Blue Angel, Rome Marseille delivery trip

[MapisM]

there is also another switch for the 12V Battery bank (for generators, and some instruments) to link these with the center point (12V) of the 24V engine battery's. I'm not sure if such a connection is commonly done, or could create issues ?

both switches were "on"

Not common at all, AFAIK.
And I surely wouldn't keep that connection "ON" at all time.
Though it might make sense for instance to turn your genset on if and when its own battery is flat. Same goes for main engines.
But just as a temporary connection, anyway.

 

[BartW]

white smoke usually means that water is being turned to steam somewhere. Are you absolutely sure that this happens on one engine only?

yes we're sure its only one engine, have seen a few other boats with similar smoke, but then on both engines,
we have the impression that this engine is running at higher temp, also exhaust, creating some steem at the point where colling water goes in the exhaust.
that engine is not yet overheating but something like 90°

Did you have a full engine survey and oil analysis done on BA?

no oil analasis, (engines had new oil just a few weeks before)
but a full test by a MAN engineer, reporting to our surveyor , unfortunotly in Italian, so have not been following that part of the survey accurately.
Conclusion was:
- engines are OK,
- can get max RPM and max speed (26kn)
- no overheating,
- etc ...
But
- RPM meters need adjusting
- trottle levers need adjusting (not sync)

 

[BartW]

the navigation wake is evidently asymmetrical.

could this be due to SB engine running 300 (max RPM faster ?

flaps where in same position, checked this a few times

 

[BartW]

Let me guess? That'll be a F6-7 from the W/NW ie a mistral wind? Back in 2005, we spent 2 weeks on that part of the coast of SoF in August and most of the holiday was spoiled by mistral winds.

during this trip, have been looking at windfinder.com two times per day.
at least 3 weeks from 4, there was a storm over Golfe de Lion.
we had to change our plan/ route due to this,
I believe that both JFM and Alfonzo had just a small time frame of a few day's to cross the Golfe de Lion, to go to the Balearics.

have been told that this year was exceptional, but now I clearly see the difference between Cote D'azur and the other part of SOF.

Have you visited Iles des Embiez on that coastline? Interesting little island which was originally owned by Paul Ricard. Nice marina and lots of good walks

not now, but have been in the area with the other boat for diving.
we were also on the island Bendor with Aegir, opposite Bandol, and also owned by Ricard.

Sanary sur mèr is also nice I have been told ?

 

[BartW]

Last year in October I was moored with Aegir, in Cassis along this big ship (Guy Couch)

Less then one year later, I was moored with BA in exactly the same spot,
And again along a bigger ship (Admiral)

That’s promising for next year

 

[AndieMac]

Thanks for the catch-up post Bart, hopefully you might get the time to put up some more pics later. Perhaps even some of the engine room and installations?

I remember when we first took over the Princess, the battery system took a bit of working out, and we got caught a couple of times with flat batteries. Even now there is always a constant 240 V supply to the chargers.

Good luck with the future berthing arrangements.

 

[MapisM]

could this be due to SB engine running 300 (max RPM faster ?
flaps where in same position, checked this a few times

Well, I suppose it can be a good reason, though impossible to tell for sure just from a pic.
A 300 RPM difference is a HUGE difference, anyway. Bound to create a lot of unnecessary stress on the rudders, which must work hard just to keep the boat running straight (more on that in your other thread on tacho reliability).

 

[BartW]

Photos photos and more photos

OK OK OK


The kids have arrived in Rome by airplane, I am installing a tap, for the fresh water hose, on the afterdeck,
Just before we leave for this epic trip,

Leaving porte di Roma in Ostia,
this is a coastal town near Rome, compare like Brighton and London, a little bit old glory, again like Brighton,
The harbour is very big, but not interesting,
You need to cruise at least 60nm north (Toscane and isola Giglio…) or 60nm south (bay of Naples, Isola Ponza or Capri, … ) for interesting cruising destinations.
So not a place you want to be moored permanently,

But it is next door to the factory where the boat is build at CAntiery NAvale di Ostia.
This is a new 86ft Canados

First stop is in Porte Ercole Toscane, this is the home port where Alfonzo works today

Wind forecast was too bad to continue the trip, so we stayed there 2 nights.
The boy’s went outside the harbour and went fishing

We invited Alfonzo for dinner, but he wouldn’t allow to be served, he insisted to help with the serving, as he is used to. He enjoyed Elly’s famous pasta “Alfonzo” (vongole)

The next morning we left at 6am, towards Elba, we had breackfast and a swim in a bay near porto Azzurro, and continued around Elba to Portoferraio.

In a bay nearby we did some swimming, skiing, and I did the prop cleaning

The following morning, again an early departure towards Portofino.
Breackfast and lunch was served in a bay in front of Portovenere, near La Spezia. M/Y A was our neigbour

but when we wanted to leave, they damaged the winch.

