Message text written by INTERNET:amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com

<

Hello Richard, I would take any test results by any magazine with a large
pinch of salt. For a really incomplete test see the pathetic report in the
December issue of "Sailing Today". Bear in mind that journalists are not
liveaboards and almost certainly keep their boats in marinas and never
anchor overnight in all conditions. No anchor is perfect in every situation
but properly deployed Bruces, Spades and Bugels are top class in most
bottoms whereas a Danforth type will be better in others.

Hang on in there ! John Bali Hai, SM 319

Message text written by INTERNET:amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com

<

Hi Ian, Wow, I am glad I did not bother to attend. I shall have to save my
pennies for the Dusseldorf Show next year.

Regards, John SM319 Bali Hai

Bengt,

Sorry, I haven't proceeded with fitting the big Bruce up there on
the bow--so nothing to report.
I stopped short of this because of the success of the Spade anchors
in tests conducted in the various press, including Pratical Sailor.
And the recent issue of Yachting Monthly conducted a test of
anchors, with poor reviews for the Bruce and Bruce clones.
If anyone has a suggestion on where to find the best price on a 30kg
galvanized Spade, that'd be great.

Richard Tate
SM "Spice"

--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, Louise o Bengt Mårtensson
<tintoamel@y...> wrote:

Long ago You wrote about fitting an 110 lb Bruce anchor.
How did it fit? Did it work well for You.
best regards
Bengt Mårtensson

Long ago You wrote about fitting an 110 lb Bruce anchor.
How did it fit? Did it work well for You.
best regards
Bengt Mårtensson
--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, closereach <no_reply@y...>
wrote:

2-Dodger windows: When taking significant spray and going into

the

sun you are almost blind. Has anyone used anything on these

windows

to improve visibility such as rainX? Also, the helmsman window
leaked is this normal and is there a way to seal it better.

RT: We found on our trip traveling down the ICW that when motoring
into a 15 kt or higher breeze the wave chop does put a good amount

of

spray on the dodger window and makes it very hard to peer forward.

I

too would like to know of some 'magic' way to improve visibility.
Offshore I can see that this is not a big problem but traveling
inside a channel makes it difficult. My solution was to crack the
window open the smallest amount to peek through while getting the
least amount of spray coming past the opening.

3-Anchors: So far the standard anchor has worked well I also have

a

40lb danford. What other anchors are being carried out there.

RT: We found our 60 lb. CQR worked great everywhere but one place--
Southport, NC. We anchored in the 'old' basin where all the fishing
vessels are located. Very very soft mud. CQR dragged throught like
butter. I deployed my 35 lb. stainless steel Northill anchor with
success. I have purchased a 110 lb. Bruce and will put that on the
bow as the primary anchor.
.

Hi Rob,

Forgot 1 important item...The fake leather ceiling lining from
early SM's (and Maramu's Sharki's etc), falls down...
This material is foam backed and the foam just desintegrates..
The hotter the climat the faster it desintegrates.
The whole boat is covered with this material also inside lockers etc..
I don't know exactly when Amel changed this, but guess it must have
been 93-94.
Most boats I have seen solved this with some wooden linings, this
works tempory as after a while the whole foam desintegrates and vinyl
is hanging loose between the wooden linings.
Amel now uses the same material but backed with felt.
The only good solution is to remove the old vinyl all over the
boat, and re-glue with the new stuff.
The result is as new, but it took us nearly 3 weeks with 3 people.

Hope this is of any help for You

Koen





--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "Ian Shepherd" <g4ljf@c...>
wrote:

To the Amel Network: Greetings!

I have been an observer member of your group for many yearning

years. And am about to graduate as an owner member. I'm excited and a
little daunted. The boat, Signore dei Mari is lying Antalya, and very
soon to become Australian owned. She has been Swiss owned (and very
loved since launch in 1989/90.

