www.iFourWinns.com

Sometimes you just wanna vent...

I've had a miserable time with the spring recommissioning of our 348 Vista through our dealer in Baltimore. Delays I can deal with but work not done, or done improperly just pisses me off. To start with I found it resting with it's props 4" into the dirt at the end of this past March. Weather here wasn't great so I figured there'd be some delay having them repaint the somewhat insufficient paint job they did on the bottom last year. No biggie, we were going to be out of town until April 30th so the date of May 5 seemed reasonable. Which came and went without anything even getting started. I did need some fiberglass work done (two 1" scratches) but they didn't even get it sent out to Weavers at all during April. I felt like I had to keep going up there (an hour from home) to nag them in person because phone calls just weren't getting anywhere. 2 hours of my time, tolls each way, just adds to the irritation... So the days of May tick away with little being done. I finally go to pick it up the 17th only to find they left the bilge utterly filthy (how this happened is a mystery since it was "supposed to be" shrink wrapped. But who knows how soon they actually got around to THAT last Fall... And when I throttled it up to get on plane I discovered a TREMENDOUS amount of vibration out of the starboard engine. Props in the dirt tend to not help a 15,000 pound boat, apparently. They spent the next week screwing around with attempting to align it. On the 25th I pick it up again only to discover the bilge is still filthy and the vibration is only "less worse". But they've called ZF to come take a look at the V-drive. Which doesn't happen until yesterday, the 1st of June. His prognosis is a bent shaft on starboard and probably a bent prop on port. Great, more delays.

Meanwhile, sick of the filth in the bilge I decided to get the pressure washer and clean it up myself. Curiously the water doesn't appear to be sea water. Don't get me started on the fresh water system. "Something" was wrong with it and they had to replace the pump. Given that I got pink stuff out of the faucets when they gave it to me on the 19th I'm rather suspicious of how the winterizing work went... But I clean it up anyway. Just when I'm about done and climb up to empty the Wet Vac I swung my foot a bit and caught a toe on a hose clamp, ripping it open. Four hours in the ER getting four stitches put into it. Not to mention cleaning up MORE mess in the bilge... While it was certainly my own 'fault' for not being more careful (let's not talk about the bad setup of those clamps though...) I shouldn't have had to even BEEN doing this work to start with.

Back to that water in the bilge... the ZF guy; Mike, took a look around while eyeing up the flailing starboard stuffing box and noticed a pretty steady stream issuing forth from the water heater. Like around a quart a minute. Shutting off the fresh water pump seems to stop the leak. But this explains why I ran out of fresh water when taking a shower last weekend, it all went into the bilge... Great, bad water pump my ass, this is starting to sound like water got left in the lines and it froze until things started breaking...

Great, so now it's going to be out of the water at least all of next week since the shafts and props will have to get pulled and sent out. God only knows what the extent of the water problem is going to be. That water heater tank is in a horrendously inaccessible location. I can only hope it won't have to be removed. It looks like the only way to do it would be to pull the muffler off the starboard engine, if not the engine itself.

So you could say we've had a less than stellar startup to our boating season this year. All because of what can only be described as incompetence on the part of our dealer's service department. Letting it rest on the props? Proper winterization? This is not a new dealership, these should be things they know how to do correctly by now. Apparently not.

Anyway, just needed to vent a bit...

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Oh yeah, I forgot, the batteries. They have straps that hold them down. These weren't. And one seems to have lost half it's clasp. To say nothing of the fact that all three batteries are the same and, if I'm not mistaken, the ships system is supposed to be different than the two starting batteries. Might explain the crappy time I've gotten out of it when anchored on the hook...

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Damn Bill that sucks man. I don't let a dealer anywhere near my boat or even my vehicles for that matter for reasons like this. Definitely sounds like a half assed winterization. Hope you get it all straightened out because I want to see your boat this summer You can hire me this fall for the cleaning, winterization, and fiberglassing etc.. as an option. There's just no excuse for your props being anywhere near the ground let alone sunken in - clearly negligence on their part.

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Hey you can fix half your problems by moving south...not winterization needed

Hope everything works out and you don't loose too much of your boating season.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Dang John, I'm gonna look you up if I'm in lakeland this winter just for that

Bill, not to freak you out but I was thinking, I'd look over the transom inside and out that there was no structural damage to the hull. The outdrives are probably the weakpoint but I'm sure you realize that the situation potentially created stress in areas that were never engineered to see forces like that. Possibly commision a structural surveyer to inspect that whole area as a second opinion and make the dealer eat it? Also, your local and I think I know the dealer but if you could confirm it that would be great so as to spread the word. Nobody should have to deal with half a$$ed workmanship like that.

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Bill, that really stinks! Let's hope you get those issues resolved real soon! Best of Luck!

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

It's at the dealer (again) now. With luck they'll get their act together, pull the shaft, props and deal with a laundry list of other issues.

There's not going to be any transom issue as these are inboards. But the struts are certainly going to get checked. The rudders too.

As to the name of the dealer, let's see how they handle the ball tossed to them this week. But I'd certainly welcome posts from anyone else having similar trouble with this (or other) Four Winns dealer. Everyone has a bad week, but if there's a trend of screwups that's another matter.

And just to add more hassles, a second anchor line got wrapped on the starboard trim tab. Doesn't look right. Just great... This on top of the port trim tab that never worked this season.

We had fabulous success with this boat last season. I just want that back.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista