My confidence is being effected.

I'm still reasonably confident... that something else on the boat will break, without regard to routine maintenance and our relatively aggressive service schedule.

-Chris

Is confidence the same as losing interest?
I sold the Harley two years ago for that interest as I did lose confidence in my ability to hold it up and not crash. There was the loss of interest associated, no longer eager to hit the road.

Greetings,
Messrs. J (OP) and r (your post #31). A further explanation of my post (#14)...

Mr. J stated "...i do as much as humanly possible to prevent failures from happening."
Mr. r. stated "...that something else on the boat will break, without regard to routine maintenance."

There reaches a point where one HAS to say "F*..k it" and go boating or simply end the agony (of worry) by changing boats (as Mr./Dr. H did) or leave boating. Whatever is going to happen will NOT be the result of not having done everything possible to prevent an incident. It will just happen and one deals with it IF and WHEN. Call Sea Tow and/or whip out the credit card. In the mean time, one enjoys oneself without the worry.

About the only quote I remember from reading 7 Years in Tibet is:



KISS-Keep it simple, sailor.

My confidence continues to rise as I go through more and more of this boat fixing, repairing, replacing and upgrading.

Many "what was he thinking" issues seen and solved. My handling skills improve with each trip.

But hey, I have it easy eh? Only had it now coming up on 3 years. Still doing the delta, still looking to do the Sacramento week. Still need to get the admiral trained. She is the one who needs more confidence -

No plans for international travel. I hope she doesn't read this stuff...

Diminishing confidence is not usual and I find, at age 73, it's creeping in.
So I too, am looking to simplify systems. The Genset, which I built and installed 20 years ago, seems now to require quite a bit of maintenance. I've just replaced the starter motor as a solenoid alone wasn't available. This was a p in the a due to very difficult access to that side of the engine. My own fault entirely. So....next time there's a problem, it's coming out! I have a propane stove, diesel heating , a 100amp (24V) alternator on the main, shore power charger and 200W of solar. I'll double the solar, which is adequate in summer as is, and eventually change to a LiFePo4 house bank.
The upside of this will be a lighter, more balanced boat that may just burn a little less fuel!

Hippocampus said:

and

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DDW said:

In 50 years of cruising, I haven't seen that much of a change in the reliability of others. I could never reliably depend on them. Yes in a home port you can find competent people over time, but as you say, away from home it is pot luck, and given the median level of competence in the industry, the chances that they guy you picked out of the directory is competent is poor. No different now than 50 years ago.

What has changed for the better is the ubiquity of courier parcel service, nearly worldwide. In many places it is possible to get even obscure parts delivered quickly, even overnight. When my autopilot on the sailboat died 30 minutes after leaving the berth in Virginia headed for the Bahamas, and Raymarine offered 4 weeks turnaround to fix, I was able to have a used one from eBay delivered the next day (for less than the Raymarine fixed repair cost), all arranged on my iPhone. Did the same thing on a failed chartplotter. When the fuel lift pump quit on the trawler in the Wrangel Narrows going into Petersburg AK, and the only local Cummins mechanic was on vacation for 2 weeks, I was able to get a new pump flown in from Anchorage in a day.

I'd hate to depend on a warrantee requiring factory techs. You would be single sourced, and at their mercy. For me the bottom line is, if am depending on others to fix problems on a boat, I am going to be waiting in port and disappointed a large percentage of the time. Competent people are rare, and those that are are often backed up for weeks. Incidentally I find it no different in the RV industry.

Click to expand...

Different boats different folks. Comparing even just ten years ago to current my experience has been different. Very much different internationally as now marine chandleries sources are dominanted by two chains in the Caribbean. Basically if island water works doesn’t have it on a shelf you’re going to wait. For many parts you’re going to need an import broker to get through the red tape if you want it quickly. Had the weird experience of having difficulties getting cleaning agents and pickling supplies for my watermaker. Although obviously non toxic as used for potable water supply they were deemed toxic and on the local no import list. There’s no wintering supplies in the Caribbean so no alternatives. Found some three islands away so sailed there to get some at nearly twice retail at home.

We very rarely used a marina. Basically only when we ere flying home for a break. Marinas won’t allow you to use them as a mailing address unless you are in their marina. We used USPS, UPS and fedex. But almost always due primarily due to uncertainties of the supply chain and delivery times would have one of my daughters buy the supply/part and have it shipped to her. Then could coordinate with her when and where to get it to us. Often this allowed bypassing much of the hassles. Have used that technique domestically on occasion as well.

