hi,<br>if you ordered a maramu when would your delivery date be <br>fair winds<br>eric

hi,<br>i am located in huntington and would love to talk to you about your amel.<br>please call/ e-mail me<br>thanks<br>eric freedman<br>631-423-2000<br>kimberlt@optonline.net

charlie,<br>did you install the chartplotter system after you took delivery of your boat?<br>thanks<br>eric

michael,<br>i see tht you live in melville.<br>i
live in huntington.<br>i would love to discuss the
maramu with you.<br>please call or e-mail
me.<br>thanks<br>eric
freedman<br>631-423-2000<br>kimberlt@optonline.net

I bought my Super Maramu 7 years ago and been
sailing her in the Caribbean ever since. I've never had a
regret she's a wonderful boat. If you like, I can e-mail
you my experience purchasing the boat, extras, etc.
and modifications I've made over the years. I know
Amel makes changes continuously and suspect some of my
extras no longer are. I'll give you both my e-mail and
phone number, if you just want to
talk.<br>Pagan-daisy@att.net<br>Phone 858-756-1377<br><br>Arnold Grubin

1-25-2002 Hi Mark. My name is Gary Silver. I
ordered an Amel Super Maramu on my 50th birthday (May
2000). There was a 13 month lead time at that point and
we took delivery July of 2001). We just completed
our sail across the Atlantic to Guadeloupe. We sailed
from La Rochelle to the Canaries in July 2001. Joel
Potter has been great. He is honest, forthright, and you
can take his word to the bank. Our only trouble with
the purchase process was that the financing broker
recommended by Joel had his main bank go bankrupt three weeks
before we closed. Our financing plans which had been in
place for over a year were suddenly non-existent. Joel
and the Offshore Financial broker did their best to
help but I can attest that there wasn't another
financial institution in this country who ususally finances
offshore boats that would then touch this project, I
called each one personally. Thank heavens I had a
personal relationship with my own banker who came throught
with financing in short order for me. The Amel SM is a
marvelous boat, extremely well thought out and a pleasure
to sail. The Amel factory, service and warranty
people are superb. Make sure you take a factory tour
while your boat is being built (or anytime), it will
really confirm in your mind the quality of the boat and
the organization and people you are dealing with.
Jean Jacques (the head guy or big cheese) and Olivier
in the La Rochelle warranty facility are<br>superb.
The one week owner shool is invaluable. Equipment
suggestions: hand grab rails on the stern, get the optional
hand grab rail on the setee table, I am currently
looking into getting additional hand grab rails in each
of the showers (when you are trying to shower while
at sea there isn't anything to hold onto in the head
because the shower curtain is drawn around), I am also
seeing what I can do to get extra grab rails on the
ceiling of the main aft cabin and forward cabin, look
into having the B & G, GPS, and autopilot interfaced
to each other (I did it myself after the fact and it
was a pain), get the crash bar in front of the stove
(the lack of this as a standard feature is the only
really safety related fault that I have found), get the
extra fans and fan outlets (in fact I wish I had
gotten<br>more fans, 10 instead of 6) for when you don't want to
run the AC, Joel will guide you wisely on the other
available options, trust his experience. If you are having
extra electronics installed that require cabinetry
modifcation have the Amel yard do the work as it is built. I
am currently looking into some cabinetry work due to
extra electronics and the Amel woodwork is so beautiful
I wish I would have had it done initially. No boat
is perfect but this one comes close. One last
thought, get the fresh air ventilation system, it is
essential when it is raining outside. In fact I would ask
them if there is some way to plumb a vent from it into
the quarter birth (the one to the starborad side of
the engine compartment), ventilation there is the
least satisfactory in the entire boat and there is no
AC there. <br>Hope this helps. Sincerely, Gary PS if
you want to talk please feel free to call me at
801-451-0499 (evenings are best)

Hi,<br>I agree with everything Gary just wrote
about the Amel experience and the boat. We bought our
first Amel in 1983, a Maramu, and in 1996 didn't even
consider another boat when we bought our Super Maramu. We
added a lot of options to our SM, and almost all of
them are now standard. A couple of thoughts to add to
Gary's: Add hot water to the cockpit shower (if it isn't
already standard), add a Racor filter to the fuel line to
the engine and generator (again it may be standard by
now). And buy your life raft and dinghy in France --
they're half the price of the same models in the US (as
long as you buy European models such as Zodiac, Avon,
or Novurania, etc.)<br>Good luck, and enjoy your
Amel!<br>Roy Benveniste<br>SM "Excalibur" #195

roy,<br>did you stick with the stock electronics?<br>any upogrades?<br>anything else i should order that is not quite standard?<br>thanks<br>eric

bob & mina.<br>i would to speak to you about your amel, and suggested upgrades.<br>i am also in long island<br>phone<br>631-423-2000<br>e-mail kimberlt@optonline.net<br>thanks<br>eric

hi,<br>we are under contract for a maramu and live on ling islans.<br>i would love to speak to you about the baot.<br>thanks<br>eric<br>kimberlt@optonline.net

