply been metal fatigue???
 
Pete, that is scary...what kind of chick goes out with a guy driving a camper on the water...meanwhile you're grinding a hole in your own bottom ;)

Who would have thought boats like these could be chick magnets?

http://www.crotonyachtclub.com/forsale/carver/both.jpg

Seriously, everyone thinks I'm crazy that I did not notice a problem or remember being hit. Glad to see there's someone else out there like me!
 
Chris, You let Hogan go swimming off your boat, didn't you!
 
I was no where near him, I was busy dinging my own props this weekend.
 
C'mon Mike, fess up...what'd ya do?

BTW - For the record, I did not ding the prop :) Boy, that makes me feel better...NOT!!
 
I tried getting out at dead low tide yesterday and banged my starboard prop on something very hard on the bottom. Limped over to Bowline where rommer and Relentless put on rommer's 'scuba' gear and straightened the two bent blades enough to get me home with very little vibration. Pix to follow...

I knew that Sibley would drag me into this...
 
Wow Chris! OUCH. I guess duct tape won't work in this case, huh?
Mike, hope yours gets repaired soon.
 
I was wondering how you made out getting back in Mike. Maybe I can start up a new career, in water prop straightener!
 
Rommer, glad to see someone is finally able to straighten Mike out
 
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