Yesterday I spent some time on engine room maintenance, and discovered that the inboard support bracket for the rear of the starboard engine & marine gear (the transmission that was just replaced) has no bolt fastening the gear to it. Unbelievable! John Brown, the mechanic, told me the support brackets were not the correct ones and that they were so short that only one bolt could connect the gear to them, rather than two which the proper supports have on the portside gear. John told me the gear was sufficiently secure while fastened for the time being with single bolts and that he would pick up the correct size brackets providing for two bolts each at one of the mechanical flea markets he regularly attended. He said that the outboard mount was the more critical of the two and, if I wanted, I might check it every 200 hours or so to make sure its single bolt was secure. Although we have less than 100 hours on the gear since the repair, I decided to check the bolt. It was tight. I decided to check the inboard mount as well. Oops! -- I found NO bolt whatsoever connecting the inboard support mount to the gear! Looking further, I found the proper size bolt and its spacer bar lying nearby in the bilge. I tried to replace the bolt but soon determined that there was no way to insert it to connect the two elements as the holes in the mount did not line up with those on the gear. How strange!
It had crossed my mind that John seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time installing the gear, and I now think he must have labored hard and very long to connect that inboard mount, but without success. But why didn't he tell me of the problem? He must have feared I would not pay him if the job was not complete. And he was right! And I certainly would not have put to sea.
How sad. How dangerous! There was a very real possibility history would repeat itself – that I would again suffer a damaged engine and broken marine gear, again crippling the ship. And what if this happened in rough seas? Our very lives could have been at risk.
We are returning to the US now where I will find a different mechanic to put things right finally. In the meantime, I will run the starboard engine easy and you can bet I will be checking that single, starboard marine gear mount far more frequently than John's recommended 200 hours!
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