SimonA

That looks great. I've now got new rear mounts fitted to my boat. The bolts through them still look off centre so I'm not sure how long they will last. The mechanic that fitted them reckons they are OK and I don't have any vibration under way or at idle. One mount was totally scrap but the other wasn't too bad, so I have a spare for the future. I think (hope) there wasn't any damage to my shaft log but it's impossible to tell for sure as it can't be inspected. My mechanic said it is very difficult to align the shaft on these as it doesn't have a natural central position.

I've not noticed any water coming out the vent but there has been a puddle under the engine a few times. My vent comes up fairly high, almost to the top of the engine bay.

BTW Steve, there is a new Facebook group called JGM Madeira 27 UK, worth joining if you are on Facebook. It only has a handful of members at present.

I'm watching with interest! Perhaps you could make a few pounds selling them to other Madeira owners, I'm sure lots of us will have the same problem.

Are yours the top hat Metalastik ones like these?

I have a PSS shaft seal the same as yours which was fitted a number of years ago when I had a new gearbox and prop. I tried the Ohm meter trick on buzzer and I got a reading but not high enough to sound the buzzer, I'm guessing the water is conductive enough to give a reading. I've been in touch with Clive who is selling me new mounts. The rubber has slightly popped out the top of one of mine so it looks like it had collapsed. The annoying thing is I had new mounts fitted about 7 or 8 years ago when I had the engine rebuilt by Calcutt Boats. The mechanic said they often fail if they come into contact with oil or diesel but my engine is very clean. My boat seems very good at draining my bank account!

Hi Steve, yes my boat is Cattleya and that was my previous user name. Your post made me check my boat and I discovered I have similar problems. My rear engine mounts have sunk and one looks like the engine has moved sideways. I don't know if I have any damage to the shaft log as I don't have water coming in past my shaft seal. When you fitted new mounts did your shaft align or have you added shims? If you did add shims are these under the engine mounts or where the foot attaches to the bearers?

Hi Steve, we've spoken in the past about Madeira boats, I have one which is now kept at a boat club on the river Nene in Northamptonshire. How did you find out the shaft was wearing the shaft log? Did you have water coming in? I've looked at my shaft log and it is buried in glass fibre which makes it impossible to check.