Nightmare in the marine industry

We bought a reputable boat (Tartan) from a reputable dealer, that had been maintained by a reputable boat yard. We had a reputable survey done, and contracted reputable servicemen to do a rigging and mechanical inspection of the boat. In fact it was the same service people who had been taking care of the boat for several years and claimed to know it well.

Less than 10 hours of low power operation later the V-drive failed catastrophically, taking the transmission, bell housing, and coupling with it.

And thus began a nightmare repair. Walter machine insisted that their V-drive had never been installed on a Westerbeke engine using a Hurth transmission, that Tartan would never spec such a thing. (They did and it was.) We never found a bell housing and ended up reworking the old one. The coupling had to be custom machined. (At least Tartan came up with a drawing.) The new V-drive arrived from the factory sans the studs needed to mount it to the boat. The repair is still underway with no good idea of when the boat will be operable again.

It would be wonderful if I could say that this was the worst of it...but that would be untrue. Purchasing this boat has been the most frustrating, infuriating, endlessly troubling enterprise that I have ever fallen into. The water system didn't work. Much of the electrical system was the same. Stuff that was represented as being on the boat (like a V-berth mattress and auto pilot) weren't. Much of the running rigging failed the first time it was put under a load. Point blank, if I knew then what I know now I would seriously reconsider the wisdom of trying to retire onto a sailboat. (Then I would probably try to do it anyway - being seriously smitten by the ocean.)

One thing I have decided is that the previous owner, the broker, the surveyor, the boat yard, and the mechanics, all knew just how bad this boat was. It is inconceivable to me that anyone familiar with the thing could miss how badly abused she had been. Being an aviation person and not a marine person, I made the mistake of hiring and listening to the opinion of "experts," who clearly saw an out-of-town Mark coming when they needed to unload a problem boat.

Since then the experts at Tartan couldn't tell me what units they had designed into the boat. The experts at Walter Machine couldn't tell me what unit I needed - even when they had the old one in their hands. I have conflicting stories on the drip-less seal on the shaft, and have seen the worst kind of "craftsmanship" in every nook and corner of the boat. In fact I have yet to find a singe installation or repair that is even as good as "half-assed. Unused hose and wire filled the bilge. Interior parts had been removed for work and reinstalled with one screw out of six, mis-aligned, out of place. The head system was missing major parts, the head floor wasn't even secured to the boat.

So far as I can tell the pre-owned portion of the marine industry is seriously broken; and some of the stories I have heard from new boat buyers suggests the same is true industry wide.

There is a lot of debate about the sailing industry and its decline. Young people don't seem to be interested, us older folks know well that the journey is more past than future. There is a lot of debate about leisure dollars, the lure of the Internet, the lack of adventuring in the next generation, harassment from the Coast Guard and the ever growing security apparatus of Western Culture.

But maybe the answer is a lot more simple. The Marine industry has become a den of thieves. Designs are poor, quality control is non-existent, warranties are worthless...eventually people get tired of being fleeced, move on, and tell their friends to buy an RV.

Which is okay, if you don't mind being on the land. If you do, the marine industry sells the only tools for getting off shore. They may be ill conceived, poorly built, miserably maintained and overpriced tools...but they are the only ones around.