Greetings all, Has anyone moved their boats over land by truck that
would have any hints they think helpful to me to minimise my learning
curve and help get my boat to its new home in as good as shape as when
it left its old one? De-masting? Special tricks to avoid excessive
vibration to internal parts? The trip will be 1100 miles or so.
Thank you to one and all for their feedback.
S/V Infinite Spirit
Hull #31 (Mango)

Hi Gary,

The job is done! The bronze unit came out with grooves on it. Probably
damage from a fishing line. Two seals came out after a lot of work with a
screwdriver (punching through the seal). Your suggestion of a sealdrive pipe
worked excellent.
We placed two seals in such a way to prevent water coming in and the first
seal to block the oil from leaking out.

Thanks for your help!

Kind Regards,

Willem J. Kroes
Santorin 69 "Kavanga"
home port: Zaandam, The Netherlands

I had the same problem due to a crack in the pump body. Through the
hairline crack the pump was leaking. Amel send me a spare part
immediatelly. You can find technical information in the internet at
following address: www.feitpompe.com.

Regards

Dimitris
S/M Alma Libre

I thought that my pump was leaking but it was not. The leak that we
had was caused by the out hose being wound up like a spring when the
pump is put into its place and the spring unwound itself unscrewing
the plastic spigot on the pump. Sea water then escapes but the
source of the leak is not obvious as it is so far out board.
After three goes I finally got it right!

Regards, John and Anne, Bali Hai, SM 319

I think that the advice is rubbish. These are normally secured on
most yachts with shackles. The lines do not seem to deteriorate with
UV at least not for a very long time. If they did then we would all
be scrapping every line on the boat together with the sails every
two years. Most of the lines on my last boat were still good after
10 years in the tropics although the genny sheets were very worn.
The thing that does have to be renewed every two years is the bungy
which takes up the slack on the topping lifts as it loses its
elasticity.
One thing you have to watch is that the lines securing the tacks are
not too long. About a couple of inches above the bottom of the
forestay is about right. If it is much higher the halyard will be
jammed up against the sheave box at the mast head when the tension
is cranked up to flatten the headsail as the wind strengthens.

Regards, Anne and John Bali Hai, SM 319

Hello Gary, Sorry about the delay, been moving house.
To replace the element or the thermostat you have to get the tank on
deck. To do this drain some of the coolant out of the main engine so
that when you remove the hoses from the engine to the tank the
coolant does not go all over the place. Remove the hoses from the
engine keeping your thumb over the end of one and put one end in the
tray under the engine and let all the coolant in the hose syphon out
before blowing down the hose to really get it all out. Repeat the
process with the two hoses connecting to the plumbing manifold
putting the cold hose under the engine to drain the tank. Release
the two s/s straps securing the tank and move it to a horizontal
position so you can get the end cover off to disconnect the wires
and then take the tank out on deck or ashore before removing the end
plate. This is held on by bolts and there is a plastic seal which
has silicone sealant on it so it is quite hard to prise the end
plate off using two screwdrivers on opposite sides of the end plate.
The plate and the tank are stove enamelled with a glass finish so be
careful. Have a helper handy when you open the tank so that both of
you can quickly scrape off the scale which is very soft but hardens
very quickly as it dries. Some of the scale is out of sight on the
heating coil and you really do have to get the tank out of the
engine room to empty all the scale/sludge out of it and to work on
the end plate etc.. I will post some photos of the fitting in the
SM319 Photo album, page 2. Click on the thumb nails to get large
scale pics.
Unscrewing the nut holding the heating element looks difficult.
There is no reset button but strangely there is a housing for a
separate therostat although the Quick element has its own stat with
no apparent way of bypassing it.
Refitting is ,I hope just a matter of reversing the process but I
won't know until I get the new anode and seals this week.
Good luck with it.

Regards, Anne and John, Bali Hai, SM319

Hello.

I wish to sell my Kirk.



It is in good condition: hull, engine, painting, sails, and electronics.

It has been used since 1996 two month a year in Greece by me and my family.

If you are interested ask for details and photographs to:

Philippe.lebegue@wanadoo.fr

(0033) (0)321834663

Hi Gary,

as I am away from my boat till May 19th, I cannot tell you what size Isotemp
tank Amel fit. If no one can tell us before then, I will let you know once
I am back on board.

