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To start with, I’ve been reading through as many posts as I can find regarding bent or broken shafts. I keep seeing references to The Broken Shaft post but cannot find it. If it still exists, would someone please link me to it?
I bought my 2018 G23 new in December of 2017. On a family vacation in July of 2018, our boating activities were ended prematurely due to a bent prop shaft. I dropped the boat off at the local dealer on the way home and it was repaired with no questions asked. When I enquired as to what caused the failure, the dealer shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and said "it’s a known issue".
Fast forward to July Family Vacation 2021 and here we are with a bent prop shaft that has us playing corn hole instead of surfing.
In each instance the boat was underway with all ballast tanks empty, 6 adult passengers and 2 chilrens, running 25 mph in moderately rough water at last 100 feet deep. Both times everything felt normal then suddenly went to a light shudder that quickly started to worsen. I immediately cut power, stopped the motor and inspected the bottom of the boat (the first time we did this by diving under the boat and using the Hellen Keller method. The second time we used the snorkel and goggles that were bought as a "gift" after the first bent shaft). After finding nothing caught in the prop, we limped back to the dock, trailered the boat and discovered that the prop shaft was bent at the shaft strut.
The first bent shaft was inside 50 hours; the second just under 200.
Definitely, it’s frustrating to have both failures occur when my family has invested a lot of effort to travel away from home base. Yes, it’s frustrating that a "known issue" in 2018 is still affecting my ability to use my boat.
Most frustrating is that I’m due to take delivery of a 2022 G23 in early August and I’m trying to find some reassurance that this "known issue" has been addressed. I do understand that things are going to happen and that no boat is 100% reliable 100% of the time. But, with as much as these boats are costing these days I’m hoping for better, and that investments have been made to correct past known issues going forward.
This year, in a Hail Mary, we stopped at a boat mechanic’s shop to see if a repair was possible. I explained the problem to the mechanic. The mechanic asked what year. I told him 2018. He smiled and said "you’re effed". I smiled back and asked if he could think of another option. He smiled wider and said "get a Malibu"
I’m wondering if that’s not bad advice.
PS: apologies for poor typing, etc, I’m in a mobile
I bought my 2018 G23 new in December of 2017. On a family vacation in July of 2018, our boating activities were ended prematurely due to a bent prop shaft. I dropped the boat off at the local dealer on the way home and it was repaired with no questions asked. When I enquired as to what caused the failure, the dealer shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and said "it’s a known issue".
Fast forward to July Family Vacation 2021 and here we are with a bent prop shaft that has us playing corn hole instead of surfing.
In each instance the boat was underway with all ballast tanks empty, 6 adult passengers and 2 chilrens, running 25 mph in moderately rough water at last 100 feet deep. Both times everything felt normal then suddenly went to a light shudder that quickly started to worsen. I immediately cut power, stopped the motor and inspected the bottom of the boat (the first time we did this by diving under the boat and using the Hellen Keller method. The second time we used the snorkel and goggles that were bought as a "gift" after the first bent shaft). After finding nothing caught in the prop, we limped back to the dock, trailered the boat and discovered that the prop shaft was bent at the shaft strut.
The first bent shaft was inside 50 hours; the second just under 200.
Definitely, it’s frustrating to have both failures occur when my family has invested a lot of effort to travel away from home base. Yes, it’s frustrating that a "known issue" in 2018 is still affecting my ability to use my boat.
Most frustrating is that I’m due to take delivery of a 2022 G23 in early August and I’m trying to find some reassurance that this "known issue" has been addressed. I do understand that things are going to happen and that no boat is 100% reliable 100% of the time. But, with as much as these boats are costing these days I’m hoping for better, and that investments have been made to correct past known issues going forward.
This year, in a Hail Mary, we stopped at a boat mechanic’s shop to see if a repair was possible. I explained the problem to the mechanic. The mechanic asked what year. I told him 2018. He smiled and said "you’re effed". I smiled back and asked if he could think of another option. He smiled wider and said "get a Malibu"
I’m wondering if that’s not bad advice.
PS: apologies for poor typing, etc, I’m in a mobile
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