The China Connection: Worth a Trip From Anywhere

If you embrace adventure and are considering commissioning a new boat built in China or Taiwan, you may be surprised by how satisfying a visit to the yard can be. You’ll get to see and be involved with the construction of your own vessel, something very few boat owners ever get to do. Doing so gives you the opportunity to see things that will be hidden after construction is complete. The folks building the boat will appreciate how important she is, sending the clear message that you care about the product deeply enough to fly halfway around the world to be there. Maybe more important, you’ll be exposed to one of the world’s most interesting, historically and culturally rich societies in the world.

Each and every trip to China and Taiwan has taught me something of value. During a recent visit, while inspecting a vessel, I noticed a small gap in insulation around a pipe, no more than a quarter-inch wide. I photographed and noted it. The next day when I returned it had already been fixed, before I could bring it to anyone’s attention. When issues or problems are pointed out, the attitude is purely professional, no frowns or slumped shoulders, just a desire to get on with making it right.

The Chinese and Taiwanese are among hardest-working people I’ve ever encountered. Their attention to detail and work ethic is impressive, even intoxicating, and I return from these trips with a renewed sense of optimism about the marine industry. While boats built in this region have had a mixed reputation, particularly in decades past, these preconceptions are often outdated.

The quality of vessels built in China and Taiwan runs the gamut, from outstanding to questionable, however, that’s true of virtually every country that has a boatbuilding industry. As I write this column I’m making a passage through the notoriously tumultuous North Sea, 35 knots of wind on the bow and 6-foot seas (it’s living up to its reputation), aboard a vessel built in Taiwan. Clearly I wouldn’t be aboard if I didn’t have absolute faith in the abilities of the builder.

With these potential benefits in mind, one important aspect of your boatbuilding decision-making process should include the willingness of a builder to involve you in the construction process, including hosting you at the yard on one or more occasions. Doing so is nearly guaranteed to result in a better boat, as well as a valuable, memorable and culturally rich experience, one that will pay multiple dividends.

Steve, I have a very small fuel leak that seems to leak approximately 1½ gallons per month until about 3 gallons has leaked from a full stainless fuel tank. At that point the leak stops as evident from the drain hole in the bottom of the keel. The boat rests with a forward slope and is not level. All tank fittings on the top of the tank have been checked and are not leaking. The forward and sides of the tank are not accessible. They are against a forward bulkhead and the sides of the hull. All fuel has been polished and stored outside the tank. With the tank empty, we will determine if the tank is baffled today. If so, is it possible to get a bladder made. I believe there is a company called ATL Technologies that makes custom bladders. Secondly, is there a process to spray a solution inside at the top seams of the tank that will seal a small leak?

David Fuger Mecosta, Michigan

Dave, this is a question I’ve been posed on countless occasions. It drives home the need for proper tank fabrication and installation to prevent failures such as these. When I point out such shortcomings to builders the refrain is often, “You are nit picking, what are the chances of that?” You now know the answer. Regrettably, I know of no reliable bladder or tank lining system that can be used in cases like these. The tank must either be replaced or repaired.

In order to use stainless steel for fuel tank fabrication, and have it comply with ABYC guidelines, it must embody a series of details including the alloy (it should be 316L or 317L), and wall thickness, as well as installation requirements that ensure no part of the tank makes direct contact with the vessel other than where it is insulated with bedded in place non-hygroscopic material. Many stainless steel fabricators and installers fail to follow these guidelines, resulting in tank failure.

My recommendation would be to pressure test the tank to identify the source of the leak(s). It may be feasible to repair this tank rather than replacing it, however, that process must start with an assessment and identification of the leak source. In the meantime, you might find this column of interest http://www. passagemaker.com/channels/fuel-tankinstallation-notes.— Steve D’Antonio

WARRANTY ISSUES

Steve, we read your Gearhead, “Walk the Walk”, in the January/ February 2014 PassageMaker, with great interest. In fact it struck a nerve with us, as right at that time we were going through a real warranty issue.

