Koen & Roy: Thank you for the advice re my watermaker problems. I am following up with Amel and Dessalator and will let you know how I do.<br>Michael Glass<br>Second Call

Hello David,<br>Not sure I fully understand your
request, but after spending 5 years in Europe on my SM, I
have learned that there is no equivalent to West
Marine in Europe. It's a very fragmented industry over
there.<br>The best shipchandler in France is Accastillage
Diffusion. They carry most of the stuff on Amel boats, from
batteries to anchor chain, and especially fittings and
hardware by Wichard and other European suppliers (but so
does West!)<br>AD has a web site:
www.accastillage-diffusion.com/acceuil.html I think it's only in French. They have a dealer
in ST. Martin, called Profil Ocean, tel # 05 90 29
00 66 (that's a French phone number, not sure of St.
Martin's prefix). Hope this helps.<br>Roy
Benveniste<br>Super Maramu #195 "Excalibur"

Same experience. My end fittings cracked after 2
years of use. Dessalator repalced them free of charge
with the new design. But before I changed them, I
learned how to disassemble and reassemble the entire
membrane assembly in under 5 minutes! (while looking for
the source of the leak)<br>Call Mr. Selo at Amel, he
should be able to get you the new parts. They're very
easy to replace. Or call Dessalator in Antibes, they
speak English.<br>To disassemble the membranes, first
remove the high-pressure water intake and outlet hoses
from the inboard end of the membranes. Then remove the
nuts at the end of the long threaded rods that keep
the aluminum plates together. Remove the six rods,
then remove the outboard aluminum plate, which is
bolted to the supporting wall. Undo the PVC couplings to
the low-pressure hoses. The membrane assembly should
then come loose. <br>To remove the white plastic
end-caps from the membrane tubes, just twist them off
while holding the tubes. The new end-caps just press
on.<br>Let me know if I can provide additional
information.<br>Roy Benveniste<br>Super Maramu #195 "Excalibur"

Hello Micheal,<br><br>This is a common problem
with older systems, the plastic end-pieces do crack.
Amel had a lot of complaints about that and the
changed the design, but I had also a crack in a new end
piece..<br>Sorry to say, it is poor engineering.<br>So please
complain to Amel and maybe they will change to metal
end-pieces. <br>A local machine shop helped me out once by
milling new plastic end caps. The new end caps from Amel
also fit the older designs and are better. Don't
worry, there is nothing wrong with Ur membranes.<br>The
main problem with these crack is that Ur whole engine
room is sprayed with salt water.<br><br>Koen<br>Flash
IV

I own a Super Maramu 2000 presently located in
the BVI. Recently, I experienced a Dessalinator
watermaker problem and I am wondering if anyone else has had
the same experience. Please forgive my hopelessly
arcane description which follows. Leaks have developed
in 2 fittings which attach to one of the long
osmotic membranes/tubes. The water leaks only when the
pump is under high pressure (meaning only when you use
it).<br>One leak is in the coupling which connects the the
hose running from the high pressure pump to the first
osmotic membrane. I presume I can just find somewhere to
get a new coupling made up and replace the defective
coupling. The more difficult problem is the second leak.
The source of the leak appears to be a crack in a
plastic female threaded hole located at the end of the
aluminum plate that caps the 2 osmotic membrane tubes. A
PVC male "union" piece screws into the cracked female
threaded hole and then a PVC nut with PVC pipe screws into
that. The nut holds in place the short length of PVC
pipe which appears to communicate with the second
membrane tube. Essentially, therefore, the crack is in the
piece into which the communicating pipe is screwed.
Because the piece is located at the terminal end of the
membrane I am not sure if the plastic piece is actually
part of the membrane tube or can be replaced as part
of the aluminum end plate. I am hoping I won't have
to buy a whole new membrane just to fix a small
crack in the plastic piece. I sure wish I spoke French!
I could probably resolve the issue with a telephone
call to Dessalinator. Does anyone know of a
Dessalinator dealer in the USA or in the Virgin Islands?
Thanks for any help that can be offered.<br> Michael
Glass<br> Second Call<br> Melville, New York

John,<br>I may never get it straight. Peter Briggs NEIGHBOR had a FREIND who was getting an Amel. Sorry.<br>Jim