Hi Gary,<br>I'm John McDougall & I have SM330,
new in May 2001 & now in S.France. I'm interested in
interfacing the B&G with the GPS & autopilot as you mentioned
but am not sure how to proceed. Is it something you
can explain easily? If it is very complicated I
probably won't try but I would appreciate any info. <br>I
agree with all your positive comments about the SM - it
really is a delight! (But the standard electric heating
is not good enough for the Mediterranean in Winter
as Amel suggest).

One other issue on my SM (#248)is that the
fluxgate compass is an Autohelm. In order to interface the
GPS, B&G instruments and the fluxgate with my
navigation software (laptop running "The Capn") I installed
a Noland Multiplexer. I bought mine at Bluewater
in, I think, Fort Laudadale. The multiplexer can take
up to 4 NMEA signals and convert them to a RS232
signal which one puts into the serial port of the
laptop. If anyone would like to know how to read the NMEA
sentences to confirm that the signals are coming through
feel free to write to me SOON as we take off for BVI
in just over a week and I may be off
line!<br><br>Regards<br><br>Peter

My first message - I would like to know how the
keel bolts can be inspected on the Euros - they are
well buried and the water tank in the keel would seem
to make this difficult?? All help gratefully
accepted! <br>We sail in Devon, England and across to
France in the Summer come and see us...

October 2003. I understand you are getting a new Maramu too. When would that be?<br><br>Mark

How nice to find this website! We are previous
owners of a Maramu and a Sharki and bought an SM 2000,
no. 302 . She is in England at the moment but we set
off in May for a few years. Absolutely delighted with
her. Two small problems which we would be interested
to hear from anyone else from <br> 1. The
heatexchanger on the Onan weeps very slowly and produces a
coating of white crystals. Onan replaced the first one,
assuming that there was a small fracture in the weld of
the elbow fitting where the seawater pipe fits on .
However the replacement is doing exactly the same thing.
I had assumed that the crystals were either dried
salt or the white paint being lifted off by seawater
but neither seems to be the case. Iqueried whether it
could be some form of electrolysis but the Onan guys in
England say not. They believe that the Onan anode is
unnecesary. They have been very attentive (the onan warranty
lasts for some years) but sofar it's got them puzzled.
We have about 200 hours use so far.<br> 2. Right
from the start we have had a very small weep of
gearbox oil from the forward end of the gearbox. Amel are
going to replace the seal when we call in at La
Rochelle in June, but I do Know of another SM 2000 which
has not been able to cure a similar problem despite
two new seals. They just now put up with it, placing
some kitchen roll paper underneath and changing the
paper every 50 hours or so. It seems almost a cosmetic
point but like most people I don't like anything that
leaks!<br> Good sailing and, once again, thanks to the guys
who thought up this website<br> Ian and Judy
Jenkins<br> Pen Azen

2-4-2002 Hi John: Sorry to be so slow to repsond.
This theoretically should have been an easy project
but it turned out to be harder than expected due to
very poor documentation of the NMEA interface by
Raytheon and B & G. A couple of warnings are in order. 1.
Radio frequency interferance (RFI) evidently can cause
the NMEA interface to glitch so careful routing of
properly shielded and grounded wire is important. 2. Use
twisted pair shielded high quality wire, avoid running it
right next to the SSB or VHF antenna cables or other
high current 24 vdc power wires, and ground the shield
at only one end of the wire run (I grounded mine at
the Hydra 2000 NMEA display cable). First the
connections at the Raytheon autopilot computer. You are going
to be feeding the NMEA heading information to the B
& G so that the Hydra 2000 can calculate true wind.
You use the "NMEA output" from the Raytheon computer
(this is located in the cupboard above the sink,
between the 220 VAC and 24 VDC circuit breaker panels and
is mounted on the forward side of the cockpit
bulkhead on which the helm wheel is mounted). The cover is
removed by depressing two tabs on either side of the
cover and sliding it downward. The wires should be
tinned, the shield trimmed off and covered with heat
shrink within about two inches of the terminal strip and
they are inserted by pushing down on the tab and
sliding the wire into the terminal hole. Just look at the
other wires to get the direction of the hole. Route the
wire towards the port side, then via the access tubes
into the access area behind the analog B & G
instruments via the sliding ceiling access panel in the
kitchen. Use one of the the un-used conduits to thread the
wire into the starboard quater-birth area. Then by
removing a small piece of trim in the bookshelf area above
the nav station hanging locker you can route the wire
into the nav station area. Leave enough slack to allow
the rack system to be removed easily. Attached is the
info from the B & G technical support: DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO USE THE NMEA INPUT OUTPUT terminals on the Hydra
processor (i.e. the B & G computer) Instead the NMEA
connections must be made through a NMEA FFD on HYDRA
systems.<br><br>B & G tech support states: The solution will be to
locate your NMEA FFD, and connect the wires from<br>your
Raytheon as follows:<br><br>Raytheon <br><br>NMEA Output
(+) Brown<br>NMEA Output (-) Blue<br><br>NMEA FFD<br><br>NMEA
Input (+) Violet<br>NMEA Input (-) Black<br>The
wire shield is grounded by connecting to the other
grounds at the hydra processor. <br><br>The above wires
are from the cable coming from the Hydra 2000
display. You will find that they are capped. Just pigtail
them together as indicated. <br><br>Best
regards<br><br>Alan Titterington<br>Technical Support
Group<br>B&G/YEOMAN<br>Tel: +44 (0)1794 510013<br>Fax: +44 (0)1794
518077<br>Mobile: 07740 543182<br>e-mail:
alant@bandg.co.uk<br>www.BandG.com<br><br>Finally you must set the heading node on the Hydra 2000
display. This is described in the B & G manual. Basically
you go into a configuration menue on the Hydra 2000
and set the heading node for NMEA (if I recall
correctly it is node 96). Hope this helps. You can do
additional interfaces but that gets a little more
complicated. Sincerely, Gary

