Aqua Drive

[Tom Green]

Does anyone have experience putting Aqua drive on a PDQ 34 and being able to verify the difference in noise and vibration? I would be interested in any experience or thoughts.

I just purchased #99 from Signature Yachts in Seattle after losing out on #115 through PDQ's failure. The factory did not push Aqua Drives but the ownwer of Signature Yachts thinks they are very helpful. His experience with them has been on sailboats. It would be nice to hear people who have them on their PDQ 34's.

Thank you.

Tom Green

[Milky Way]

Hi Tom, I had aqua drives, and I did not think the difference re vibrations and noise etc., warranted the extra expense. I would have tried 4 bladed props, 17 x 14 to replace the 3 blade 17x 16. Now that I own PDQ 41/09, I am finding an extremely quiet vibration free boat. The differece being the electronic yanmars, boat layout, hull design especially the much more hydro dynamic entry of the water flow to the propellers. Armin Quickert MV41/09,

[Tom Green]

Thanks Armin. I appreciate the feed back. The boat here already has four bladed props which I think need "tuning" and they will do that before I take the boat. There were also many other minor easy things to fix that I found reduced vibration/noise considerably. They had to do with doors, windows and even the overhang of the bridge cowling. Putting some simple blocks between the overhand and house made a tremendous difference. I am questioning the value of putting an Aquadrive in at this point. I may use the boat for a time and see.

I am glad to hear that you are liking your 41. They are beautiful boats.

Best wishes.

Tom Green

[Tom Green]

A follow up report re Aquadrives. I did have them installed. Subjectively there is a major difference in noise and vibration. Unfortunately, I did not make any objective measurements before and after. Others have done this on other boats. The cost was significant but there is no question that there is a noticeable difference. My wife is very happy with the result and that is worth a lot. In addition it would seem helpful to the equipment overall not having to worry about precise alignment.

Tom Green