Savannah Marine Repair-Derecktor-Barry Brown Marine
- strut and engine alignments
- Savannah, Georgia
- Fort Lauderdale-Dania Beach
- April 2014
Spring 2014
Savannah Marine Repair
Two trips to Savannah on the Hammer. First, engine alignment, setting the engines and marine gears to the stern tubes after hull and plating work. Then, positioning cutless bearings in the aft struts on this workhorse USCG buoy tender. Hammer is a member of a class of buoy tenders with great "tool" names- Anvil, Sledge, Mallett, Clamp, Hatchet, Vise, and Axe. Tough, dependable, and getting treated in style by the good people at Savannah Marine Repair.
MarineMax Yacht Services
Back in Dania Beach at the old Associated Marine yard, now MarineMax Yacht Services. They've been doing a lot of repowers and when the engines are removed and reinstalled optical alignment insures a smooth sea trial. With optical alignment, the vessel launches aligned, ready to go.
Engine Alignment
Chinta Manis is a classic yacht, and a straightforward motor mount replacement required redoing the engine alignments. This vintage yacht has a forward engine room and a correspondingly long shaft line. I last worked on the boat in 2007 when we did the bearings, which checked out fine this time. The new engine mounts were configured differently as exact replacements weren't available, requiring a realignment.
Chinta Manis is a classic yacht, and a straightforward motor mount replacement required redoing the engine alignments. This vintage yacht has a forward engine room and a correspondingly long shaft line. I last worked on the boat in 2007 when we did the bearings, which checked out fine this time. The new engine mounts were configured differently as exact replacements weren't available, requiring a realignment.
Sandman at Barry Brown Marine
Sandman, a 62' Spenser sportfish, out of the water at Barry Brown Marine in Fort Lauderdale, asked for a quick check. Fast sportfish yachts like Sandman are light, quick, and sensitive. It's a testament to quality construction and maintenance that after thousands of running hours all that was necessary was a touch-up on one engine alignment. The stresses that modern high-speed sportfish yachts put on engine mounts and drive trains, especially when backing down, have grown through the years. In the 1980's, a 52' Hatteras with 1292's made half the horsepower that modern Caterpillar, MTU, or MAN engines produce. And, the engine packages are smaller, the weight is down not only in the engines but in the overall construction, so these boats are now flying. Sandman and other Spenser sportfish boats run way in excess of 35 knots, and back down hard on a fish. All the systems, including engine alignment, have to be spot on. It's a process that starts with design and engineering, flows through production, and then into maintenance. It was a pleasure to be back at Billfish Marina on SR 84- that was the location of my first marine company, Southeast Marine Engine Sales, back in the early 80's. Billfish is the former Hurricane Hole, now part of PipeWelders and home to P&R Canvas, High Seas Technology, and Barry Brown Marine.
Sandman, a 62' Spenser sportfish, out of the water at Barry Brown Marine in Fort Lauderdale, asked for a quick check. Fast sportfish yachts like Sandman are light, quick, and sensitive. It's a testament to quality construction and maintenance that after thousands of running hours all that was necessary was a touch-up on one engine alignment. The stresses that modern high-speed sportfish yachts put on engine mounts and drive trains, especially when backing down, have grown through the years. In the 1980's, a 52' Hatteras with 1292's made half the horsepower that modern Caterpillar, MTU, or MAN engines produce. And, the engine packages are smaller, the weight is down not only in the engines but in the overall construction, so these boats are now flying. Sandman and other Spenser sportfish boats run way in excess of 35 knots, and back down hard on a fish. All the systems, including engine alignment, have to be spot on. It's a process that starts with design and engineering, flows through production, and then into maintenance. It was a pleasure to be back at Billfish Marina on SR 84- that was the location of my first marine company, Southeast Marine Engine Sales, back in the early 80's. Billfish is the former Hurricane Hole, now part of PipeWelders and home to P&R Canvas, High Seas Technology, and Barry Brown Marine.
Engine and shaft optical alignment solutions
Optical shaft and engine alignment for yachts, boats, commercial vessels, and military vessels remains the most accurate, quickest, and most efficient alignment procedure.Optical alignment equipment operated with knowledge and experience provides shipyards, boatyards, and builders with efficient and accurate engine, bearing, and stern tube alignment. Michael H. Bartlett, in the marine industry in Fort Lauderale for thirty years and with over 15 years of optical alignment experience and over 1500 successful boat alignment procedures, owns and operates Marine Alignment, Inc.