Hello Ian & Judy,<br>I have SM #195, and have had
the oil drip from the gearbox/engine junction since
day 1. I have been told that trying to fix it is not
worth the effort, and may make it worse. So I wipe it
up after every few days of motoring. Gives me an
excuse to clean everything else down there and look for
serious problems.<br>Roy

are there any other things you would suggest a new amel owner should
look out for?
any special spares to order or options?
eric

--- Hi Eric,I don't know if I am answering your query in the
correct manner, but among the extras we had or are going to have
fitted were the following:
1Water filter in the galley
2Holding tanks
3 Third halyard ( for a genniker)
4 Rope cutter on the prop shaft
5 Second autopilot
6Laptop shelf on the chart table
7Desalinator
8Scuba compressor and tank holder
9TV wiring to fore and aft cabins
10Bimini top, half cover and winter cover for the cockpit
11Crash bar for the galley
12Diesel heater
13Stainless handles on transom
14Larger Propane locker--2 X 13lb bottles
15Mizzen aerial for gsm phone
16 SSB radio ( I have since added an Iridium with outside aerial
for which you would need a docking station--useful to fit at the
outset if the choice appeals)
17CD storage rack in the aft cabin
18 2 shelves in the forward hanging locker
19Additional 220 volt outlets at the charttable , in the saloon
and in the engine room
20 Additional 12 volt outlet to starboard of the companionway --
useful for charging a phone
21 12oo Watt inverter
22 Hot water for the cockpit shower
23Hella fans--I fitted 4 but I see someone else recommends many
more!
24 Lock on the aft cabin door
25White bilges ( a pet gripe of mine--why do all boatbuilders
paint their bilbes a dark colour? They cry out to be white so you can
see that dropped nut, cockroach, mouse or whatever. To be fair , Amel
do paint most of their bilges white but they extended the area for
me )
26Extra reading lights in the saloon ( provided by us). We like to
read and find that as time passes we need brighter lights to do so
comfortably. The lighting on the SM is very good , but even so it can
be improved if you find the same sort of need that we have.
27 Twin Racor fuel filters with a crossover switch, fitted
between the fuel tank and the engine. I have never had a fuel problem
on my previous two Amels, but have used them only in Europe. Malcolm
McLaren, who now has a SM ,organised a round the world rally and
fitted these filters to his own boat ( then a Moody) and two others
and those were the only three out of about 18 not to suffer from
dirty fuel at some stage. I also copied his use of a coarse filter
fitted upstream of the fuel tank
28 I am also fitting a Seame active radar responder to my Mizzen,
following good reports from the latest Arc race. Had it been
available at the time I would have had it fitted by Amel.
29 I am also a fan of the Spade anchor--it fits well. It is
nothing to do with Amel, but Spade did deliver it direct to La
Rochelle.