Roy,<br>Just to add to Johns answer, the
Gyro-plus is an Autohelm (Raytheon) autopilot accessary
which uses a gyroscope to sense changes in boat
headding. This is much more sensative than a magnetic
compass, especially in the more northern latitudes and on
northerly headings. Here, due to compass dip, caused by the
earths magnetic lines curving down toward the pole, the
magnetic compass may initially indicate a turn in the
opposite direction, and badly "confuse" the auto pilot.
The advantage of the gyroscope in equatorial areas
and on southerly headings may be much less
apparent.<br><br>And John,<br>I think I've got it straight now. I
think what Peter Briggs told me was that his neighbor
was getting an Amel in Sept. and that He thought the
neighbor was going to crew for him. You could reply to
jjwiggin@attglobal.net if you cared to.<br><br>Jim Wiggin

ROY,<br>FIRST OF ALL I AM ENVIOUS OF YOUR TIME IN
THE MED, BUT MY DAY IS COMING! THE GYRO FEATURE AS
JEAN-JACQUES FROM AMEL DESCRIBED IT WORKS THROUGH
SOPHISTICATED MICROPROCESSORS AND MUCH MORE EFFICIENT ELECTRIC
MOTORS AT THE QUADRANT RESULTING IN SMOOTH ALMOST
EFFORTLESS TRACKING DOWN WIND. AS I STATED IN A PRIOR
MESSAGE MY LOCAL BOAT'S AUTOHELM 6000 WHILE ALSO ON THE
QUADRANT IS NO WHERE AS EFFICIENT, NOR CAPABLE OF HOLDING
A DOWNWIND COURSE THAN THIS NEW VERSION. IT DOESN'T
EVEN SOUND LIKE THE NEW ONE! IT GRUNTS, SCREAMS ALMOST
UNDER LOAD, EVEN AFTER I HAVE TRIMMED ALL SAILS. ON THE
SM I DO HAVE A BACK UP PILOT ON THE WHEEL,
CHAIN/GEAR DRIVEN, BUT HAVE YET TO USE IT. I SUGGEST YOU
TALK WITH AN AUTOHELM DEALER ABOUT
CONVERETING.<br>ENJOY YOUR SAILING!<br>JOHN FOLINO

Hi John & Jim,<br>Could you educate me on the
"gyro" feature of the Autopilot? My SM is 4.5 years old,
with the Autohelm 7000 (wheel chain drive only), and I
don't recall any such feature.<br>Since we're heading
out into the Atlantic this coming summer, after 5
seasons in the Med, I might actually start sailing
instead of motoring!<br>Thanks, Roy

JIM,<br>YES I DID AND SINCE MY 40' YAWL IN
BUZZARDS BAY HAS AN AUTOHELM 6000 WITHOUT THE "GYRO" AND A
FULL KEEL, AND WANDERS AIMLESSLY OFF THE WIND! I CAN
ONLY SAY THAT THE SM WITH AUTOPILOT STEERS
EFFORTLESSLY DOWNWIND IN GOOD SIZED SWELLS (10' TO 15') WITH
20 APPARENT KTS ON A BROAD REACH. IN FACT THE AMP
METER BARELY MOVES SUGGESTING RELATIVELY LOW
EFFORT.<br>HAPPY NEW YEAR,<br>JOHN FOLINO

helo
ivar,
Are you able to email me more details of your SM for Sale?

Regards
Peter Hall
phall@irishmed.ie

John,<br><br>Regarding downwind tracking, did you add the Gyro-plus option to the auto pilot?<br><br>Jim Wiggin

John,<br>I am following your entries with
interest as we will get our SM Sept. 16. We had a Pearson
356 which did not pound at all and the sections
through the bows sounds like a good
explanation.<br><br>"Buzzards Bay", hmmmm. I had heard from Peter Briggs that
someone in Mattapoisett was getting a SM. Could that be
you?<br><br>Jim Wiggin

ROY,<br>THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE. THIS WILL BE AN
EXPERIMENT AND I CERTAINLY WILL ADVISE YOU OF THE RESULTS. I
HAVE A TRADITIONAL 40' YAWL ON BUZZARDS BAY (CAPE COD
AREA). SHE HAS A FULL KEEL WITH A CENTERBOARD, BUT
SELDOM POUNDS. SHE HEELS AND PITCHES, YAWS AND ROLLS
THROUGH CHOP, BUT CERTAINLY NOT AS FAST AS THE SM. I AM
AWARE OF THE FLATTER SECTIONS, BUT IF THATS HER ONLY
NEGATIVE POINT, THEN I CAN LIVE WITH THIS.<br>HAPPY NEW
YEAR,<br>JOHN FOLINO

