PDQ OWNERS FORUM

My partner, Jm Koningisor and I have just purchased "Happy People" (hull number 10) and renamed her "Joint Adventure". She is currently in Fort Meyers Beach, FL. We plan to start the Great Loop in late April from Stuart, Florida.

Our engines are 75 HP, installed in 2008. We have extended the Bimini aft by 8 feet. And plan to add 4 bladed props.
Is there only one size, or are there choices with pros and cons?

We are seriously considering having the engine and shaft alignment checked and corrected, if necessary. Also, adding a half bearing for shaft support. We would appreciate comments from people who have done this.

Also, the circuit breaker for the power assist unit, for the starboard gear shift, has tripped twice, in about 8 hours of operation.
Any thoughts about the cause and fix?

Any and all other advice would be appreciated.

Tom McNichol, Joint Adventure, Boston, MA

Join us on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/269215332679/

Prop sizes are critical. A greater pitch gives greater speed at a lower RPM, but may not allow for development of full thrust. Definitely make sure that the engines are aligned. As for the circuit breaker there is a short somewhere or the power assist unit is creating too much load. Make sure that all of the connections are corrosion free and that their are no chafed through wires. You can place an electrical load meter on the wiring to the Assist unit to see if it draws the correct amount. The other thing is that the circuit breaker may be faulty.

p.s. We are in Punta Gorda

Newbies aren't the only owners that need help. I have owned my boat for 5 years and am baffled by the reference to the power assist unit on the starboard gear shift. Apparently i am not having a problem with mine because I have not noticed a problem. Do I even have this system.

Also curious as to why engines needed to be replaced in a fairly new boat. High hours or major problems caused by ?

Thanks look forward to the input.

I too am curious about the change in engines. Particularly, I am interested in how it is done given the tight quarters in the engine compartments.

I saw something about changing props, but really guys, I did not read anything about changing engines.

OK just being inquisitive. The initial post had this line---Our engines are 75 HP, installed in 2008-- which I took to mean new engines were put in the boat in 2008. The boat based on hull number is an earlier build so that means new engines.

So i reiterate my two questions.

What caused the need for new engines, something the owner did or just bad karma? If it was operator error I would like to learn from the experience to avoid it myself.

Also still trying to get some input on the power assist thing? What is it? What does it do. If I have such a system on my boat i sure don't know about it and I probobably should. It hasn't caused trouble yet but it likely will at some point

Thanks

if i'm not mistaken, the early boats didn't have the zf transmissions. i also don't think that they had the kobelt shifters. my guess is that the early boats had an electric remote control shift mechanism.