I said: >>Thanks for the information. For people going to remote places with turbos, >>they should have one of them in their spares locker. If they are going to >>be gone a long time, they should consider two spares. If I were going to >>remote places with only one engine, then I could not have a turbo at all. >>It simply would not be worth the risk. To which the Huddlestons replied: >Do you have any data to support your conclusion? I have not heard of any >problems. I'm still a Boy Scout at heart, one who is always prepared for anything. My boat will have three engines that are able of getting me home before I will take it to very remote areas. (I am talking about places like The Gambia or Mozambique, and not places like northern California.) Keep this in mind as you read what I recommend on anything. Anything mechanical or electrical can fail, and will eventually fail if you use it long enough and hard enough. Sometimes it will fail sooner, and sometimes later. Turbocharger failures are relatively rare compared to other types of failures; but they do happen. We replace about a dozen of them per year on our fleet of equipment; tough I have no doubt that the failure rate would be much lower if our operators actually owned the equipment. For your turbocharger, or for every other component on your boat, you need to ask yourself a few questions: 1. What would be the effect of a failure? 2. What can I do to minimize the probability of a failure? 3. What will I do if a failure happens anyway? Perhaps your plan is to try to limp home on a sick turbocharger, or to call for a tow if that does not work. In many cases, this would be a perfectly alternative to carrying a spare and replacing it yourself. If this is not acceptable to you, then you need another plan. Turbochargers do not normally die suddenly. I am willing to assume that I will have sufficient warning of an impending failure to find a safe place to change it out. Even if I am planning to pay someone to change it out, in really remote places, it would pay you to have a spare on hand. Boatless, but building M/V Doulos Paul Kruse plkruse@iu.net Port Canaveral, FL, USA