Oliver, Many thanks for the confirmation of the drain holes for the companionway slider box being part of the original construction. When I first got my Amel, I noticed that a small amount of water, p

Hi Craig, We like to keep cans and tools in the normally dry main bilge forward of the companionway slider so even a gallon of saltwater from a leaking companionway slider could do a lot of damage fro

Bill Kinney, You make some very good points. A 22mm hole at a 1' head could flow around 615 GPH if my calculations are correct so there could be conditions where this could allow a lot of water into t

Bill, Great! Sorry for the delayed response, we have been on the move headed South down the Tunisian coast. If you have any problems getting the new varnish to blend in or whatever we are glad to shar

Hi Bill, We have owned a number of classic wooden vessels with lots of exterior varnishwork along with customer boats with even more. Mahogany (especially African and Phillipine) tend to lighten and t

Craig, The tool that I own is the Fluxeon 1800 watt model. You should be able to view it here: https://fluxeon.com/products/ You can use a lot of different types of coils with this type unit, which ca

Mark, I had the same results in my search for data as well. I am thinking that if both the Phillips and the slotted are able to provide enough torque to shear of the bolt that it doesn’t matter too mu

Mark, Thanks for your input. I am really curious to know if you found any data confirming that the Phillips head can transfer more torque to the screw than a slotted head because I would really like t

Ryan and Kelly, I have had this problem on multiple occasions even when I alerted my CC company that a particular charge was to be made. What I have resorted to that has worked 100% of the time so far

Sorry, there is an error in my last post. The last line should have read “hex cap”, not just hex. Apologies. James

Bill Kinney, Actually you may have done yourself a favour by using the slotted head style. While the hex and square drive heads are really convenient since slippage of the tool is reduced, in my exper

Bill Kinney, I was originally thinking of using a non acid based silicone caulking for bedding my stanchions but I think that you may have hit on the perfect solution using the Butyl tape to provide t

Thanks for your in depth and thoughtful response. I think that you really hit the important points of my question. It is clear that you consider your autopilot to be a critical component and I get it!

Bill Rouse, Thank you for sharing your experience and other information on this subject. While I have not have a rudder reference indicator fail on my own boat, I have had this happen on more than one

Bill, Thanks so much for sharing your project of removing and resealing the stanchion bases and fastenings. Your reasons for doing this project echo my own and despite limited sailing time due to the

Bill, I like your concept of having some stand alone instruments and would like to learn of a good way to have some of the benefits of the network without being reliant too on it . I will be buying mo

Bill, That is exactly the information that I was looking for! Thanks so much for your help in reposting this. I have added this to my permanent Amel files under “Steering System" for future reference.

Hello All, A lot of good information here on the Amel steering system, thanks for all that have contributed. I was wondering if anyone could comment on whether the cables or any other parts of the ste

Craig, I agree with your post. I have also found that it is not uncommon to find loose coupling bolts and agree this is something to check on a regular basis. I have had good results using Nylocs in a

Davi, How about getting the boat up to speed and going into neutral to see if the helm straightens out? This will eliminate the possibility that the prop is the cause. If you still have a turn in the