Now that many things have a cpu or multiple motherboards where they didn’t in the past diagnostics is more difficult and sometimes when you have old systems supplies are unavailable. Again with watermakers we ran into this. Our watermaker works perfectly but the remote controls are funky. The controls directly on the machine are fine. So when you want to use it you need to go into the engine room where the WM lives. To put in new remote controls is off the list. The existing remote is no longer made. The new one uses different sensors. So to get a functioning remote means new sensors which means hours taking the WM apart, new wiring and new remote. Even doing it yourself very expensive. Company told me easier and about the same money to just get a new one. Given the watermaker works just fine crawl into the engine room if we’re going to use it. Had the same kind of thing with an air conditioner. Works fine but a sealed bearing squeaks. Design changed not available and if controls fail no replacement. Can keep going on this list

. Simple mechanical non computer controlled devices you could fix yourself. You could figure out why it wasn’t working yourself. If you didn’t want to do that a local wrench could. Now that’s no longer true. It’s the computerization that’s the hang up. Need the guy who is certified for that brand of that device. If you have an old boat with less computers in everything you commonly run into no available parts.

New boaters are accepting of plug and play. They accept if it’s broke drop in a new one not fix the old one. That’s what’s happened to their cars and small household appliances. The mindset is different. We are dinosaurs and the asteroid has hit us. Cruising is increasingly a more difficult thing and the middle class is being priced out.

Thanks, Hippo. Much easier to read. So I did!



-Chris

It`s an odd thread. I suspect the source of loss of confidence leading to activity limiting anxiety is internal rather than external.
The OP gave the example of the genset "will it start when we reach destination" as a worry source, but later disclosed a litany of issues with the genset that would erode the confidence of most rational boaters.

affected?

From my old Mod days, an OP can`t correct a thread title. Even if an error is recognized. But a Mod can.

My boat is old (1979) and although has had all the service at required times we still get weird twitches or engine hick ups every now and then. I guess that is part of being on a floating thing in the water in harsh (salt) environment.
In the beginning of the year we had to be in a certain place at a certain time and that puts pressure on you. You have to make crossings that you normally would not do or you accept that a system does not work as advertised, simply because you have to get in time to a certain place.
Now we don't have that time pressure anymore, we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, so if something is not to our liking we just stay where we are, do the repairs (either I do it myself or I get someone to do it) and we wait until is the weather is the way we like it. I know the boat can handle much worse weather than we can, but why should we ? We are not part of Deadliest Catch, so no need to go out in bad weather. On top of that, rough weather will put an additional strain on the old boat, which will cause equipment to break down sooner, which we don't want.
And since we have taken that approach we no longer worry about anything breaking down. If it does it won't happen in bad conditions or at times we have to press on. That approach takes away a lot of the stress you may have, I can highly recommend it.

I had a similar water pump problem, to your experience with your generator. I believe the issue was wear on the cover plate of the water pump. It had enough wear, that air leaked past the impeller and caused it to not be as self priming as it should be. Once It is normal for this part to wear, and the "full rebuild kits" for the water pumps include a new cover plate.
In the big picture, My belief is that you have to embrace and enjoy the nonstop problems your boat will always have, if you want to enjoy boating. Think of it as part of the challenge, and keeping you sharp in your retirement. If you don't enjoy the nonstop drama to at least some degree it is likely time for a new hobby. There is no amount of money you can spend that will eliminate problems on a boat.
If you want to simplify, and get more exercise, two great ways are to ditch your electric windless, and get a manual one. Great workout every morning! and replace your dingy with a sweet rowboat. I am mostly joking about the first, but the rowboat is good exercise, and great for the soul, and something that will never break down, or leak on you.

I like your idea about the rowboat. I’m a big believer in having two dinghies, even if one is just a paddle board (don’t ask!). I would still have a zodiac or RIB with a motor, but a 10ft rower would be wonderful.

Added this 10' Gig harbor rowboat to the boat this summer. It is so sweet.

Getting back to your problem of being proactive and changing the impeller only to find things not working. I’ve been down that path. Turned out that the one you replaced had worn in to the groves that eventually find their way in the cover plate. The new one now had issues matching to the cover plate and did not have enough seal. So just flip the cover plate over and it should work just fine.
Boats love to be used. I think of every time I leave the dock as a shake down cruise. Things are going to fail. The sooner the better before a significant voyage. Use your boat more.