I think that I will re-install my arrangement of valves thant I had on the
previous boat to allow the coolant water from the genset to also heat the
hot water tank. It was quite a job to make up a manifold for the Onan, but
once done, the water is heated far quicker than by the immersion heater
element, and it does make good use of otherwise wasted energy.

Regards

Ian Shepherd Crusader

May 1, 2004

Hi Ian:
Thanks for your post. I recently attended the Sail Expo West in
Oakland California, and there researched various hot water heaters.
I concluded that the Iso Temp all stainless steel one would be the
one I purchase as soon as I get Liahona to Ft. Lauderdale in June.
Which size does Amel install as the current equipment; the model 6401
10.5 gallon or the model 6501 13.2 gallon?

All of my discussion about the Quick water heater is just to get me
operational until I get the replacement.

Regards, Gary Silver Liahona

I have been reading the discussions regarding water tank anode replacement
with some concern as when I took delivery of boat # 414 I was told that
there was not an anode in the tank when I tried to order some spares.

However, having just made a visit to the yard, I have confirmed that this is
correct for the new model of tank now fitted made by Isotemp. It is all
stainless steel with a glass lining and so there should be no more red water
problem (originating from the copper heating coil disolving when the anode
has gone), and no more of that dreadfully messy job of replacing the anode
at frequent intervals. I think I had to do it around every six months on the
previous boat.

I guess that time will tell if the Isotemp tank does indeed live up to
expectations, but it might be worthwhile considering upgrading from the
Quick to the Isotemp?

Just a thought

Regards

Ian Shepherd 'Crusader'

May 1, 2004

The anchor wash down pump on our hull # 335 SM 2000 leaked from day
one. Amel rebuilt it under warranty twice (Laurent in Guadeloupe)
but it leaked sea water still. Last year Laurent replaced the pump
(again under warranty) with the higher voltage rated pump (I think 32
volts). I believe that the theory here was that the high voltage
pump would run slower on the available 24-28 volts and therefore be
less likely to generate as much pressure and be less likely to leak.
Nevertheless, the new pump leaks at the same parting seal despite
never having been turned on. I believe now that the surging
pressures in the sea chest (called "housing" by Amel) and the
associated plumbing may put too much pressure on this style of pump
seals. I have wondered about putting an accumulator tank in line here
to dampen pressure surges. I would be interested in the experience of
others.

I have purchased a Graco bronze vane pump with pressure switch. I am
anticipating replacing the Amel anchor wash down pump with this one
and in the process doing away with the sea water feed. I want to
plumb fresh water to this pump and hence to the anchor washdown. I
am also anticipating putting a valve and a hose bib in the forward
port locker to accomodate a deck wash down system using this newly
plumbed fresh water system. Has anybody else out there done this?
Any potential drawbacks to this? The only things I have worried
about are:
1. The size of the fresh water plumbing coming from the fresh water
tank, is it too small? Will the vane pump cavitate or not hold prime?
2. The pressure rating on the plastic tubing that runs from the
anchor washdown pump to the bow of the boat. I don't want to blow a
hole in this tubing.
Any thoughts on either of these two items.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Gary Silver

Liahona Amel SM 2000 Hull # 335

May 1, 2004

Hi Willem:

As regards the orientation of the three seals on the Amel prop shaft
bushing and seals, I am now uncertain how I oriented them. I do
remember that the drawing that Amel included with the manuals and
other documentation showed them oriented differently than how I found
them when I removed them on my boat. I believe that we decided it
was more important to keep the sea water out than to keep the oil in
so I think that we placed the inner two facing out and the outer one
facing in, (but again I can't remember for sure). I know we had a
discussion with the technician helping me, but he was not an Amel
person. It might be worth an Email to Amel to get their official
take on this (including the reasoning for their stance).

I will tell you that wherever the oil got on the bottom paint it
later peeled off in large sheets. I used aluminum foil to create a
scupper to drain the oil. Nevertheless some of the oil got around
the scupper and ran down onto the structures below. I will be much
more careful in the future to tape a larger aluminum foil scupper in
place below the drain plug to prevent any residual oil from getting
on the bottom paint.