This passage along the ligurian coast, Cinque Terra, … was the most beautifull part of the trip,
Clouds over the land were very dark, but we didn’t get the bad weather.

Around 18hr we arrived in Portofino, tried to find a mooring in marina Rapallo, but no space,
We got a mooring and fuel in lavagna,

The following morning the sun was at his best to make pictures from Portofino.

From here we crossed straight over the bay of Genua to San Remo, there we had werez for overnight in the big harbour.

Cont.

 

[BartW]

Following morning departure towards SOF.
Need to change courtesy flag now

Isn’t that cote d’azur ?

And very strange weather / collors of the sky

Mandatory stop, in and out Monaco harbour

We had a lunch / swim stop in Villefranche bay, and exercised a manual recovery of the anker, fixed on a long rope, but we under estimated the weight of the anker, and a piece of 1m chain,
3 boy’s were needed to pull that rope, and me fixing the chain when in, so not something we want to do again with guests / without our boy’s.
We just must have missed JFM, because he spend here the previous night on anker,


But he managed for us a berth of the coming night (Sunday evening),
and listening for a while to the VHF, I can confirm that without JFM’s help we wouldn’t have got a mooring here. Thanks again J.

Was not on Mole sud, but the next one, Mole 1, the quai for the +25m yachts !
Antibes was a really nice discovery (have never been there) I thought it was completely different.
Unfortunately we could stay here just one short evening and night, as I was nervous to get my following nights mooring in Hyères
(no anker, kids need to be dropped at the airport, get a new winch.…) Hope to come back here sooner or later.

And yes, at 14h the following day we were moored in Hyeres harbour just as planned .
Our Belgium friends / living in Cassis/ came along for a shat and lunch.

The following morning our kids went home, and new guests / friends came on board.
Weather was not good, so we stayed one more day / night in the harbour, and on thursday morning when we wanted to go out , daytrip to Porquerolles , we got the message that the new anker winch was delivered at a local chandler, so spend all day installing her. (first some shopping for screws and extra tools…)

This is the old winch

Here you can see the damage to one brass (or bronze?) gear inside

This is the wooden floor on which she’s mounted, look at the thickness of the teak, about 11..12mm!!!

This is the new winch in place

Friends kids where bored, so we launched the dingy, for them to play with

Following, morning went to saint Tropez bay,

for some shilling and a swim and play with two underwater scooters , well not really underwater

And a dingy visit to the village, sorry city.


sorry Petem, the millionairs didn’t pay attention to my boat , there where zillions of boats, many much bigger or nicer then mine,
but I wish them all to have as much fun as we had !

After 5 nights on BA, dropped these friends in Toulon harbour,
Cont.

 

[BartW]

and then came my mum, with 2 uncles and 3 antes for a 2 night visit.
Average age is 75 ! that was fun, especially when the wanted to play with the dingy.
I went with the guests to cap de Brégancon,

and later dropped them with the dingy on porquerolles,

Here you see BA in PQ bay,
Let me give you my comparison between SOF and Croatia;
In SOF you have 3 interesting islands, (yes I know there are more) and each of them has a few bay’s.
When your are moored there in July / august there are between 100 or 200 boats in one bay.
In Croatia, you have about 1000 islands, and in each bay you have 1 to 5 boats moored, sometimes none.

At the end of the day, Alfonzo came along with the new ship on which he is captain,
It is a privately owned posillipo Technema 70 (Rizardi)
He’s heading towards Ibiza, (owner is flying) and had a fuel stop in Le Lavendou, and overnight here on anker near Porquerolles (very early departure)
My mum was so glad to meet him again, she met him before at easter in Rome,
Bring Alf back to his ship, and say goodbye for a long time.

Following day my middle aged guests are leaving,
from the main qay in Toulon Harbour

The Captain and Captains wife solely on the boat, cruise to Bormes les mimosas,
Mmm that was a nice intermezzo

Here
the new guests are on board in Bormes, on the left side you can see Le lavendou,
And on the right side a nice line of medium sized sports cruisers,
Just in front of us was a nice Guy Couch, (not on the pic)

Another detail on this pic, when you look on the floor in front of the bow sunbed, at the teak, you can see that I did only half of that floor level, cleaning and rubbing the grey color of the teak.


I was fedup driving the dingy, so had my friend is doing the boaring jobs.

Here we were anchored in a bay on Port Cros, just a few mobo’s around, but a nice blue Princess.

Twas here that we had flat battery’s during overninght, but all problems were cured as explained before.
In the morning I went buying bread with the dingy on the opposite island Ile du Levant

After 4 nights another change of guests, and with them we left this area and continue with the last part of our trip.
Next stop was in Bandol, position QH9 (Quai d’Honneur)
On SB side was a old Bertram,

And on port side a impressively good looking (well maintained / restored) 16yo DianoMarine

Spoke with the Italian owner, he knew / had seen BA before,
I Was impressed with the condition of his boat, just him and his wife where enjoying their old day’s / summer on the boat.