So hello SuperMaramu and Mediterrranean sailors. Can you help me

please with:

1. location of best slipway services and prices in the eastern Med

2. location of best marina prices

3. best underwriting of SuperMaramus at value for money prices

4. names and manufacturers of best antifouling paints available in

Europe/Turkey

5. do you treat diesel for fungi and bacteria in Europe

6. And I would welcome any and all advice and recommedations

relevant to my finalising my purchase. In anticipation - thank you
and best regards.

My direct contact is brennan@w...

Best regards from downunder,

Rob Brennan

Hi John,

I was not impressed with the London Boat Show at the new ExCel site. I never thought that much of Earls Court either, but at least it was on two levels and you could get a good idea of the layout and where you needed to go.

The trip out to Docklands was a bit of a mystery. The trick is to stay on the Bakerloo line all the way to Canning Town, then change to the DLR. We queued for almost 30 minutes to buy tickets. Only half the ticket kiosks were in operation. Get yours prior to arriving and you will get straight in. I found finding your way around very difficult. I wasted most of the day trying to fathom out where those people I wanted to see were located. Even with detailed instructions from the information desk, it was a maze. There are no overhead signs and many of the exhibitors had removed their stand numbers as it did not fit in with their logo!

All of the restaurants were booked out for lunch. The alternative sandwich bars etc were of dreadful quality. The outside boat display was very disappointing with very few yachts on display. I fact I got the impression that the show was very much a power boat show rather than a sail boat show, but so perhaps was Earls Court. The indoor wind surfing display was not working due to 'technical difficulties'.

I will never go back. The Southampton show is the one I really like, though if you want a really first class show that has everything and is well laid out and easy to navigate, I would recommend Düsseldorf.

No, Amel were not there, but they do attend Southampton.

Best Wishes

Ian

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

hi,
has anyone rigged an inner forestay on a super maramu?
thanks
eric

Hi From Heather and Ron Brown - we have recently purchased SM171 -
Tradewinds III-in Perth and sailed her around "over the top" to our home
port of Southport. We are very happy with her although as always there are
a few things to add or fix - davits, sails and a leaking end on the
watermaker. When these are done we expect to head off to the Louisiades
this season and hopefully SE Asia next season. Not sure where you are based
in OZ - maybe we can make contact sometime.

Ron and Heather Brown

----------
From: koenvelleman <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
To: amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: A Relay from Rob Brennan
Date: SatMon 17 17Jan 0220042002 0212:33 PM


Hi Rob,

Here a few answers to Ur questions:

The Med is a big place and there are huge differences in quality and
prices of services, what will be Ur route ?

I never used any fuel additive, not in Europe nor in
the rest of the world.

As for antifouling I always used Micron by International paints,
its widely available and self polishing. Ofcourse all depend what
has been used previously.

The early SM had some problems:

1) The early Z-drive was changed to a much more stronger version.
There have been a lot of problems with this early drive. (broken
gears). As the unit is sealed it is not possible to repair.
The new drive solved all the problems. Replacing the old drive for
the new one is possible and best done at the Amel wharf.
Be prepaired for a salty invoice. Try to have a look at a recent SM
so that U can see the difference.
I had personaly no problems with this drive, but I know of several
boats who suffered damage. The people from Amel have warned me
that it was riscky to leave Europe with the early drive.
(I changed it)

2) The early headsail furling was CRAP. Most older SM have changed
this unit to a new version (there a several versions), but some
seldom used boats still have this old unit. Also the older
profile has only 2 sail tracks and a different
head, wich means that U can not roll the ballooner and genoa
together in a downwind squall...a big disadvantage. There a
a few ways around this problem but the best solution is to change
the alu profile and head. (3 tracks)

3) The mainsail electric drive had also its problems. The early drive
gearboxes are Italien industrial gearboxes with a mild steel shaft
wich is exposed. This shaft rusts and the sealing starts leaking.
Amel used normal grease and this grease doesn't like seawater and
becomes stone-hard.
It is important to strip these units before a big trip, replace
the sealings and pack with a grease that supports seawater.
(Locktite for ex has such grease, also Amel uses a similar
grease now.
The early angle reverser is of a very poor design, change it
to the new design or U risk of being unable to roll the main in..
(also not manually!) Got this problem personaly.

