Boat equipment, from engines to simple fastening screws, are poorly
made and lacking in quality control.

If aircraft had failures only one twentieth as often as boats, both
sail and power, the loss of lives would ground all commercial airlines
and private planes.

My last new boat (expensive), from a major and long time manufacturer
of reputed high quality craft, and only the best rated equipment,
within the first year:

port engine -- fuel pump failed once
port trim tab -- hydraulic pump failed once
engine synchronizer failed once
air conditioning in saloon failed -- compressor needed replacement once
bulbs burned out twice in both port and starboard running lights
generator failed to start three times and to run more than an hour in
two instances (plenty of good fuel on board)
SAT TV failed and required new chip board once
other failures, less major, but still important to safe and dependable
operation

I can tell you are not a pilot, not one that is very involved on the
maintenance of his airplane anyway.

Compliance with FAA paperwork and oversight squeezes so much money out
of aviation that there is none left for quality control. I wish I
could get stuff for my plane that is half as good as what I can get
for my boat.

--

Roger Long



wrote in message
ups.com...
Boat equipment, from engines to simple fastening screws, are poorly
made and lacking in quality control.

If aircraft had failures only one twentieth as often as boats, both
sail and power, the loss of lives would ground all commercial
airlines
and private planes.

My last new boat (expensive), from a major and long time
manufacturer
of reputed high quality craft, and only the best rated equipment,
within the first year:

port engine -- fuel pump failed once
port trim tab -- hydraulic pump failed once
engine synchronizer failed once
air conditioning in saloon failed -- compressor needed replacement
once
bulbs burned out twice in both port and starboard running lights
generator failed to start three times and to run more than an hour
in
two instances (plenty of good fuel on board)
SAT TV failed and required new chip board once
other failures, less major, but still important to safe and
dependable
operation

wrote:
Boat equipment, from engines to simple fastening screws, are poorly
made and lacking in quality control.

If aircraft had failures only one twentieth as often as boats, both
sail and power, the loss of lives would ground all commercial airlines
and private planes.

My last new boat (expensive), from a major and long time manufacturer
of reputed high quality craft, and only the best rated equipment,
within the first year:

port engine -- fuel pump failed once
port trim tab -- hydraulic pump failed once
engine synchronizer failed once
air conditioning in saloon failed -- compressor needed replacement once
bulbs burned out twice in both port and starboard running lights
generator failed to start three times and to run more than an hour in
two instances (plenty of good fuel on board)
SAT TV failed and required new chip board once
other failures, less major, but still important to safe and dependable
operation

Sounds like simplicity is not a concern on your boat. Suck it up!

I work with military aircraft that are newly delivered from
Long Beach, there is a team of mechanics to meet it and fix all the
write ups from the trip up the coast. The issue is not that there is a
quality problem, but that the things are built a little different every
time and there is not the huge production volume to work things out.
Toyota and Honda introduce all their new technology in Japan for a few
years before fixing it and then exporting it to the US. I think this
gives a false perception that complex machines can be produces and work
flawlessly.
If you own a complex boat, you need to either have the money to
continue to have it fixed, or learn to enjoy working on it as much as
you do going out on it. I suspect Cal 20 and row boaters have a much
higher percentage of their time on the water vs doing repairs then the
rest of us.
I put a new Yanmar in my 38' sailboat. It through a rod at 400
hours while in Mexico. Fortunately they covered the cost. I don't blame
it on quality, just chalk it up to the fact that it's a boat.
I do try to go anywhere then West Marine. They seem to be the
K-mart of chandleries and go out of their way to have poor quality
materials at a high price.

John S/V Pangea

" wrote in
ups.com:

My last new boat (expensive), from a major and long time manufacturer
of reputed high quality craft, and only the best rated equipment,
within the first year:



The old manufacturer name means nothing. They got bought up by some
conglomerate like Brunswick, and the conglomerate's accountants are making
the really stupid decisions, now.

Was yours a Brunswick boat? Mine was....Sea Ray.

--
Larry

You are correct and the reason is simple. Manufacturers make boats, not
equipment, but they can't sell their boats without equipment. The boat price
however, must be held to competitive values or no boats will sell. Those
market pressures force manufacturers to equip their boats with less than the
best. It needs to be said that an individual cannot do better in value for
the buck, but if a customer builds his own, or contracts and controls the
build, he can get better, but it is never cheaper. As another responder
stated, size and complexity adds to maintenance cost. I guess you get what
you pay for. People do not work for free. Boats are difficult to work on.
This adds more time to almost every task. Your list of failures appear
reasonable, most of them are most probably simple infant mortality. Only
extensive testing will wring those faults out and that too, adds cost. The
real test for your statement comes at the 3 to 4 year mark. That's when the
cheap equipment sees end of life. My father had a good freind that was a
Gloucester lobsterman. He wouldn't put anything on his boat that had not
been used successfully for thirty years first. His boat wasn't pretty, but
it didn't fail much either.
Steve

wrote in message
ups.com...
Boat equipment, from engines to simple fastening screws, are poorly
made and lacking in quality control.

If aircraft had failures only one twentieth as often as boats, both
sail and power, the loss of lives would ground all commercial airlines
and private planes.

My last new boat (expensive), from a major and long time manufacturer
of reputed high quality craft, and only the best rated equipment,
within the first year:

port engine -- fuel pump failed once
port trim tab -- hydraulic pump failed once
engine synchronizer failed once
air conditioning in saloon failed -- compressor needed replacement once
bulbs burned out twice in both port and starboard running lights
generator failed to start three times and to run more than an hour in
two instances (plenty of good fuel on board)
SAT TV failed and required new chip board once
other failures, less major, but still important to safe and dependable
operation

If you only knew just how wrong you are, aircraft require constant
maintanance. If you took care of your boat like they take care of an
aircraft your boat would out live you. Then again, you'd never be able
to afford to own a boat if you had mechanics crawling all over it all
the time.

Capt, John,
Excuse me, but your faith is truly misplaced. I have been in the aircraft
maintenance business for 30 years and at the moment, it is a nightmare. The
logistic systems are unable to keep up with the configuration control
necessary to eliminate part forgeries and the skill level of the mechanics
in many firms are questionable. The amount of time actually spent during
repairs and safety checks are currently under extreme financial pressure,
which very often leads to unsafe practices and shortcuts. These problems
permeate the military world just as much as the commercial. As to which
maintenance practise is better, marine or aircraft, I sure hope it is
aircraft, but at the moment I'd have to say both represent seroius risk. As
a boat builder, nothing replaces personal responsibility for security, even
for those tasks hired out.
Steve

"Capt John" wrote in message
ups.com...
If you only knew just how wrong you are, aircraft require constant
maintanance. If you took care of your boat like they take care of an
aircraft your boat would out live you. Then again, you'd never be able
to afford to own a boat if you had mechanics crawling all over it all
the time.