Hope this helps,

Gary Silver

Liahona

May 1, 2004

Hi Everyone:

I have discovered a wonderful rust remover like nothing I have used
before. I had previously tried several others from various sources
including West Marine, all with marginal to no results. I bought a
small tube of a product call "MAGICA RUST REMOVER" at a chandlery in
St. Martin. When the head sail for my Amel SM was sewn, a simple
staple was laminated between two plies of the tack area material.
This single staple, over two years, rusted creating a 6 inch diameter
horrible rust spot in the tack of the sail. I applied some of the
Magica to this spot and stood back fully expecting it not to work.
However, over a period of about 10 minutes I just watched it
disappear. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. No damage to the sail, no residue,
etc. I flushed the area with copious amounts of fresh water, then
started using the stuff on all the other rust spots on my boat. We
had numerous small flecks of rust in our gel coat where hot ash fell
on the boat from industrial plants in La Corunia Spain. I had tried
virtually everything I could think of on these to no avail. You
guessed it, the Magica took it off first time every time. This
stuff worked so well I had to believe that it would cause some sort
of lasting damage. None apparent so far. I even contacted the
company and was reassured that I should not expect any damage. I
bought a bunch more for future use. You can buy it online at
www.magicarustremover.com . Make sure you type MAGICA with an "A"
on the end. When I first tried to google this name I typed
magicrustremover without success.

Try it, you will be impressed.

Regards, Gary Silver Amle SM 2000 Hull # 335
Currently in Providenciales, TCI (Turks and Caicos Islands)

Hi Gary,

Your description of replacing the seals from the prop shaft bushing
is very clear. Thank you very much!

One question remains: how to place the seals. Do I have to place 2
seals in such a manner that these prevent water coming in and the
third seal turned so it will prevent oil leaking out?


Regards,

Willem J. Kroes

Santorin 69 "Kavanga"
---- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, amelliahona <no_reply@y...>
wrote:

Jan 24, 2004
Hi Stephan:

Sorry to be so slow to answer: I am a new (and first time boat

owner

although I am a FAA certified aircraft mechanic and am used to
turning a wrench or two). We have had our Amel SM Hull #335 since
July 2003. Our first haul out was at the 1 & 1/2 year mark, having
been in Caribbean waters for about 9 months. The bottom was in

good

shape but because I wasn't sure how long to expect it to stay that
way we did the bottom paint. Amel recommends a hard bottom paint
(thus I believe this is a non-ablative type paint that you must

scrub

periodically). In checking with multiple sources the concensis was
that if you sail alot then an ablative paint works well because the
motion stirs things up and provides exposure of new paint. If you
don't sail a great deal (me, only about 4 months a year) then the
hard paint is better but must be periodically scrubbed. I chose
Petit Trinidad SR (a hard Slime Retardant paint) based on

discussions

with various yards in the Caribbean. It took 5 gallons to put 2
coats on everything and a third coat at the water line down about

18

inches (This is reportedly what the Moorings boats do). The paint
was about $155 USD in Grenada where I had it done. All they did

was

scuff sand the existing paint to provide tooth adhesion and put the
new paint on with a roller. It has held up well for 14 months now
and I did one scrubbing using 3M pads and two scuba tanks of air
(about a 5 hour job). At our haul out for the hurricane season the
bottom looked great. It is evidently imparative not to put a hard
paint over an ablative paint. I am told that it will flake off.

I have replaced the zincs twice. We are only in marinas hooked to
shore power for brief periods and when the zincs are about 50% gone

I

replaced them. Joel tells me that they may go in a few months or
last a year or more based on where the boat is and various marina
power scenarios etc. I guess I am about average at 15 months per
set.

I just changed the seals and the bronze prop shaft bushing with

about

400 hrs on the engine. There was no evidence of oil leakage at the
prop shaft. The oil was clean and there was very little wear on the
bushing. I suspect they would have easily gone to 1000 hours.

The procedure for changing the seals and busing isn't documented
anywhere so I thought I might tell you about my experience. I
purchased new "O" rings based on the drawing from Amel but my boat
has the rope cutter insalled and the "O" rings on the drain plug

are

a different size than depicted on the plain drain plug drawing.

The

chandlery in Nanny Cay had the correct size "O" ring. I don't know
what size "O" ring I ended up with but it would be worth checking
with Amel for the correct size for you application. The "0" rings

on

the bushing were supplied on mine spare from Amel. Exactly 8.5
liters of very clean oil drained from the drive and I used a

syringe

to get all that I could out of the bottom of the drive as described
by Amel. I used some penetrant oil the night before on all the set
screws that hold the rope cutter in place and they all cam out
easily. The various spacers and cutter came off the shaft and the
bushing slid out very nicely. This left the three seals in place.
There may be various ways to remove the seals but what we did is
drilled two small holes on each side of the seal, screwed a sheet
metal screw into the two holes and used a slide hammer connected to
the screws to pull the seal out. Then we drilled two more holes in
the next seal and repeated this process two more times. The seals
came out easily using this method. Prying etc would have been a
bigger chore. Some people collapse the seals with a punch but I