4) The original ZEISSE genset created a lot of problems.
Most SM changed to another brand. The main problem was cooling.
The seawaterpump is driven by a tiny belt wich slips and breaks.
I put this pump directly on the cranckshaft (as prepared by
Farymann diesel) and changed the cooling to fresh water cooling.
My unit is still working perfect under all sea conditions.

5) The electrical system of the early SM's is not fit for offshore
cruising. The boat is all electric, the charging and
batteries are completly unsufficient. As Amel tackled this
problem quite late, somewhere in the mid 90, U will see most SM
running their gensets for hours in offshore anchorages.
Some SM's have an alternator on the prop and this works
fantastic. We run radar, lights, fridge, freezer, laptop,
SSB, C-Sat, weatherfax, autopilot, breadmachine etc
without running the genset or engine when
sailing. The problems start when anchoring.
I dubbeled the batteries, replaced the 20amp charger with a 75amp
one (Mastervolt), put an extra 50 amp alternator on the main
engine. 40 min genset in the morning and evening will keeps my
batteries happy (in the tropics).

6) The early Autohelm 7000 had some mechanical problems.
A plastic gear in the drive breaks in heavy seas.
They changed this gear to a copper one. Its easy to
correct this problem.
As I had doubts about the Autohelm pilots (from previous exper.),
I changed the main pilot to B&G, with the added advantage that
it can talk to the B&G instruments.
I heard from early SM owners that they are quite happy with
their Autohelm 7000 (after changing the plastic gear).

7) The electric Lewmar winches on the early SM's had also sealing
problems. If this gets serious then water gets to the gearbox
and moter unit. This can be solved if their is no damage to the
gearbox.


The positive side is that the after-sale service of Amel is very
good and that none of the problems I had are structural.
The 1989 SM and the 2004 SM are basicly the same, wich is a proof
of the very well tought design. That Amel improves equipment and
details is normal. By following their important changes You can
improve Your boat to the new standards and that makes an Amel unique.

Fair Winds !

Koen
Flash IV
SM17

--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "Ian Shepherd" <g4ljf@c...>
wrote:

To the Amel Network: Greetings!

I have been an observer member of your group for many yearning

years. And am about to graduate as an owner member. I'm excited and a
little daunted. The boat, Signore dei Mari is lying Antalya, and very
soon to become Australian owned. She has been Swiss owned (and very
loved since launch in 1989/90.

So hello SuperMaramu and Mediterrranean sailors. Can you help me

please with:

1. location of best slipway services and prices in the eastern Med

2. location of best marina prices

3. best underwriting of SuperMaramus at value for money prices

4. names and manufacturers of best antifouling paints available in

Europe/Turkey

5. do you treat diesel for fungi and bacteria in Europe

6. And I would welcome any and all advice and recommedations

relevant to my finalising my purchase. In anticipation - thank you
and best regards.

My direct contact is brennan@w...

Best regards from downunder,

Rob Brennan

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Message text written by INTERNET:amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com

<

Dear Ian, Thanks for the tip about omitting the swivel, I will try it next
season. It would also mean that I ccould take off the anode which is still
there as I have not been able to find a big galvanised swivel !
Incidentally the shiny stainless swivel is now coated in magnesium since I
fitted the galvanised Turkish made Bugel type anchor (36 kgs and 300
euros).
Love to hear your experience of the London Boat Show now that it has
emigrated to Docklands as the long trek on Londons public transport
discouraged me from going. Was Amel there?

Regards, John Bali Hai SM2000/319

Dear Ann & John,
I also printed out a chart converting Liters to gallons and imperial
gallons which I have laminated and stuck under the lid where the fuel
fill is located- it reads in reverse- if the dip stick reads x liters
you need to add y gallons.
When we fill I also station someone at the overfill as you can hear the
tank getting full.

