We have SM 302, Pen Azen.we are spending this winter in the Caribbean with a view to transiting Panama in May or so and then leaving the boat in a secure dock either afloat or ,preferably, ashore for

Hi Stephan, I had an excellent genoa made by Andrew Dove who is the head of North Sails in the Caribbean, based in Guadeloupe. He made me a slightly smaller genoa higher cut from Dacron as we are abou

I have SM 302 with the Volvo/Perkins TMD22p. No complaints after 800 hours, other than replacing the key switch and the engine hour meter and rev counter, both at crazy Volvo prices.Power output is fi

Dear Joel, Thanks for your advice. That's good to know, because they don't put these things in the Volvo manuals.Thanks also for the tip on the cam belt.By the time we have done 1000 hours we expect t

Thanks, Jay.As I write I am actually in England, returning to Ecuador in a few weeks.I have bought my spare cam belt and my local Volvo agent here reckons he can teach me to swap it myself.Your experi

Can anyone send me the email address of a good Volvo agent in Florida

Dear Bill, Marty and Joel, Thanks for all your replies. Im in Ecuador looking to get some spares shipped out ( theyve not heard of Volvo here) and between you I think Ive got all the info I need. Happ

I have a Nautic 45 hotwater tank on my SM 302.Now three years old I am about to replace the anode. The instructions that came with the boat are actually for a different Nautic model but recommend that

Thanks Vito, you werent kidding about the mess!What a lousy design..why couldnt they just have the anode on its own screw in from the outside....the good news however was that the existing anode was o

Hi Ed, I got mine from Amel when I was last in La R. Its a pipe of zinc about 12 " long and .75" diameter with a screw attachment at one end. Ian ______________________________________________________

Dear Stephan, What a useful note. I was hoping to change the belt myself until I found out the price of the belt tension guage ( somewhere in the region of $6-800).Interestingly, my prophet on the mou

Dear Stephan and Jay, thanks a lot for your further thoughts.I find the education fascinating.What expertise.Dont either of you ever sell your Amels! Ian ______________________________________________

Hi Joel, On the subject of rigs, how tight do you make your backstays? Every other part of my standing rigging is very tight but my backstays have always had a fair bit of play in them.Would you tight

Eric, above 45 knots you just press those little black buttons a tad, put Keith and Sam on the weather rail,( ok ,you can also fill your soil tanks if you are on Port, but that might spoil their fun..

Dear Anne and John, I am interested to see your cockpit chair pictures , but being somewhat of a novice on a computerI am struggling to find them---what do I do to download them? You have my sympathie

On our SM, 302, June 2000 launch, now lived aboard for 18 months,we find that at sea we run the genset about every six hours for an hour to an hour and a half on each occasion. Less when at anchor wit

DearJim, Eric and Roy, Thanks, guys. certainly going to save me some unneccesary charging.Ian _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with cool emoticons - d

Well, what do you know? Imagine a Volvo without an exhaust stain, no more cleaning everytime you go for a swim, no more six layers of expensive wax jut to delay the inevitable grime.Solution? Simple.j

M. Selo tells me that the reason the genset has its own fan is that there is a legislative requirement ( presumably United States of Europe law....oops! there speaks an Englishman...) that the engine

Dear John and Anne, Apart from the fact that you can never carry enough fuel...we have transatalnticed ( 17 days) when we only motored for 7 hours but, more to the point, have motored long distances o