was

afraid this might damage the prop shaft. The new seals slid in and
were tapped into place using an appropriately size piece of pipe
about 14 inches long. I will measure this next time I am on the

boat

and post the dimensions because the size must be quite exact to fit
the seal and it must be long enough to extend beyond the end of the
prop shaft. Anyone doing this job themselves might want to put
together a tool kit that included this pipe (seal driver). Once the
seals are in place the bushing was inserted and pushed in so that

its

most aft portion is flush with the drive housing. Then all the

other

stuff (cutter and spacers, prop etc) were re-assembled and the

drive

was filled with 8.5 liters of 15/40 Diesel Engine Oil. I used
Lanicote on the prop shaft becuase I understand it will prevent
dissimilar metal corrosion.

When I removed the prop originally (which we did for the Autoprop
recall) we had a very difficult time. We had the Amel prop puller
and actually stretched the bolts to breaking once. All the tapping
and pulling we exerted didn't seem to help. Many folks gathered
around in the yard to offer a host of suggestions but finally what
work almost instantaneously was tapping around the circumference of
the prop hub on the forward aspect of the hub. There wasn't a spec
of corrosion or anything else holding the prop in place, just a

good

tight tapered shaft and Woodruff key.

I just had the fresh water pump fail. Fortunately I had a spare

and

promptly installed it. Upon disassembly of the original pump I

found

the pump housing, bronze impeller and motor shaft all pristine. A
plain steel Woodruff key was used by the manufacturer and it was
completely corroded away so that the impeller just spun on the

motor

shaft. I have tried un-successfully to find stainless steel or
bronze Woodruff Keys. I am going to manufature my own from

stainless

steel. Seems odd though that they would put a mild steel key in a
pump like this.

I have changed the finger zinc in the Onan genset once and it was
about 50% gone. I was able to obtain several more from my local

Onan

dealer here in the US.

I have ordered the water heater zincs from West Marine who had to
order them from Plastimo. It has been six weeks and I am still
waiting. West Marine/Plastimo wanted about $50.00 each for them.

I

didn't price them from Amel because the one I originally bought

from

Amel was the incorrect size. I only discovered that after the

messy

job of opening the water heater.

One other job that is important as far as preventive maintenance is
winch overhauls. I ordered the book from Lewmar and an overhaul
kit. Mostly you need the Lewmar grease, some plastic buckets to

use

to soak and scrub the various parts in some mineral spirits, a soft
bristled brush to help wash with and a few small brushes to apply

the

grease with. All of our winches were in great shape after 1.5

years,

including a trans-atlantic. Lewmar says they should be overhauled

3

times per season. If you did that with 11 winches you would spend
your entire season overhauling winches. It took me about 1 to 2
hours per winch to overhaul them based on the size of the winch.

It

is fairly straight forward (just remember for sure how you took

them

apart). The only winches that showed any signs of distress were
those on the main mast since they have so much greater sea water
exposure. I will plan to do them twice per year from now on. The
others will do nicely being done once a year based on my use.

I haven't yet tackled the bow thruster work. If there is anybody

out

there that could give details of the process it would be greatly
appreciated.

Regards, Gary Silver s/v Liahona Sea Cow Bay, Tortola



--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "Stephan Regulinski"
<stephreg@y...> wrote:

We are planning a haul out in the next several months. Can

anyone

advise on basic bottom paint stuff?

1. How much bottom paint should we plan on buying?

2. How many coats are applied?

3. Is a prep coat of something required before bottom paint?

4. What surface prep is required?

Since we will not be in an Amel yard, I want to know how it is

best

done, not what the local guy thinks!

I also understand that I should service the bow thruster, change

the

seals and oil in the sail drive and check/replace the zincs. Am

I

missing anything important?

Thanks for your help,

Stephan G. Regulinski
S/V Delos (SMM #303)

In discussions with Joel yesterday he revealed to me something that
I hadn't previously known that I would like to share.

I inquired about his recommendation for replacement intervals for
the topping lift lines and the clew and tack securing lines. He
indicated that he thought the topping lift lines (those for the two
booms) should be replaced every couple of years. This especially
made sense to me when the boat is located in the Caribbean where the
UV damage to lines is high.