Here is part of a note I sent to Ian & Judy,
We carry 260 gallons of diesel on a passage. 160 in the main tank 50
gallons in a nauta tank and 50 gallons in Gerry cans both in the port
locker. As soon as we use up the first 50 gallons, we empty the nauta
tank and put more stuff in the port locker from the stern. I hooked up a
24-volt transfer pump to empty out the nauta tank, and use a cheap $5.00
siphon pump for the Gerry cans. Much neater than trying to aim a can at
a moving funnel.
We have the 100 hp yanmar engine.

What did you use to fasten your mizzen traveler control lines to in the
cockpit?
Fair winds,
Eric Freedman
Kimberlite SM 376

Message text written by INTERNET:amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com

<

Hi Ian and also Michael Glass,
Thanks for your comments. I certainly concur about having spare fuel in
case of mishap having been on two ocean racers which lost their rigs and
only carried a tiny amount of fuel to save weight!

Regards and best wishes, Anne and John.
Bali Hai, SM2000 319

Dear Ian and Judy,
Thanks for your advice. If, as and when we do another ocean voyage, we
shall carry a lot of spare fuel in cans in the big locker to the port side
of the cockpit which should weight on the weather rail in the trade winds.
This would be possible as we have altered the lifelines on the transom to
take a cradle for our life raft. See the photo in the Bali Hai album.
We have never tried to fill the tank completely as we have yet to go long
distance so we cannot comment on that point. I suppose we are very
conscious of the risk of an overflow as our Oyster used to overflow over
the teak deck as well as sucking sea water in through the breather pipe
when motor sailing to sail closer on port tack in strong winds and seas.(
We altered the plumbing pretty quickly after getting rid of the water out
of the injection pump, luckily the water only got through after the boat
had been standing in harbour overnight).
There are times when I think that I have made a mistake in reading the
dipstick or in my arithmetic when the tank takes more than it should but on
the other hand it may be an optimistic meter on the fuel tanker!

Best wishes from Malta, Anne and John Bali Hai
SM2000/319

Message text written by INTERNET:amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com

<

Hi Rob, Whereabouts are you in Oz? We shall be in Perth for about a week
from 28 Jan and Sydney for a couple of weeks from 7 Feb.
Always happy to meet up if you want to do Amel and Med speak.

Regards, Anne and John Bali Hai, SM 2000
/319

Hi Ian,

I agree entirely with your remarks that the Spade is better that the Wasi
Bugel. When my Stainless Amel CQR came apart one night during a cold frontal
passagein the Bahamas, I replaced it with a 30 Kg Spade from West Marine.
The difference in holding was remarkable. Unfortunately I sold that anchor
with
my first boat.

The second boat came with a Wasi. It holds well, but the disadvantage is
that it seldom comes up to the bow roller the right way up! Have any seaweed
or mud on the crown, then forget it. You will have to make a trip to the bow
and twist the chain by hand which completely defeats the objective of being
able to handle the anchor from the cockpit. As you say, the tip weight on
the Spade is far superior to the Wasi, and I don't ever remember the Spade
arriving at the bow roller upside down.

I don't think that the swivel that is supplied with the Wasi helps the
situation either. I talked this over with three anchor suppliers at the
London Boat Show, and they all recommended removing the swivel. They all
thought that the swivel served little purpose and introduced a weak link in
the system. The wall thickness of most swivels where the pin goes through is
significantly weaker than a high quality shackle. Without the swivel, the
anchor stands a better chance of coming up the way it went down.

Speaking of anchors, does anyone agree that the primary bow roller has too
flat a profile? It only takes a small yaw for the chain to run off the side
of the roller which results in metal to metal contact and for the chain to
rub against the starboard side of the GRP chain gulley on the foredeck. A
deeper profiled roller would cure this problem. (This flat profile may be
peculiar to the latest boats produced. I don't remember the problem on the
first boat).