Hi John,<br>Your plan to place anchors and chain
in engine room can't hurt. However, the SM's
tendency to pound to weather may have more to do with the
relatively flat bow sections than with weight distribution.
Compared to the earlier Maramu, the SM is quite flat
forward. This makes her lighter and also faster in light
winds (less wetted surface), but does lead to pounding
in a chop. <br>In any boat, moving weight from the
ends to the center reduces pitching moment of inertia,
meaning she'll rise faster to the next wave, and also
come down faster in the trough. Whether this reduces
pounding is questionnable. What it will do is reduce green
water over the bow.<br>Let us know what you find out if
you try it!<br>Regards, Roy Benveniste

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL. I RECENTLY RECEIVED AMEL
SM #347 & DELIVERED HER (SULAJON) FROM LAROCHELLE TO
LAGOS, PORTUGAL. ON JANUARY 17, 2002 WE WILL DEPART
LAGOS FOR THE CANARIES, THEN ONTO THE CARIBBEAN (BVI).
MY EXPERIENCE WAS BETTER THAN I EVER IMAGINED. AS I
HAD SAILED ON TWO SM'S I HAD PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS
ABOUT HER SAILING CAPABILITIES! HOWEVER, I WAS TRULY
IMPRESSED WITH HER DOWN WIND TRACKING AND LIGHT HELM, NOT
TO MENTION AMEL'S ATTENTION TO DETAIL. WHAT WAS A
SURPRISE WAS HER TENDANCY TO POUND IN A CHOP GOING TO
WEATHER. MY PLAN UPON MY RETURN IS TO BROAD REACH TO THE
CARIBBEAN. PLANS FREQUENTLY DON'T WORK OUT AS LAID OUT,
THEREFORE THE REASON FOR MY QUESTION. I AM THINKING OF
REMOVING NEARLY 700 POUNDS OF ANCHORS & CHAIN FROM THE
STEM AND STOWING SAME IN BURLAP BAGS BENEATH THE
GENSET WITH SUITABLE LASHINGS. COMMENTS,
SUGGESTIONS?<br>JOHN FOLINO

Can anyone tell me of a marine supplier like West
Marine which sells metric parts and equipment
manufactured in Europe? It would be great to find a company
which also speaks English - perhaps in the Caribbean?
Thanks.<br><br>David Lambertsen<br>s/v Have Fun!<br>Amel Maramu 258

To svladysadie, (Bill Atz)<br>Bill, I can't tell
you very much more. It was done as a "one off" by the
owner (non-English speaking)& is berthed next to me in
Antibes,S.France. He did give me the name of the person who carried
it out in France (not a lot of use I think!) I don't
have a photo but will take one next time I visit. I
could send a diagram but I don't know how to do this
except direct to your e-mail address. The dingy is left
on for short (and not so short!)sails.<br>John
McDougall

I have just completed an alphabetic listing of
English/French and French/English nautical terms. It is a work
in progress and not all the nouns have genders
attached. It consists of 2 Microsoft Excel files.<br><br>If
anyone wishes to have copies please e-mail me
at<br>peterweston@netzero.net

Hi,<br>I owned a Maramu (#146, 1983)for 13 years,
and now have a Super Maramu (#195, 1997). I have
fitted davits on both boats, of my own design. This
design has been seen and copied by several Amel owners
in Europe and in the US. I have used the davits for
a Zodiac MkI GT Futura, weighing 150 pounds, and
12.5 ft. long. After 14 years, the Zodiac is going to
be replaced by a RIB of the same weight, probably an
Avon 310. Part of the reason the Zodiac lasted 14
years is that it was on davits, not sitting in the
water.<br>I use the davits for everything but open water
crossings, when the Zodiac was deflated and stored in the
lazarette. For the RIB, I expect to stow it deflated on the
back deck.<br>The dinghy is never on the davits with
the outboard on -- the 15HP Mariner weighs 75 pounds,
and I consider that unsafe.<br>The davits are mounted
on "sockets" bolted through the toerail at the
stern. The davits are removable (in less than 2
minutes), and stow in the lazarette. We use a topping lift
from the mizzen head to the outboard ends of the
davits to take the load off the davits. When mooring
stern-to (we've been in the Med the last 5 years), we drop
the dinghy, then back in. The davits and their
cross-bar actually make it easier to get on and off the
boat.<br>If anyone is interested, send me an e-mail at
roybentcg@aol.com and I will send you drawings and
photos.<br><br>Regards, Roy Benveniste<br>SM "Excalibur"