As for the tack and clew securing lines he indicated that they
should be replaced with similar strength line since they are
selected from a material that should fail before something else
breaks. He indicated that Amel supplied some of this extra line to
owners when they took delivery. I did not receive any and I was
wondering if other owners did? It is not a big deal and I can
certainly order some from Amel (or at least find out the breaking
tensil strength specification from Amel), but inquiring minds want
to know. If this is a fail safe item it would also be important to
know how many turns of line Amel considers appropriate for each of
the tacks and clews. If you know the answers to these questions
please post
them.

Sincerely,
Gary Silver

s/v Liahona Hull #335 Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

I received another fax from Amel again stating that the electric
heating element is 600 watts. This despite the fact that I faxed
them the parts list from Quick showing that there IS NOT a 600 watt
element for this unit. I plan on calling them again on this but it
seems that confusion continues on this point.

John, I would really like to get your take on the replacement
procedure for the electric heating element.

Thanks,

Gary Silver

April 25, 2004 21:47 MST

Dear John:
Thank you for your reply and the information. I am guessing that M.
Selo's response, that it was a 600 watt element, was just a
typographical error.

I had the same problem with the anode supplied to me by Amel when I
took delivery. The anode they supplied was too small, had the
incorrect diameter mounting screw and just plain wouldn't work. I
ordered two of the correct anodes from West Marine, who got them
through Plastimo USA, who got them from QUICK. It took 9 weeks as I
recall. The QUICK part number is MMANMG450000. Quick or Plastimo
would not drop ship the item so after a backorder of 5 weeks it had
to be shipped to each individual vendor. Maddening. The price was
about $50.00 US each.

The anodes I received are indeed about 10 inches long, about 1/2
inch in diameter and had what I believe is a M10 bolt protruding
about 1/2 inch from the end. This bolt by the way is about 4 & 1/2
inches long and goes quite a distance into the anode. When I did
open the tank the original anode was completely gone (as in eroded
completely through) at the level of the threaded screw end, (i.e.
about 4 inches up from the end that screws into the tank lid). A
large segment of the anode was still intact but of no use since it
was sitting in the tank not attached to anything. I backed out the
threaded portion with Vice Grips and inserted the new one without
difficulty. Re-installing the tank lid was a real problem. Trying
to align the eight loose bolts in their slots and engage the tank
lid at the same time was atrocious. Bad design in my view. It
might work just fine with the tank in an upright position but in the
angled position in the engine room it was almost impossible. I
plan on using "O" rings and a thin nut to hold the eight bolts in
place in the future. There is a gap between the tank rim and the
tank lid that I believe will accommodate this approach.

I am half hoping that all that is wrong with my electric element is
that I did not push the "reset button" on the thermostat. I don't
recall being made aware of this button during the owner school and
the only piece of literature I had aboard was the data sheet and it
didn't mention it. I only learned about it after I was off the boat
and by downloading the QUICK User's Manual from the following
www.quickitaly.com web site (also includes the parts list).
Nevertheless I plan on getting an element to install if the button
reset doesn't work.

If it wouldn't be too much trouble to re-submit the details of the
procedure you used for replacing the electric element I know I would
find it useful and perhaps so would others on this web site. I take
it that the thermostat is a separate piece that somehow attaches to
the electric element. It isn't clear to me if the element screws out
with the oversized nut (about 3 inches across). Your experience
would be appreciated.

I believe that the engine heat exchanger doesn't work until the
engine thermostat opens up and when in the marina trying to heat
water with the engine took some time since I couldn't put the engine
under load very well.

Lastly, did you have some other difficulties with you unit other
than the anode?

Again thanks for your thoughts.

Sincerely Gary Silver s/v Liahona Hull # 335

Hi Gary,
The element is 500 watts. To replace it you will need a new plastic
seal and an anode.I know because my cylinder is sitting in my
cockpit awaiting spares from Quick through their local agency in
Malta who are anything but quick. I suggest you get two lots of
anodes and seals!!!
This is my second attempt to reply, the first one gave detailed
instructions on how to do it but got lost as I failed to do the
reply properly on this system. If you are going to do it yourself
let me know and I will draft a new set of hints.
The most important thing to remember is that when you or a tech
finally gets the thing open, it is essential to work fast at
descaling as the scale is like butter at first and soon like
concrete.
One or other part will be descaled first and the other should be
kept wet until dealt with.
Oh,by the way, the anode is a rod about 10 inches long with a female
thread in one end and bears no resemblance to the ones that M.Selo
sent me.