Incidentally, the price of the 30 Kg Spade at the show was significantly
cheaper than the West Marine price, though West may have lowered their price
from the $995 that I paid two years ago. However, with the Dollar going
south at the moment ..............

Regarding tack angles, you are spot on. Using Nobeltec software, I pre-plan
tacks at a 120 degree track angle and it usually it works out well. Yes you
will do better if the current is in your favour on one tack, but 120 degrees
is a good ball park figure.

I have Demi sails on my new boat. I have not yet made up my mind if they
are better or worse than the Gateff laminated sails that I had on the first
boat. Amel say that the new sails will allow you to point better, but I
really
have not noticed it. I have noticed a few strange looking wrinkles appearing
though which does cause me some concern over the long term.

Regards

Ian Shepherd
SM # 414 "Crusader"

Hi Rob,

Here a few answers to Ur questions:

The Med is a big place and there are huge differences in quality and
prices of services, what will be Ur route ?

I never used any fuel additive, not in Europe nor in
the rest of the world.

As for antifouling I always used Micron by International paints,
its widely available and self polishing. Ofcourse all depend what
has been used previously.

The early SM had some problems:

1) The early Z-drive was changed to a much more stronger version.
There have been a lot of problems with this early drive. (broken
gears). As the unit is sealed it is not possible to repair.
The new drive solved all the problems. Replacing the old drive for
the new one is possible and best done at the Amel wharf.
Be prepaired for a salty invoice. Try to have a look at a recent SM
so that U can see the difference.
I had personaly no problems with this drive, but I know of several
boats who suffered damage. The people from Amel have warned me
that it was riscky to leave Europe with the early drive.
(I changed it)

2) The early headsail furling was CRAP. Most older SM have changed
this unit to a new version (there a several versions), but some
seldom used boats still have this old unit. Also the older
profile has only 2 sail tracks and a different
head, wich means that U can not roll the ballooner and genoa
together in a downwind squall...a big disadvantage. There a
a few ways around this problem but the best solution is to change
the alu profile and head. (3 tracks)

3) The mainsail electric drive had also its problems. The early drive
gearboxes are Italien industrial gearboxes with a mild steel shaft
wich is exposed. This shaft rusts and the sealing starts leaking.
Amel used normal grease and this grease doesn't like seawater and
becomes stone-hard.
It is important to strip these units before a big trip, replace
the sealings and pack with a grease that supports seawater.
(Locktite for ex has such grease, also Amel uses a similar
grease now.
The early angle reverser is of a very poor design, change it
to the new design or U risk of being unable to roll the main in..
(also not manually!) Got this problem personaly.

4) The original ZEISSE genset created a lot of problems.
Most SM changed to another brand. The main problem was cooling.
The seawaterpump is driven by a tiny belt wich slips and breaks.
I put this pump directly on the cranckshaft (as prepared by
Farymann diesel) and changed the cooling to fresh water cooling.
My unit is still working perfect under all sea conditions.

5) The electrical system of the early SM's is not fit for offshore
cruising. The boat is all electric, the charging and
batteries are completly unsufficient. As Amel tackled this
problem quite late, somewhere in the mid 90, U will see most SM
running their gensets for hours in offshore anchorages.
Some SM's have an alternator on the prop and this works
fantastic. We run radar, lights, fridge, freezer, laptop,
SSB, C-Sat, weatherfax, autopilot, breadmachine etc
without running the genset or engine when
sailing. The problems start when anchoring.
I dubbeled the batteries, replaced the 20amp charger with a 75amp
one (Mastervolt), put an extra 50 amp alternator on the main
engine. 40 min genset in the morning and evening will keeps my
batteries happy (in the tropics).

6) The early Autohelm 7000 had some mechanical problems.
A plastic gear in the drive breaks in heavy seas.
They changed this gear to a copper one. Its easy to
correct this problem.
As I had doubts about the Autohelm pilots (from previous exper.),
I changed the main pilot to B&G, with the added advantage that
it can talk to the B&G instruments.
I heard from early SM owners that they are quite happy with
their Autohelm 7000 (after changing the plastic gear).

