Back to the UK for a winter refit

Looking bloody brilliant JTB. Love the anchor ball. Infant it all looks really good. Love the FREE new boat comment and I bet it does feel like that.
 
Forgive me if I'm not joining all the praises for the platform, but being a fan of practicality over aesthetic, I'd rather not have teak just about anywhere in the exterior of a GRP boat (possibly with the only exception of the cockpit) - and even more so on the swim platform, that is among the areas where teak is more subject to wear.

But that's firmly in the "each to their own field" of course, and for anyone who like teak on the swim platform, it surely doesn't get any better than that!

Fwiw, my vote for the best upgrade of this thread goes to the custom risers made by Pipecraft, though I understand that you can't have a beer while sitting on them...! :D

Overall, a great renewal/upgrade job anyway, I can see why Vega eventually felt like a free new boat.
Congratulations, and all the very best for a great summer!
 
Hurricane said:
I think I would be tempted to get a small folding wooden teak table (coffee table style) to put alongside your chair - somewhere to put that cool beer.
In fact we have had one on board since the last boat and have done just that in the past.
I think we will need some pics!!
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I did think about this, but decided against on the simple grounds that I don't have anywhere to store it.
 
CharlieAlpha said:
Good luck with the loading today and bon voyage for the trip to the SoF so you can after all that effort enjoy that beer at the weekend
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Well, it hasn't been completely seamless today. The weather has been absolutely vile which made loading a bit difficult, particularly the removal of the canopies, radar and goalpost. Also, to cut a long and complicated story short, the central support strut for the bathing platform got slightly bent (deflection of about 2cm I think) which is annoying, although given the length of the strut this has probably only resulted in a deflection in the platform of about 0.5mm which I think is probably ok. Very annoying though.

And finally, with grim predictability, I've had to fit new steering rams, again, today. This is the third set in my ownership I think - they seem to last about two years. That said, these ones were fine when the boat was lifted at the end of last year, so the suggestion is that six months on the hard has dried the seals out sufficiently to allow the rams to leak. Oh good. B.O.A.T.

DSC00439_zpsagmvdtkr.jpg
 
jfm said:
Have you bought a pair of chairs? It's the whole point of the exercise! Valdenassi?
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I'm afraid I have not, sorry :D.

I do already have a v comfy folding chair on board, which will do for the proof-of-concept sitting-on-bathing platform test in Villefranche. If it turns out we need two chairs instead of one, then I'll consider myself instructed on supplier!
 
MapisM said:
Forgive me if I'm not joining all the praises for the platform, but being a fan of practicality over aesthetic, I'd rather not have teak just about anywhere in the exterior of a GRP boat (possibly with the only exception of the cockpit) - and even more so on the swim platform, that is among the areas where teak is more subject to wear.

But that's firmly in the "each to their own field" of course, and for anyone who like teak on the swim platform, it surely doesn't get any better than that!

Fwiw, my vote for the best upgrade of this thread goes to the custom risers made by Pipecraft, though I understand that you can't have a beer while sitting on them...! :D

Overall, a great renewal/upgrade job anyway, I can see why Vega eventually felt like a free new boat.
Congratulations, and all the very best for a great summer!
Click to expand...

All understood P but as you'd expect, I don't agree. Teak is a lovely surface to have on the platform, and I completely agree that it wears faster there than anywhere else on the boat - but the oe teak lasted 10 years, and this teak I have just fitted cost about £1650 for the teak, the adhesive, the caulking and the fitting. You wouldn't think twice about replacing the cockpit upholstery after a few years (at about 150% of that cost), so why not take the same attitude to the teak?

And I half agree with you about the exhaust riser work by Pipecraft. There's no doubt that this was fantastic craftsmanship, by a properly skilled individual, framed by amazing service by Pipecraft. But it was just one component, with a clear problem, and solution - and it just happened that I lucked into the very best solution provider. I don't think you can compare that mod, for example, with the wholesale reconstruction of the bathing platform - they are just at different scales.

And thanks! Ref your comment on the other thread about finding the perfect patch of sand for anchoring when in 15m depth ... you've got me thinking about sticking a polarising filter on my ancam to see if I can use it to spot the sandy anchor target!
 
rafiki_ said:
Jimmy, you need to get Colhel and PeteM thinking about a device that could be a drinks table and ladder that can stow in the current ladder locker :D
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Actually a simple pole and table top a la the Sq 58 coffee table mod by jfm would probably do the trick. Perhaps that's a project for *next* winter...
 
Glad to see you got it all loaded on the lorry - unfortunate about the bent strutt, but like you say not the end of the world. More of a bummer about the steering rams - I've been unfortunate enough to replace a few over the years, although I did manage to get Volvo to supply some foc due to the original design not being fit for purpose (that was outside warranty, but was an exchange on a pair that had already been swapped !!). Like you say they don't have a long life expectancy !
Hope the delivery all goes smoothly - may catch up next weekend if my deal completes according to the contract dates.
 
mparrish said:
Glad to see you got it all loaded on the lorry - unfortunate about the bent strutt, but like you say not the end of the world. More of a bummer about the steering rams - I've been unfortunate enough to replace a few over the years, although I did manage to get Volvo to supply some foc due to the original design not being fit for purpose (that was outside warranty, but was an exchange on a pair that had already been swapped !!). Like you say they don't have a long life expectancy !
Hope the delivery all goes smoothly - may catch up next weekend if my deal completes according to the contract dates.
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Thanks M, yes, absolutely do get in touch this weekend if your deal works out and you come down.

As it happens I am more p-ssed off about the strut than I am the rams - they are just a consumable on DPH drives really. Like you, I've also had a gratis set from VP. But a *lot* of time and effort has gone into every aspect of the platform, it is brand new, and now it has a defect. That is a bit annoying tbh. However, having thought about it, I think the solution will be to just unbolt the top end of the strut from the platform, shim it, and then fix it back up again. That at least will take the tension out of it. And I can do that in the water easily enough (the boat will be relaunched before I arrive in France on Friday).
 
Deleted User said:
Sounds v tempting!

Ref tcm renting a bike, this lot http://www.adriaticmototours.com/motorcycle-rental rent bikes and will deliver the bike to a meeting point. Having said that, they are based in Slovenia and I'm not sure they'll deliver as far as Nice. Good company though. We've done a few tours with them
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Well in all seriousness I would definitely be up for it, I've biked down to the Alps a few times now, it's fab. You might have a job convincing the rest of your biker gang though, unless you organise a positioning delivery for them all.
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
As it happens I am more p-ssed off about the strut than I am the rams - they are just a consumable on DPH drives really. Like you, I've also had a gratis set from VP. But a *lot* of time and effort has gone into every aspect of the platform, it is brand new, and now it has a defect. That is a bit annoying tbh. However, having thought about it, I think the solution will be to just unbolt the top end of the strut from the platform, shim it, and then fix it back up again. That at least will take the tension out of it. And I can do that in the water easily enough (the boat will be relaunched before I arrive in France on Friday).
Click to expand...

I was wondering why you couldn't unbolt both ends and have the strut machined straight on a bench, but looking back at the photos I guess that you would need to take the engines out again to get at the transom end of the strut?
 
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