I hope this list may be of some interest . I expect I have missed
out a few items but Laurent Laborde, who gave us the usual wonderful
Amel service , will have a full list. I don't think there's anything
I'd change but Judy would have fitted the Corian worktop in the
galley had we known about it, though our list of extras was somewhat
straining the system as it was. I wouldn't claim that our list is in
any way exhaustive: we always find it fascinating to see what other
boats have which we have completely overlooked. ( though I might be
tempted to look at a flat screen, DVD, Bluetooth etc if I were
starting today.....).
Am about to buy a genniker and would be interested to hear from
anyone who already uses one--the 140 square metres suggested by
Amel's sailmaker does seem huge. Ours will be somewhat more modest.
Ian

In amelyachtowners@y..., kimberlite1212 <no_reply@y...> wrote:

are there any other things you would suggest a new amel owner

should

look out for?
any special spares to order or options?
eric


--- In amelyachtowners@y..., rbenven44 wrote:

Hello Ian & Judy,<br>I have SM #195, and have had
the oil drip from the gearbox/engine junction since
day 1. I have been told that trying to fix it is not
worth the effort, and may make it worse. So I wipe it
up after every few days of motoring. Gives me an
excuse to clean everything else down there and look for
serious problems.<br>Roy

dear ian and judy.
thank you for the very fine list.
i was thinking of adding a radar transponder (responder) do you have
a website for this maker (seame) ?
thank you
eric

kimberlt@optonline.net






--- In amelyachtowners@y..., ianandjudyjenkins <no_reply@y...> wrote:

--- Hi Eric,I don't know if I am answering your query in the
correct manner, but among the extras we had or are going to have
fitted were the following:
1Water filter in the galley
2Holding tanks
3 Third halyard ( for a genniker)
4 Rope cutter on the prop shaft
5 Second autopilot
6Laptop shelf on the chart table
7Desalinator
8Scuba compressor and tank holder
9TV wiring to fore and aft cabins
10Bimini top, half cover and winter cover for the cockpit
11Crash bar for the galley
12Diesel heater
13Stainless handles on transom
14Larger Propane locker--2 X 13lb bottles
15Mizzen aerial for gsm phone
16 SSB radio ( I have since added an Iridium with outside aerial
for which you would need a docking station--useful to fit at the
outset if the choice appeals)
17CD storage rack in the aft cabin
18 2 shelves in the forward hanging locker
19Additional 220 volt outlets at the charttable , in the saloon
and in the engine room
20 Additional 12 volt outlet to starboard of the companionway --
useful for charging a phone
21 12oo Watt inverter
22 Hot water for the cockpit shower
23Hella fans--I fitted 4 but I see someone else recommends many
more!
24 Lock on the aft cabin door
25White bilges ( a pet gripe of mine--why do all boatbuilders
paint their bilbes a dark colour? They cry out to be white so you

can

see that dropped nut, cockroach, mouse or whatever. To be fair ,

Amel

do paint most of their bilges white but they extended the area for
me )
26Extra reading lights in the saloon ( provided by us). We like

to

read and find that as time passes we need brighter lights to do so
comfortably. The lighting on the SM is very good , but even so it

can

be improved if you find the same sort of need that we have.
27 Twin Racor fuel filters with a crossover switch, fitted
between the fuel tank and the engine. I have never had a fuel

problem

on my previous two Amels, but have used them only in Europe.

Malcolm

McLaren, who now has a SM ,organised a round the world rally and
fitted these filters to his own boat ( then a Moody) and two others
and those were the only three out of about 18 not to suffer from
dirty fuel at some stage. I also copied his use of a coarse filter
fitted upstream of the fuel tank
28 I am also fitting a Seame active radar responder to my

Mizzen,

following good reports from the latest Arc race. Had it been
available at the time I would have had it fitted by Amel.
29 I am also a fan of the Spade anchor--it fits well. It is
nothing to do with Amel, but Spade did deliver it direct to La
Rochelle.

I hope this list may be of some interest . I expect I have

missed

out a few items but Laurent Laborde, who gave us the usual

wonderful

Amel service , will have a full list. I don't think there's

anything

I'd change but Judy would have fitted the Corian worktop in the
galley had we known about it, though our list of extras was

somewhat

straining the system as it was. I wouldn't claim that our list is

in

any way exhaustive: we always find it fascinating to see what other
boats have which we have completely overlooked. ( though I might be
tempted to look at a flat screen, DVD, Bluetooth etc if I were
starting today.....).
Am about to buy a genniker and would be interested to hear from
anyone who already uses one--the 140 square metres suggested by
Amel's sailmaker does seem huge. Ours will be somewhat more

modest.

Ian

In amelyachtowners@y..., kimberlite1212 <no_reply@y...> wrote:

are there any other things you would suggest a new amel owner

should

look out for?
any special spares to order or options?
eric


--- In amelyachtowners@y..., rbenven44 wrote:

Hello Ian & Judy,<br>I have SM #195, and have had
the oil drip from the gearbox/engine junction since
day 1. I have been told that trying to fix it is not
worth the effort, and may make it worse. So I wipe it
up after every few days of motoring. Gives me an
excuse to clean everything else down there and look for
serious problems.<br>Roy