7) The electric Lewmar winches on the early SM's had also sealing
problems. If this gets serious then water gets to the gearbox
and moter unit. This can be solved if their is no damage to the
gearbox.


The positive side is that the after-sale service of Amel is very
good and that none of the problems I had are structural.
The 1989 SM and the 2004 SM are basicly the same, wich is a proof
of the very well tought design. That Amel improves equipment and
details is normal. By following their important changes You can
improve Your boat to the new standards and that makes an Amel unique.

Fair Winds !

Koen
Flash IV
SM17

--- In amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com, "Ian Shepherd" <g4ljf@c...>
wrote:

To the Amel Network: Greetings!

I have been an observer member of your group for many yearning

years. And am about to graduate as an owner member. I'm excited and a
little daunted. The boat, Signore dei Mari is lying Antalya, and very
soon to become Australian owned. She has been Swiss owned (and very
loved since launch in 1989/90.

So hello SuperMaramu and Mediterrranean sailors. Can you help me

please with:

1. location of best slipway services and prices in the eastern Med

2. location of best marina prices

3. best underwriting of SuperMaramus at value for money prices

4. names and manufacturers of best antifouling paints available in

Europe/Turkey

5. do you treat diesel for fungi and bacteria in Europe

6. And I would welcome any and all advice and recommedations

relevant to my finalising my purchase. In anticipation - thank you
and best regards.

My direct contact is brennan@w...

Best regards from downunder,

Rob Brennan

Dear John,

Loved your tip of fitting an anode to the anchor chain. How obvious, though I have never seen it done. I have a Spade, stainless, 30 kg, at whose altar I worship.50% of the weight in the tip as against 16% for the Bugel and a concave shape for ( I think) better resistance. I have yet to see an anchor test where the Spade hasnt come out ahead of all others in the test, though I have not seen anyone test the Spade and Bugel against each other.Has anyone ? The Spade is the only product to have featured in consecutive years in Practical Sailors top ten products. Damned expensive, but it is developing a following. Antyhing has to better than the slippery plough!
Gateff v. North....I beg to disagree! It sounds as though you had better luck with your Gateff genny than we did. Half furled, ours does a very passable imitation of my grandmothers bloomers on a washing line. Improved considerably with the addition of a foam luff, and not affected adversely when we , too, dumped the sock in favour of a UV strip. However, the switch to a North genny, 61 sqm against 64 for Gateff, cut higher, has proved really worthwhile--sets furled much better, greater visibility, less likelihood of catching a wave in the foot, and , not anticipated by me, it needs far less adjustment of the car than the Gateff. All now probably academic as Amel have a new sail maker( and have been talking to ...North.) At the end of the day, I would be interested to hear if anyone can better 120 degrees between tacks with a fully laden boat and last weeks swell competing with yesterdays waves and todays windshift.I also wonder what other cruising boats do any better than 105 between tacks?
Ian. Pen Azen. SM 302

From: Anne and John Hollamby <hollamby@compuserve.com>
Reply-To: amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Amel Yacht Owners] Opinionated remarks
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 13:33:49 -0500

A future owner asked me for my comments on a few aspects. I set out my
comments below in case anyone wishes to comment.

