Bill, While installing Brava's staysail setup, the previous owner also installed a waterproof hatch in the port forward deck locker, giving access to the chain locker. It makes it easier to shop vac

Craig, That's a great idea! I wish it was that easy for me. On my SM the aft bulkhead of the chain locker is the forward bulkhead of lockers in the forward cabin. The only access into the chain

James, Thanks for the advice. I have always used epoxy for repair projects. It has better adhesion to most things and I have always felt a bit more "in control" with it. I try to get each coat or

Hi Pat, Thanks Pat! That was pretty much my plan. Use the existing fiberglass tabbing as my support shelf. No need to remake the support structure! Glass the bottom of the shelf before it goes in

Dan, Odds are that any bare wood in the chain locker area will have at least some moisture in it which makes oil based coatings problematic. If your desire is to try and prevent the wood from

Has anyone used linseed oil or other wood preservative to treat their exposed wood above the chain locker? I inspected my wood on BeBe, SM387, before leaving for the summer and have it on my list to

I have an ancient SM and have kept the Amel original toilets... which are manpower driven. These are RM69’s and have been trouble free for the last 3 years following a “maintenance” cycle. They

Hello, Is your Amel still on the market? If so can I mail you? kindest Regards, Steve Nieman

I second the Lavac choice. We put a Lavac in the forward head almost 3 years ago, and have been full time liveaboards since that time. We have not had a single clog, and have done NO maintenance on

Bill, I had the same problem a few years ago. I cut the floors out leaving about an inch of tabbing all the way around. Then cut another piece of plywood to fit , resting on the tabbing. I epoxied the

I've clipped James' reply just to highlight the venting aspect. I had a louver made (matching the interior wood) for the forward bulkhead chain locker access panel. I keep in place instead of the

My hull is 1998, came to me with 2 manual heads. Changed the forward one with Jabsco electric toilet conversion 29200-0240 in 2012. Worked well, changed all the seals, standard jabsco kit, in June

The best I have ever had was the Lavac Vacuum Toilet. I have had this on my old boat and never serviced it for 30 years. Right now with my Amel Sharki I just change the old Jabsco for the Lavac. It is

Bill, I inspected a 1984 Maramu which also had rotten panels in the bow locker. The bottom of the panel forming the floor of the two side lockers was not glassed on the bottom of that boat. The

Hi Ian and Margaret, We have our original electric heads in service after 17 years. Very little maintenance, certainly less than the manual ones we have used in the past. What is important is to

Eric, That's my best idea, other than flushing a lot! Biology can be a problem, sometimes. Bill

The plywood soles of Harmonie's bow lockers are seriously rotten. I was kind of surprised to see that the bottoms of these plywood sheets (i.e., the top of the chain locker) were "naked", without

I have noticed in the chandleries that many of the joker valves are not round due to incorrect packing or shipping. Look carefully at them when you buy them. They must be perfectly round. Fair

BINGO !! Amel runs big hoses of fresh air into the hull until the deck and hull are joined. Fair Winds Eric Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376

Bill, I always do that of I leave the boat for a while, However if I leave the boat in warm climates for a few days I get the growth back. I have been doing this for 15 years now so let’s see what