We are the couple from New Zealand who attended the Trawler Fest - Baltimore last September and enjoyed your lectures and also meeting you socially at the cocktail evenings and dinner. We think we told you we had just received our new 40-foot Selene Ocean Trawler, built by Jet-Tern Marine in China, and purchased through Selene New Zealand. We had the usual construction delays and ups and downs but eventually our “baby” arrived on our shores.

After commissioning, we ran our vessel for 124 hours before taking her away for the Christmas holidays (summer holidays for us). We had just settled down into holiday mode when the ZF control defaulted and that was the start of three months of agony and stress for us. Because of it being holiday time and the boat being in warranty, there was a great reluctance from anyone to help us. To make matters worse, the finger was often pointed at us even though we are experienced boaters, or at China. Also our New Zealand agent was in Germany at the time and therefore he was able only to suggest what avenues we should take, but not actually deal with the situation himself. We were on our own.

The only way to get things done was to pay for our engineer to investigate the fault and pinpoint the culprit. Even when he clearly identified that it was the CruiseCommand unit, the ZF agent would not agree to do any work unless I agreed, in writing, to pay for everything, including freight, labour and expensive return flights for the technician to our boat which was unfortunately located about 500 miles away from his workshop. Both ZF (New Zealand) and ZF (Australia) were unable to test the unit properly and so it had to be sent somewhere in the U.S. (we have still not been told where), at our expense. As this was going to take several weeks and our chance of summer on the water

was fast slipping by, we reluctantly agreed to purchase a new unit while the “old one” was investigated. We finally were told by ZF (New Zealand) that they had been advised by ZF in the U.S. that, “the 785CE can be repaired at ZF’s cost as the cause could not be truly defined.” Not a very scientific answer, we feel, and a formal report in writing, which we requested, could not be supplied.

Anyway, to cut an agonising story short, after the second union of the ZF technicians (flown to our boat at our expense again) and the Cummins engineer who worked together to install the new CruiseCommand unit, program it and install a new cable to it, we are now under way again, but more than $11,000.00 NDZ short—about $9,000.00 USD—for something “under warranty”. At this stage we have filed a claim with Selene New Zealand and are hoping that they will see the propriety, not to mention the good business sense, in honoring it.

In hindsight, it may have been cheaper to put you on a plane to come and fix our problem and enjoy a bit of New Zealand summer weather!

Thank you for taking the time to read our heart-breaking story but please know we are still passionate passagemakers and read your articles with great enthusiasm.

Rowan and Suzanne Hatch

Wellington, New Zealand

Rowan and Suzanne, I recall our meeting from Baltimore. Thank you for sharing this unfortunate story. I wish I could say it is unique, and it was the only such story I received in reference to that article, many readers shared similar tales. Such episodes are truly a black mark on the marine industry, each and every time I hear one I am at once disappointed and angered at such treatment of boat owners and customers by my industry peers. I have known ZF to be a good manufacturer that stands behind its products; I’ve visited the manufacturing facilities and have written about the company.

While hindsight is 20/20, unless you specifically requested this control as a departure from what the boat is normally supplied with, and against the recommendations of the builder, Selene should have born some responsibility for correcting this problem, if nothing else than acting as the repair “broker” pressuring ZF or other equipment manufacturers to take responsibility for and correct the problem. As I said in the column, you bought a complete boat from the builder, not the individual parts, when a builder essentially says, “sorry, you need to contact the manufacturer for warranty coverage,” I’m disappointed. The builder buys the units and therefore is the customer; he has the leverage to negotiate. Furthermore, if the builder is forced to do this, he’s likely to think twice about using that product again in the future

In any event, you should not have had to do what you did to get the problem resolved, and, once again, I’m sorry this experience sullied your new boat ownership experience.

—Steve D’Antonio