Have a go! John Bali Hai, SM 319

"Instruments, I am inclined to agree with you about the mix of units. My
only complaint with the mix is that Amel does not make them all talk to
each other. This may be because Amel have a number of "funny" ideas about
safety possibly because some of their customers have no previous sailing
experience. For example they do not enable the tracking function on the
autopilot because they consider it dangerous. We had Pochon enable it which
was only a matter of a few button pushes. I am told that it is quite simple
to interface the B&G to enable the pilot to sail at a set angle to the
apparent wind and to get true wind speed and direction on the B&G using the
Raymarine Fluxgate compass but I have not yet done this.
The window in the bimini is essential if you have any interest in the set
of the sails! Our window is about 40cms wide centred over the wheel but it
should have been carried across to the same distance from the other side of
the cockpit. It is in the panel of vynil next to the hard top. We tried to
put a fabric sun shade on the underside using adhesive Velcro but this was
not a good solution as the adhesive melts in the strong sun and the
expansion rates are different. I think the solution is to make up a strip
of fabric to go on top being held at the front with fastenings to go on the
clips which hold the bimini cover in place when the bimini is closed and
with some other way of securing it to the back of the open
bimini....probably elastics with hooks to catch on the frame. (Han som gor
biminin gor ocksa ett solslydd men vi ville inte ha det da!)
The motor which moves the car securing the clew of the sail is very
powerful and I damaged the stop fitting on the front of the track on the
boom and also destroyed the line that moves the car by not releasing the
button before the car hits the stop. I then put two strips of adhesive tape
on the side of the boom so that I can see when to stop looking either
through the screen / window or over the top of the closed bimini. This
furling line incidentally is kevlar cored and not easily obtainable. We
tried prestretched halyard but it stretched a lot and slipped on the
driving sheave.
I eventually got some kevlar line in Turkey which does the job although it
is 2 mm thicker than the original. I intend to try Spectra of the right
size next summer. Getting the right length/tension was not easy and
involves using one of the halyard winches on the mast.
Our boat was supplied with a zip up canvas U/V screen cover for the genoa.
It was a real pain in the ass and we had U/V protection strips sewn on the
genoa so we could dump the zip up one (which was bulky,heavy and extremely
difficult to get down).
We bought a Southern Pacific 3.1mtr aluminium RIB in Auckland and shipped
it over.It is very light at 37 kilos and lies inverted across the top of
the aft cabin deflated on long passages without getting in the way of
anything and is not too bad when still inflated on short passages lashed
down with the fuel tank and spare cans underneath it. It cost less than
1000 and is very sea worthy and fast with our 15 HP motor.
There is a halyard through a sheave on the spreaders of the mizzen and
this has several uses. It is for the passuerelle and when placed through
the open ended sheave on the side of the mizzen boom it falls exactly above
the outboard mount on the rail, I wish that I had asked Amel to fit a
second dinghy mounting on the port side. We also use it to hoist the dinghy
by tying the end onto the painter and lowering the end of the dinghy on to
the cabin top. We have the davits suggested by Amel and we put this halyard
onto the davit taking the weight of the 15HP outboard to lift the fully
equipped dinghy for security at night. When doing this we put the halyard
on to the electric main sheet winch. The davits are good and bad as fitted
by the suppliers. They are hinged off two plates bolted on to the transom
and I took them off to fit reinforcing pieces of ply glassed in in the
lazarette. I should also have made the suppliers fit better fitting hinge
pins as there is too much play thus allowing the davits to swing too much
when carrying the dinghy.
Bali Hai was supplied with a stainless CQR anchor but I believe they now
fit a Bugel type anchor also in stainless. We are fans of the latter type
and purchased a 36 kg galvanised one last year in Turkey. If you have this
type you should paint the semi circular bow white so that in clearish water
you can see how well it has set. Either way if you have a stainless anchor
and galvanised chain you should fit a 28 or 30 mm shaft anode at the end of
the chain to prevent electrolysis rusting the chain. We did this after our
first season as the end 30 cms of the chain were rusting so we cut them off
and with the anode have had no further problems. We met another Amel owner
last summer who had gone the expensive route of replacing the chain with
stainless....he looked a bit surprised when I suggested that this might
perhaps move the electrolysis up to the winch.
We have an SSB connected to the whip aerial and a Ham set connected to the
port hand mizzen backstay. I think Amels use of the whip stems from the
