Better Boat: Under the Hood
So far, both of the 46 Eastbay FBs that have been built have had pod configurations. And though the option is there for straight shafts, it doesn’t sound to me like Grand Banks thinks they’re particularly necessary. Over the phone, Fran Morey, Grand Banks’ director of service, had this to say on the matter: “If we had someone who wanted shafts, we could do it—we’ve done it on the 50. But we like the pods for the performance, handling, and the ability to have control when docking,” he said. “For most boaters, it’s those five minutes getting out of and getting back into the docks that can be the most nerve wracking. The pods really make docking much simpler.” Morey also points out that the Cummins setup eliminates a lot of finger pointing if repairs are needed. “The controls, steering, propulsion, it’s all one system, with one vendor,” he said. “You’re not going to have the engine guy saying ‘Oh, this is a problem for the boatyard’ or the transmission guy blaming the engine guy for something. You just take it to Cummins and they handle everything.”
That philosophy makes sense to me, if you’ve ever had engine problems during prime boating season, you’re certainly not going to want any added rigamarole. You just want to get your boat fixed, quickly and correctly, and get back out there!