Nat

Which i dont understand because the fitters built a few boats and been in this business for years. Just to be clear, the box section on the skeg had been done previously (before i bought the boat). I knew the boat wasent perfect and a fairly plain job, but i bought it thinking something like the skeg could be fairly easily rectified and the rest of the hull seems sound with good welds etc. Looking closer at the weld around the stern tube, I see what you mean, i hadent noticed it before, what a mess. Well thanks, youve been a massive help. I can go in clued up now.! Also, do you think it be worth getting a surveyor look at it before i speak to the fitter?

I was thinking that, i'm happy to spend a little extra if it means getting it done properly. There are always suveyors around the yard, so hopefully will be able to get one have a quick look at it

Yeah, your right, and im dreading it but its gotta be done. I have already paid him so dont have that as bargaining power but hopefully he want it to go too much further.. If he refuses Ill have to get a independant report and take it from there.

Tony, thanks alot for checking this with Vetus, and for generally being very helpful !....I also spoke with them and they gave me the same information. They also said they would expect to see 'roughly' around 2 inches between skeg and tip of blade, but the declined to be specific. They also said it was fine to start the engine up with the water cooled system taking from a bucket of water, I will be seeing the fitter tomorrow and hopefully do this with him and see what on earth he was thinking putting the stern tube where it is. adn see if he is prepared to re-position it. Ill also get some more detailed photos of the sections talked about and post them.

Right ok, so this could be the crux of the mattter! Im afraid I am at work at the moment and dont have access to any of the documents. I will let you know as soon as I do.

yes i was worried about that, but i only touched it into gear and the vibration was immediate. So I dont think it was caused purely by running it. yup the engine is on 4 flexible mountings made by vetus that came with the engine. Does that mean there should also be a flexible coupling? Could the lack of one cause the vibrations? Im sorry i dont have any other pictures at the moment. Ill take more later this week.

It is either a Vetus stern tube or a Craftsman as they supply both, I can find out exactly on wednesday. When moving the blade there was definitly no spring in it.

I didnt buy it from darke steel, I only recently bought it as second hand without the engine etc Great thanks for the check list. I turned the blade already and noticed that it is consistantly quite stiff in comparison to the others I tried. The engine and gearbox (prm) are new and factory fitted

Wow, thanks for all the response. Hi Tony, its still on hard standing and the engineers are onsite so should be able to get them to look at it. The shaft was put in by the fitters of the engine not the boat builders. Yes that shouldnt be too much of a problem Mtb, I decided not to supply anything myself to avoid this happening. The boxing was already in place before the the gear was fitted. I think the blade would be fine though if the stern tube had been positioned properly. To confirm, ALL the stern gear was put in with the engine, encluding the drilling of it etc. I know, it seems a completely ridiculous oversight to me! Yes, everything would need to be raised. But Im not too sure the fitters will be too happy about that!?!

Hello, Im new to boating and new to this forum so, hello, and sorry for any cross posting. I have just bought a 5 year old cruiser shell (insulated with windows) which I plan to fit out myself (with help along the way), but have had the engine and all the stern gear put in profesionaly. There seems to be a couple of things not quite right with this and would greatly appreciate some advise. .. Firstly ...the engine (vetus 42) sounds great in idle! But when i put it into gear an almighty rattling starts, to the extent that my neighbour across the yard can feel it vibrating his boat. I have checked the engine mounts and they appear solid. The other thing, that i think could be the cause of this, is the clearance between the tip of the prop and the skeg below. I have measured it and there is only a 4mm gap!!! I imagine this wont make too much of a difference to the actual propolsion of the boat but seems like it could be a nightmare for things getting trapped down there. It looks like they only measured from the inside when they cut the stern hole and didnt check from the outside? The boat was the first boat Darke Steel ever made so, although the build quality seems very sturdy I think the measurements might have been a little unusual, particularly for the stern and im not sure the fitters checked this thoroughly. I will be speaking to the fitters soon but want to be a bit more clued up before i do. The scenario of taking everything out, patching it up and putting it in a few inches higher, is running through my head and it doesnt sound too appealing. Any thoughts on how I should appraoch this would be very appreciated.