After seeing & reading the experiences that Darrin went through with his vessel and reviewing the images, I must raise these safety issues that all vessel owners should get a qualified boat builder to inspect.
Firstly, the shaft tubes appear to have only been tagged in (Those strips of fibreglass) this is only ever done for initial alignment and should be properly glassed into place to ensure there are no leaks and they are secure.
The cavity should also be completely filled with pour foam, it seems only one of them was on this vessel.
Failure to do so properly means there is a good chance the shaft tubes will leak, which as Darrin states did happen as the foam was water logged, but even more seriously there is no saying if or when the shaft tubes could completely let go, if they did it would be certain to flood the engine compartment & possibly sink the vessel. Another good question would be did they use the more expensive epoxy resins to glass the tubes in, or the cheaper polyester resins, which will not hold onto the epoxy tubes longterm?
As all boat owners would know the greatest stress to a vessel is in offshore conditions, if this where to happen offshore, loss of life is a very real possibility.
I don’t think I even have to mention the danger and extreme stupidity to anti foul over a quarter inch hole in the hull!
It has also been brought to my attention that Derek has now flopped a South African vessel to create a new 21 foot Voyager, I would urge all potential customers to have these vessels thoroughly checked by a qualified boat builder before purchase.
Rushing boats to get them to the boat show and quality very rarely go together!