Good luck, John Bali Hai, SM319

Hello All:
I have the Amel installed Quick brand B45 (45 liter) hot water
heater on our hull # 335 Amel SM 2000. I have been corresponding
unsuccesfully with Amel for 2 weeks trying to determine the size
(wattage) of the electric heating element. I am not currently on the
boat yet I need to order the proper wattage element. The data sheet
for the water heater, that was included with all the other equipment
manuals, shows it to be a 1200 watt element, but the electric load
table in the Amel owners manual shows 500 watts. M. Selo emailed me
that they are 600 watts, yet the Quick parts manual supplied to me by
Plastimo USA shows there is not a 600 watt element (only 500 watt and
1200 watt). I phoned and faxed all this to Amel but have had no
response yet. If I fit a 1200 watt element and the circuit breaker
is sized only for 500 watts then it will pop the breaker. If I fit a
500 watt element when the 1200 watt is appropriate, the water will be
slow to heat.

Is anybody on their boat currently that has this same water heater
and could verify on the element itself what wattage it is? According
to Quick the data plate on the water heater should read as
follows: "B xx yy z" , where xx equals the size in liters (45 in
this case), yy equals the wattage of the electric element (00= none,
05 = 500 watts, 12 = 1200 watts) , and z equals S indicating that a
heat exchanger is present.

Optionally could anyone at least tell me what amperage the water
heater circuit breaker is?

I believe there is a small data plate on the end of the brown
thermostat housing on the water heater that might reveal the proper
wattage.

Or could someone use a clamp style amp meter to measure the AC amps
that their water heater draws while using 220 volt AC.

Thanks for any help.

Gary Silver, s/v Liahona Amel SM 2000 #335 The boat is
currently in Providenciales (aka Provo), TCI (Turks and Caicos
Islands)

I am glad to see that you have resolved your problem. However as a
general comment it is possible to get a motor rewound thus bringing
back to its original performance at a fraction of the cost of a new
motor.There are specialist companies to do this in most large towns
and harbours around the world. Although it is a bit late you might
consider getting the old motor rewound to have as a spare. Many
technicians will not tell you this but are not slow in keeping the
burnt out motor or alternater so they can get it rewound etc to
sell it on.
Having owned an Oyster ketch without a bow thruster I often called
up the marina in advance and asked them to provide a marinero in a
dinghy to act as a bow thruster and get me into the berth safely. On
the rare occasions when I had spare crew I put one member in the
dinghy to see me in. Similarly I have used my dinghy to help others
into their berths. It can be done by pushing the bow but the
professionals seem to prefer lashing their dinghy alongside and
using forward or astern to help you get in safely.

Best wishes, Anne and John, Bali Hai SM319

amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "dimitriskrassopoulos" <dkra@a...>
wrote:

Dear All.

As you remember I had over-used the bowthruster and I wish to

advise

you of my experience with that.

After the incident the bowthruster continued to work. I used it

five

times without problem 3hours after the incident the next day of

the

incident and 3days after the incident with an electrician while we
were trying to evaluate the extend of the damage. I left from the
marina for the Eastern vacation without any problem using the
thruster cautiously. When we arrived in Poros 30 nm away and with
strong side wind I lowered the thruster and it didn't work at all
without any warning. I was surprised ofcource and we left
immediatelly for the next harbor Porto-Heli 25 nm away where I

was

able by coincidence to moor the boat without the thruster. I
immediattely ordered the new motor in La Rochelle and they shipped
it same day by UPS to my adress in Athens. When we arrived back it
was practically impossible to moor the boot as the cross wind was
over 18 Knots and I put with great difficulty the boot with the

bow

in its moorafter 3 attempts. The boot is completly unmanouvarble
without the thruster, the combination of the folding propeller

with

the great distance between the prop wash and the rudder make it
impossible to steer back wards but also straight forward to put

the

boot in the moor.

I was extremeely happy to install the new motor in place exactly

the

same day of our arrival in Kalamaki. It took 3hours to remove the
old motor and put the new one in place. It can be done with the

help

of another sailor. I put immediattely the boat correctly in its

moor.

I want to express my regards to the excellent after sales service

in

La Rochelle and to warn everybody that if the thruster has a

problem

it is better not to approach a harbor that you know that is tight
and cross wind is expected.

Regards

Dimitris Krassopoulos
SM Alma Libre