Unknown engine hours

[hellosailor]

Roller furling is not roller reefing. Roller furling is for storage. So, the clubfoot would be popped off before furling the sail, but left on for self-tacking during extended uses, I rashly assume.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

The staysail will be self tacking while enjoying the benefits of roller furling/reefing.

[model 10]

Well for what it's worth, I was docked next to that boat for maybe 2 years. It looks really nice. I'm surprised at the price, I would have guessed much more.

[boatman61]

If the engine and engine room are clean.. the engine starts, runs, charges, cools and sounds good.. the transmission operates smoothly and sounds okay I'd not fret overmuch about the hours.
Maintain them well and keep the levels up and filters changed regularly she's likely good for 10,000hrs+ the rest.
If you buy her just keep an On/Off engine log.

[Jim Cate]

One way of looking at it: the existence of an hour meter only tells you how many hours the meter has been activated, nothing firm about the engine itself. The meter may have excess hours shown as described above, it may have an accurate record, or it may be woefully short, having only been installed half way through the boat's lifetime, or having intermittent wiring, or an owner who wished to deceive folks down the log... etc.

So, as others have said, your inspection and intuition are perhaps a more valid guide to engine condition than the meter itself.

Jim

[LLCoolDave]

Everyone's advice has put me a little more at ease about this. I looked through about 400 boats on yachtworld and sailboat listings and couldn't really find anything better than this Pearson, at least for what I want.

[CareKnot]

Sounds like you've gotten some pretty good advice so far. I would only add one thing.

Never share a boat listing in a forum until you have the boat tied up in a contingency agreement. It's a great way to lose the boat you're looking at to someone else in the market. Just saying...

[Pete7]

There is quite a bit of kit on this boat that won't have been cheap when new in addition to the money spent over the years. This would give me confidence that issues have been dealt with and maintenance kept up.

You will have problems in the future, but then they occur on all boats. Guess the next step is decision time, good luck and let us know how you get on.

Pete

[zeehag]

if in doubt, overhaul engine and begin count afresh, remembering it is a count on overhaul not rebuild.

[LLCoolDave]

Originally Posted by CareKnot

Never share a boat listing in a forum until you have the boat tied up in a contingency agreement. It's a great way to lose the boat you're looking at to someone else in the market. Just saying...

I've tried that before. It took an internet sleuth 5 min to find the boat I was looking at and they posted it in the thread. lol so why bother.

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by LLCoolDave

I've been in contact with the broker. Here are the engine pics. There is good access from the lazarettes so that's great.

Thanks for all the comments.

In the pics I noticed the owner has kept the clubfoot for the staysail on even though the staysail is on a roller furler. Is there any reason to do this?

Is the shaft packing in there somewhere ? Under the engine ?

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Three Sisters

Is the shaft packing in there somewhere ? Under the engine ?

Really!

[jefjo]

I agree with a couple of the replies..... depending on the PO and how they maintain and treat that motor, a diesel will run forever. That said, higher hours/ more motoring is actually better for a diesel. short, cold runs are baaad. I'm not sure but the oil analysis may also tell you if the owner is even using the correct oil for that engine, and not just some 10/40.

[hellosailor]

Good point. While the SAE viscosity numbers (i.e. 10W40) mean a lot, an oil analysis will also tell you more or less what the API rating of the oil is, or is similar to. The API ratings are the "SF" "SJ" "SM" etc. for *s*park engines and "Cx" for "compression" aka diesel engines. Offhand I don't think Blackstone ever actually generates an API rating but the chemical analysis and additives can point in the general direction. (I know what I put in, so I never asked about that.)

With an old boat, old engine, there's plenty of room for different ratings. The oils that were required 30-40 years ago, have typically been obsoleted and replaced by newer ratings maybe ten times by now.

[LLCoolDave]

Just an update. I'm under contract and flying to Guatemala in two weeks for survey and sea trial. Wish me luck!