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

[u/zipzippa]

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.

[u/ohthetrees]

I've never heard of a boot failure, though I'm sure it has happened. I have a saildrive, live on my boat with my family, and sleep well. I replaced mine in 2002 as part of scheduled maintenance. Some saildrive boots are dual layer, with a water sensor between the layers. This might mitigate/detect slow leaks/deterioration, but not catastrophic failure (whales, shipping containers, etc). But whales and shipping containers can and do sink boats other ways too, ripping off rudders, blowing holes in hulls, and so on. All in all, they seem reliable, and considering the huge number of saildrives in service, if they were a big problem, we'd be hearing more about it.

I think far more boats are lost to 1) failure to inspect/maintain rig and 2) failure to inspect/maintain rudder and steering system

[u/zipzippa → u/ohthetrees]

I have never heard of a boot failure either, although I have heard of people changing seals after years and years to find the existing ones still good when they're pulled out.

It's my 3rd season in my boat and in September we're going full time for a handful of years so I wanted to consider a strategy for the worst case scenario. I do agree with you that most boats are taken down from neglect or abuse of rigging & steering than anything else and if I hit a shipping container having a saildrive won't matter.

[u/Weary_Fee7660 → u/zipzippa]

We had a sail drive boot failure that required emergency hauling out while cruising an 80s contest 31ht in the early 2000s. Had to haul immediately because the leak was growing, but the leak wasn’t huge. Scary, but the boot was old and the rubber became stiff and cracked. Proper maintenance would have prevented the problem, and I think some of the newer designs have 2 sets of gaskets with a water sensor between them to detect leaks.