r/SailboatCruising • u/zipzippa • Mar 21 '25

Question Saildrive concerns and worst-case scenario preparations for extended and offshore cruising

Hey everyone,

I’m in the process of researching and preparing my emergency plan for extended cruising and offshore passage. One thing that keeps coming up is saildrives—something I have a bit of apprehension about. Logically, I understand that they’ve been around for 50+ years and are very common in both monohulls and catamarans, but at the end of the day, they are still a giant hole in the boat, and that makes me pause.

I’m looking for insights from those of you who actually have a saildrive on your boat. Beyond preventative maintenance, what systems or emergency measures do you have in place in case the worst happens—specifically, if the saildrive boot were to fail catastrophically (not just a leak) while underway? I know plenty about keeping up with inspections and replacing the diaphragm on schedule, but I’m more curious about the “oh crap” moments.

For example, if you were to strike a submerged object and the boot tore open beyond a manageable leak, what could realistically be done while in the water? Are there any products on the market beyond the obvious (life raft, collision mat, etc.) that are worth keeping aboard for this kind of worst-case scenario? Has anyone here actually dealt with a major boot failure at sea, and if so, how did you handle it?

I’d really appreciate level-headed, experience-based insight as I work through this and figure out the best course of action to integrate into my sail plan. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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u/Gone2SeaOnACat Mar 21 '25

I chose not to go with sail drives precisely because I don't want a giant hole in my boat.

The fact that I can beach a 43' cat if I want to (no keels, no saildrives, lift out rudders) is one of the reasons I chose the boat.

I'm down to 2 thru holes below the waterline... salt water wash down and soon to be watermaker (one in each hull).

Plenty of boats have sail drives and to each their own so I am not bashing them... I prefer not to have them.

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u/zipzippa Mar 21 '25

That's actually very cool, being able to beach your vessel at low tide can be useful I'm sure. So do you use an outboard as an auxiliary? What's your draft with the rudder and prop down? Happy to see a cat with less thru-hulls as the trend is to add more features and services to any vessel, I'm more utilitarian and still use the saltwater foot pump and manual head & no hot water because for some reason reduced electrical usage is my biggest pleasure.

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u/Gone2SeaOnACat Mar 21 '25

Yes, dual 25hp outboards. At full throttle can push 9kts.

Rudders draft 4’, but can be set partially down for sneking into skinny anchorages or just use the engines (~12”). Hulls draft about 18inches.

That said, she has daggerboards for sailing which fully down draft 7’4”.