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Marlow 65' seatrial vibration

Discussion in 'Marlow Yacht' started by bayoubud, Mar 8, 2017.

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  1. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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  2. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I did some testing earlier today and last night on the way to NAS since I had no passengers. even if I increase RPM Fromm 1000 to 1700 in one shot, no vibration or cavitation. I guess the sea trial rent a cap was really heavy handed and must have jammed the power controls forward
  3. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    No it depends mostly on depth below the boat 10-12' and less below the keel is when it really does it. I've heard under 8' below the keel is most pronounced and 5' or less under the keel cannot even get on plane........ Deeper water it doesn't do it or not nearly as bad.
  4. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I know but that wasn't factor. Out of our marina, I had about 4 to 5 under the keel... and about 5 to 6' until the keel in cape Florida Chanel when i had to slow for anchored boat. A little deeper out of cat cay but not much.

    When it happened on sea trial, we were in 20' of water
  5. BoulderGT3

    BoulderGT3 Senior Member

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    This is an interesting thread. There was a 65' Marlowe in our neighborhood. Perfect condition. Truly maintained with an open checkbook. The owner passed and they had a heck of a time trailing the boat due to vibration. A guy I knew that put it under contract spent $35K of his own money trying to get the vibration out because there wasn't an easy way for the estate to reimburse. Anyways, they never could remediate the issue. The boat sold to someone else and I saw it at Ocean Reef. It still was perfect. The new owner must have just lived with it.

    I thought this was a one off situation but maybe not.
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL, maybe not.
  7. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    No. It's not uncommon for a boat to have a vibration problem that cannot be totally resolved.
  8. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I've had several like that over the years. Tried many different things and the vibration was still there.
  9. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Well, we rejected the Marlow 65, because of obvious vibration problems during seatrial along with other problems in the survey's. The boat was advertised as having many recent updates and engines just serviced ready to cruise. Not! After looking thru records all listed recent updates were 2012 thru 2014. Found out the boat has been on the market for 2 1/2 yrs. and sitting at their dock for 2yrs. The only "engine service just done" consisted of an oil change over a two year period. There was deferred engine and generator maintenance including 3000 hr. , heat exchangers, coolers, gen water pumps, and etc. for about 2 1/2 years. The boat was hauled on a Friday by request of the owner, blocked and pressure washed plus some work for the owner and left out until survey on Monday, but we were billed $15 per ft. for the haulout! We did not see the boat wet and in actual condition. Before haulout they needed to put 200 gallons of fuel on the boat and did not do a quick run to check the boat which would have discovered the problems and postponed the haulout/sea trial. The hull surveyor was on their list and hired because he claimed to have surveyed three Marlow's, his survey consisted of "eight whole pages". Also, the tender was sitting on a trailer with the carb's removed and serious damage to the fiberglass transom, of course they did offer to give a small credit towards a new one. lol!! There is more but enough said. The boat was misrepresented and not ready for a sea trial. We appreciate all the comments and feed back which helped make a informed decision. Needless to say there will not be a Marlow in our future.
  10. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    Aside from opinions of Marlow. For the most part I would put this situation on the seller, not the boat.
  11. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    What about the brokerage? Which may or may not be Marlow.
  12. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    From the posters comments I'm not privy to bad actions by the broker other than a disagreement over the meaning of engine service and whether 2014 is recent. What is apparent is that the boat was not in a condition to be surveyed which as I said is for the most part on the seller. Sellers don't just hide stuff from buyers. They BS brokers too.
  13. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Brokerage was maintaining the boat. I am sure the owner had to approve wo's. I inquired why they deferred maintenance and was told it was held off because of starting the clock on scheduled maintenance. I would say that method backfired. Fact is, a boat of that level should have been exercised often enough to know the condition. The vibration problems did not happen overnight, which was my major concern and there are numerous comments on this forum about Marlow vibration problems. It was an early model and I figured they were still practicing.The $40k engine work needed would put them back in order. Nothing more than another mishandled botched boat deal.
  14. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    This is why I always like to do a short sea trial before survey to make sure the boat doesn't have some issues before wasting a few thousands on surveyors...
  15. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    That was my suspicion, that the brokerage was heavily involved and very familiar with the problems of this boat model. Not an innocent bystander brokerage.
  16. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Great idea, I have done that before, but some do not want to bother for a quick trial run. This might be my rule #1 in the future, even worth paying fuel to avert aborting a seatrial/survey with a lot of expense.
  17. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Yessir!
  18. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    This is always my recommendation to a buyer. And I've been criticized for suggesting it on these boards.

    The buyer would have seen the RIB damage before sea trial. He could have reviewed the maintenance records that he determined unacceptable to him also.

    I don't know what the broker told the buyer. Maintained by a brokerage is a dubious characterization. The owner of the boat is the ultimate decision maker. If a licensed broker is aware of deficiencies they have duty to disclose them to the buyer. The owner does not.
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2017
  19. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Some will do it, some won't. You have the expense of Captain, Mate, fuel, rinsing the boat down or washing it after..... etc.
  20. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Think very carefully of who the probable broker was and it will all make sense. Perhaps a broker very very very familiar with the issues with that model and that specific boat.