Duane, If you haven't already done so, pull the rear casing off your windlass. Due to age of your boat you will likely find a neat pile of carbon dust from the brushes right underneath the terminals w

Take a look at the mailasail website. It is specifically for long term cruisers. They will give you a patch which blocks all crawlers from uploading data to your computer other than the specific site

Ron, There are numerous postings on this site regarding insuring vessels in a country outside your normal residence, generally due to more attractive premiums which save money. The most import fact th

Jim, The outer shaft is composite, carbon fibre I think. Check that your limit switches are aligned properly with the motor. After my last bow thruster service I couldn't get the thruster to retract s

Dear Jamie, I had thermal runaway on a set of Vetus wet cell batteries that were eighteen months old. The incident happened at the top of the Sea of Cortez under sail, there was no explosion, I was al

James, I have dealt with Michel Charpentier on two occasions. He is simply straight as a die and a pleasure to do business with. If I were lucky enough to be looking for another Amel it would be Joel

Gary, For now why not have the caretaker knock in a wooden plug either on the outside of the hull or inside the sea chest and have him check the water level daily. Best regards, Trevor Ireland

Dear Mark, Thank you for going into so much detail. Like you, my comments are based on personal experience as a result of which I was unable to conclude the sale of my boat. It would appear that it is

If a new owner requires finance the lender if American, will stipulate that the vessel is US Coastguard registered before providing the funds. The seller will not pass the papers until in receipt of f

Stephanie, You will need to submit your current registration document and request for a Certificat de Radiation de l'Effectif et du Pavillon Francais The address in La Rochelle in 2007 was, DOUANES ET

No Graham you are not, I did the same thing. www dot amelowners dot net regards, Trevor Ireland

At that rate, then take a hacksaw to the prop centre and very carefully saw across two empty bolts holes until you can cut a line across and remove part of the prop centre which might let you get bett

Ric, Your last post was a raw water problem with the Yanmar, are you sure these are not connected? Trevor Seafever Ireland

Ian, Why are you trying to remove the shaft if you need to replace the prop? Throw the 2x4 away before you destroy the fairing. If the shaft is that badly stuck you will NEVER get it off while in the

Dear Juan, I think what most of us have done is to certainly to have two electrical pumps, one that is working and one as a spare, but not fitted. Making sure that what ever the make of pump, the fitt

Ric, It is likely to be as Bill suggests. I have had exactly the same problem which drove me mad for eighteen months. The casing of the Johnson raw water pump in which the impeller is housed was worn

Vladimir, When your boat was brand new Amel typically used a clever knot on all of the halyards and outhaul ropes. The tail of the rope is whipped with cord back on to the standing part of the halyard

Graham, The motor (15hp) has so much torque it will either throw off weed or light plastic immediately, or break the nylon shear bolts. This is a really lame suggestion, but as it is all a bit new to

Graham, do you have an audible alarm and light to establish that the bow thruster is fully extended and in place before you try to use it? Regards, Trevor Seafever SM 425 Mexico

Starter motors are essential spares. They are 100 dollars when you don't need one and 1000 dollars from the official Yanmar dealer when you do and he knows that you are stuck. All learnt the hard way.