belief that the backstays are too close together or more probably because
of the proximity of the wire topping lift on the mizzen boom. We only have
the SSB because we took it off our last boat. I prefer the ham radio
because our experience in the South Pacific was that contacts switch to
alternative frequencies when there is interference and by the time I had
retuned the SSB they had gone elsewhere. There seems to be no noticeable
difference in range etc. despite the difference in output. When I installed
the hamset in Malta I had a professional test it and in no time at all he
had made contact with a ham in Poland. Since then I have replaced the
topping lift with a rope one. I have no info on the actual virtues of
either set as I have not been able to find anyone to talk to in the Med(I
have not tried much). The advice of the US firm that makes the Aerial Tuner
for my ham set and also whip aerials is that the longer backstay is better
! Personally I dislike having the whip.
I was concerned about the diesel capacity but it is not a problem in the
Med. If I was doing a long passage I would probably put a lot of 30 ltr
cans in the huge locker outboard of the port side of the cockpit and
anticipate that this would be well placed for the long port tacks across
the oceans.
Our sails are by Gateff but I think Amel have switched to another loft. We
are perfectly happy with ours but there has been some comment on the
website from owners who have new ones made by North etc. I think it is all
bullshit as I think they are trying to make the boat sail closer to the
wind, something for which it is not designed. If it were then there would
be shorter spreaders and chainplates passing through the deck. Our Oyster
had those and they leaked whatever we tried. I suppose if it was an issue
for me I would look into getting a blade Jib to fit in the foretriangle
with new tracks to suit. Our experience on the often windward passage
between NZ and the islands was that we were better off with a smaller
flatter furling high cut genoa so that it did not turn into a bag when well
furled to cope with the strong winds.
We opted for the 160 ltr watermaker so that we could make enough water
easily whilst charging the batteries and have not taken on shore water for
over two years.
I wish I had specified the big Heart Interface American charger/inverter
as, although we have the 30 and the 50 amp French chargers fitted they have
no provision for putting in an equalisation charge to enhance battery life.
I also wish that I had asked for a spinnaker halyard to be fitted with the
fall inside the mast because the halyard for the balooner does not over
inspire me as a method of being taken up the mast.
I like to have a Windex at the masthead but the standard is to put two
antennae up there for the VHF and the FM radio. The aft one of these is the
FM one and is where I would have liked to have had a combined VHF and
Windex aerial.
We changed the arrangement for pulling down the main boom as original with
block and tackle as it involves going out on deck for sail adjustments and
gybing. We have a block which clips onto the same spot on the rail and the
original block on the boom. However it has only a 2 part line which is two
metres longer than the original so that it comes back to the aft cockpit
winch via a small block to improve the lead. This enables us to shape the
sail from the cockpit without having to move the main traveller so far and
most importantly permits a totally controlled gybe in any conditions.
I hope this all gives you something to think about ! If you need any
addresses in NZ for the dinghy or cockpit seat pedestal please let me
know."





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Stephan,
We just had our bottom done. It was sanded and we had 2 coats of pettit
ultima ablative paint applied. We used 5 gallons.
I also replaced the two lip seals for the bow thruster- one on the
thruster shaft and one in the thruster through hull opening and 3 spongy
inserts. You should also replace the wearing out bearing and the 3 seals
on the prop shaft and the sail drive oil. The zincs on the rudder and
the zinc and bearings on the weed cutter if you have one. Also, check
the screws in the rudder hinge.
Fair winds,
Eric
SM 376 kimberlite

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)

Hi John & Anne,

unless you are going to motor for days on end, you should have no worries about the fuel capacity. I have made two Atlantic crossings in SM2000's, one in the Trades and the other across the N.Atlantic and probably only used 1/8th of the capacity on the first and less than that on the second, when I had a wind generator and solar panels fitted. I no longer carry any spare cans of fuel. I can put the space saved to better use, though for more remote parts of the world, cans will be useful where you cannot get fuel that easily or even at a dock. You could work on about 1 imperial gallon per hour when motoring at 7 knots. It seems to work out that way for me.

Always best to fill it up of course in case you get dismasted or blow the sails out! It can happen.

Good Luck

Ian Shepherd

SM # 414 Crusader