Following day, we got the good news there was a space for BA in port de Cassis,
We had hoped to be able to stay there a few nights, and where happy with the good news,
only 2 spaces for +20m boats in that harbour, one for BA !
Here we are approaching Cassis

On the lower balcony, we will have BBQ and a swim tomorrow…

The Captain and his wife had a good feeling about the last four weeks, we made it !

Cassis harbour is very often used for film or TV sets (have seen at least 3 occasions before)
Today there was some filming of the fire rescue/ boat moored next to us.

OK then that BBQ and a swim, BRRRR that was cold, a underwater well

Then back to the boat, and some Pastice and some more, and more, and some pizza, and then we got thirsty !
Our two friends from Cassis and two other guest living in La Mole (near St Tropez) were all too drunk to go home, so that night we had 4 unplanned guests sleeping on BA.

I placed one part of the cockpit covers, to keep them warm, and protected from the wind.



Following day we took lunch and recovery in a Cassis bay,
later we dropped the guests with the dingy,

and then continue our trip along Marseille to our final destination;
Port Napoleon, in Port St Louis du Rhone
cont.

 

[BartW]

In that port are many boats on the dry,
made a picture of this Alalunga, as she’s a very similar (but newer) boat to the Canados, and use her as an example how to do that modification, add steps to the swim platform.

There was also a nice Baglietto, tried to explain to the lady about “a character boat”, but she didn’t understand what I was talking about,

Blue Angel is moored until mid September here in Port Napoleon,

This is the last vieuw of her, after a really interesting trip / holliday / experience.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Bart, absolutely fantastic post and pictures, thanks for all the effort to write it all up. A really enjoyable read. Wishing you many more happy times on Blue Angel.

Cheers
Jimmy
(in 'old glory' Brighton...)

 

[AndieMac]

very nice Bart, some great photos. Thanks for posting.

 

[Hurricane]

Great post Bart

I know the feeling when leaving the boat for the first time after a long delivery trip.
I bet you cant wait to get back.

 

[newWave]

Green with envy.

Thx for posting I enjoyed it a lot.

Tip: In case you would like to promote your own website in the future, I recommend linking your pictures on your own server, that way you get some backlinks to promote your site on the search engines.
You do not need a web page on your own website to display the pictures, so it's a matter of dumping them into a folder and linking to that folder.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

Super report with some great pictures.

 

[MapisM]

I am installing a tap, for the fresh water hose, on the afterdeck

Hi Bart, great report and pics, thanks for sharing them with us.
Just a small tip on the aft fresh water tap, since I did the same on my boat years ago: if you fit a "T" adaptor, you can directly attach the marina fresh water line while you're moored, and turn off the onboard autoclave. Very convenient when staying moored for longish periods, 'cause you can avoid filling your freshwater tank and always have "fresh" fresh water, so to speak.
Depending on the autoclave pump, it might be necessary to put a non-return valve between it and the tank, but that's an easy job anyway.
Alternatively, if the pump doesn't stop the water from returning to the tank, you could also use a manual valve instead of a non-return.
This way, you can use the direct dock connection both for onboard usage and to refill the tank before leaving.
Someone might argue that it's dangerous to have a hose onboard which could continuosly fill the hull in case of leaks. If you're worried about that, just fit another manual valve on the aft "T" and keep it closed when not used.

 

[ACE]

Bart, what a fantasic and interesting post, THANK YOU for sharing this experience with us I really enjoyed reading and seeing your pictures.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Let me give you my comparison between SOF and Croatia;
In SOF you have 3 interesting islands, (yes I know there are more) and each of them has a few bay’s.
When your are moored there in July / august there are between 100 or 200 boats in one bay.
In Croatia, you have about 1000 islands, and in each bay you have 1 to 5 boats moored, sometimes none.
.

Bart v interesting posts and pics. I have enjoyed them very much. Your point about the comparison between SoF and Croatia is quite correct. In fact you could say the same about the Balearics and the Spanish costas in comparison to Croatia too. We have been on our boat in Croatia for 10 days now in the busiest part of the season and not once have we been in an overcrowded anchorage or been turned away from a marina or quay because they are full and nor have we had any problems getting a table in any of the good restaurants we are now finding. Croatia boating has its issues but its much more relaxed than the W Med

 

[jfm]

Bart
Thanks loads for posting all that. Great pictures - some brought back nice memories; others were of places I have never been to

I'm really pleased for you guys that the whole BA project has turned out so well. You will have great memories of that cruise

New winch looked great. And now you know for sure that the teak is 12mm you know you can just sand it. When you were fist looking at these boats we discussed on here replacement of the teak and I said you can probably just sand it, andf that photo confirms it. Just patch-repair the caulking if needed, then sand off 0.5mm, and the decks will look new

Oh, and your English is way way better than my French, but I had to giggle at the line "Our Belgium friends living in Cassis came along for a shat and lunch", which is one of the funniest ever written on this forum.