Charter Catamaran 440 under power dead slow astern backing out of a tight slip cut the dinghy painter. Crew was too focused on backing out of the tight slip and did not communicate the position of the dinghy. Crew error. Prop cutter did it's job and the painter did NOT wrap the shaft. RPM did not decrease as the line was cut clean. Crew attached the two ends together and sailed mostly under power due to light wind for 5 more days. Engine ran smoothly with no vibrations. Reported the cut dinghy painter to the charter company figuring they owed them $20 for a new rope. Crew received a notice a week later informing that the $1500 security deposit was being used to cover the cost of a broken engine mount. Picture of mount attached. How would you proceed?
Broken engine mount
- Thread starter Jerry21707
- Start date
The location of the break is unclear but if it occurred in the corroded area:
................. I'd tell them to blow it out their ear. I have the same design mounts on my Yanmar and those are in bad shape due to corrosion. If RPM did not decrease due to the painter encounter, that was not the cause of the breakage. Corrosion was the cause of failure.
................. I'd tell them to blow it out their ear. I have the same design mounts on my Yanmar and those are in bad shape due to corrosion. If RPM did not decrease due to the painter encounter, that was not the cause of the breakage. Corrosion was the cause of failure.
Total BS, tell them to get stuffed or they will hear from your Lawyer and destroy them on Yelp or whatever... Trying to charge you for years of neglected maintenance. They will try to gouge you for a buck anywhere they can right? I could fabricate a direct replacement for that motor mount from stainless flat stock, doing all the bends with a torch on a bench vice, then my TIG welder for new vertical studs. Cost? About $12 for the flat stock and a Saturday afternoon in the shop... you bring the 6 pack of Beer.
At best that motor mount looks well worn. A good company would have accepted the breakage as a result of normal wear and not try to blame it on your event. It could very well had broken prior and since there was no engine vibration it could have been overlooked. Motor mounts can look good and still be broken and are usually not noted until vibration sets in. There is no way that your incident could be specifically tied to the rupture other than they are choosing to do so.This outfit is trying to gouge you as it does not cost $1,500 to replace a set of front or rear motor mounts and re-align the engine. Have your attorney send them a letter advising against impounding the whole deposit. Ask for a complete breakdown of the costs of replacing the motor mount and estipulate that you feel the part was already well worn and that you do not feel you should be responsible for the complete replacement costs. I really would not agree to pay more than half of a reasonable estimate. How old is the boat? Judging from the corrosion on the brackets and mounts it may seem like at least 15 years which is just about what you would expect from a set of motor mounts. If the mounts were already soft it is not fair that you should pay for new ones. Your attorney should ask for evidence showing when were the mounts last inspected, the hours on the engine and any maintenance reports. Were you asked to pay for any insurance coverage? If they insists that this was as a result of the accident then it would have to be covered under the insurance as an accidental occurrence since they claim it was not due to normal wear. I could see that you would be paying some $200-$300 mainly for dealing with this outfit but to allow them to take $1,500 without a fight would be sad. Talk to a local attorney and see what he recommends.
BS. Completely umpossible.
Even Yanmar has precautionary replace at minimum 1000 hours. Might ask for documents showing when these were last replaced
Charles
Even Yanmar has precautionary replace at minimum 1000 hours. Might ask for documents showing when these were last replaced
Charles
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Look at the fracture. If it is rusted in the failue area then it happened a long time ago.
Might be a good thing to document prior to setting out on a charter.... -Jon
No way anyone would do that detailed an inspection as a charter where you would notice something like that unless by accident. If I found a broken motor mount I'd refuse the charter and require that they replace the motor mount immediately (with appropriate credit for time lost in the charter) or substitute a more seaworthy vessel. If you go to sea with a known broken motor mount you risk really spoiling your charter cruise. If its just rusted - well I'd hazard to guess that most charter boats except on the very new boats are rusted to some extent - would you document all rust? In practice, it is their (the charter company's) job to provide you with a boat in "servicable" condition ready to take on a cruise in conditions for which the charter is written (ie not in an approaching hurricane, etc). In this case it appears to me that they failed in this responsibility, even if the mount broke while you were chartering it. I can't imagine an instance where even a wrapped line on the shaft would "break" a sound motor mount. Maybe one near failure, but not a good one. If, as a previous poster noted, Yanmar recommends replacing the motor mount at 1000 hours then I'd demand to see the maintenance records that shows the mount was replaced at that point. Unless it is a boat new in the charter fleet I'd imagine the one you chartered had well over 1000 hrs.