Gludy has a boat!

[Gludy]

Well after all the advice and help, plus ribbing I have receoved from you lot I do now own a boat. Its a Princess 385 - spent the weekend on it before it is being moved by road (glad I did that with this weather) tommorrow.
Nope - not been out her as I want to get to know her first and also need some training.

Taking the radar tower down was a bit of fun and trying to lay it flat almost impossible but I managed it in the end.

As you all said - once the original tender was removed I noticed a bulge on the corner of the one davit - the one that took the engine weight.

I am now, probably going for a 3m valiant (40kg) with a 6hp four stroke engine (27kg) with a total weight of 67kg. Is that not sensible? Or will you continue to rib me about my rib questions?

The boat has a virtually new 6 k.w. Yanama generator and unusually a de-salination plant with a capacity of 10 gallons per hour. No gas on board- a large multi-purpose Microwave come normal oven seems to be a better solution.

The main problems encountered so far are:-
1. One toilet not bringing in seawater - the seacock works ok so I guess the inlet is blocked. In turning the handle on the outlet seacock to the other seacock toilet, I maged to close it never to be able to open it again as the handle has become loose! Result is one toilet does not take in sewater, the other does not let out waste!
2. The windscreen motor to the helm window did not work and was not even connected to its power supply - it seems the motor may have had it. Are these fairly standard motors to replace?
3. The navico radio only steps up in the channel number, not down but there is a Simrad 52 DSC/VHf also supplied, so that not too important at present.

Thas about it really. The boat has new curtains, upholstery and has the washable wall and roof lining throughout.

Overall, I am, so far, pleased with it and look forward to starting my list of 32 jobs (my list so far), so as to improve lots of little things on her and will no doubt pester you all with questions.

All advice - welcome.
Paul



Paul

 

[david_steward]

Re: What engines ? nm

nm

Dave S

 

[hlb]

Gludy could you get together with Mr Light to swap notes.
Its far more entertaining.
Get some pipe and join the two bogs together. Then they can suck and pump in either direction in unison.
Fraid you dont need a desalination plant in Wales. Swop it for an umberela.
Have fun.

Haydn

 

[byron]

Congrats Gludy., I guess she has Volvo 306s., when you put the dinghy on consider storing the outboard in the Lazarette when travelling at sea this puts far less strain on the davits.
Try pumping a little cooking oil through the bog this often frees everything up. As regards the Navico - ditch it, they never were any good.

©2001

 

[Guest]

Congrats and good luck. Only thing is you've not learned yet on here, DON'T mention toilets otherwise HLB (Haydn Le Bog) starts and once he's off and running, well to say it gets boring is an understatement. Re the windscreen wiper, yes they're pretty standard, should be able to pick one up in virtually any chandlers, though I doubt if you've got any of those in Wales

 

[hlb]

Re

Just remembered. I had my window wiper repaired in Swansea. See the bloke round the back in the tin shed.

Haydn

 

[Gludy]

Re: What engines ? nm

Twin Volvo 306hp

Paul

 

[BarryD]

Only a little bit jealous! Sounds like a nice boat. Enjoy it, I know I'm looking forward to finding something that doesn't blow up on the trial <G>


Barry D.

 

[david_steward]

Re: Look out for..

The early 61a's were a bit problematic. Check the exhaust elbows very carefully, they have a nasty habit of falling off and letting the exhaust water run into the bilge. Boats have been lost coz of it. Look especially where the cylinder part of the elbow is attached to the flange that bolts to the turbo. Metal fatigue makes it crack here easily. Yours may have gone before and been welded up. Some people weld on extra flat sections for additional support. Some time later , Volvo changed the design somewhat to alleviate this problem.

Also these lumps are renowned for valve problems. Again the early valves were not up to the job and modifications were made later. No easy way of checking this without the heads off.

Apart from that they are good engines if well maintained, Good Luck.



Dave S

 

[longjohnsilver]

Is there any reason you're going for a 4 stroke 6. The perceived wisdom seems to be that 2 stroke smaller engines are better and lighter, although 4 strokes seem better the larger you go.

A friend had the same engines as you and had to replace both exhaust elbows. This was a few years ago and they were about £700 each so well worth keeping an eye on them.

Why does she have a desalination plant on board - never heard of this before in uK.

 

[traceyandsteve]

Congrats Gludy, welcome to the 385 owners club. We've had loads of fun in ours and spent plenty of hours in open water and she's a great sea boat. Steve knows just about all there is to know about those Volvo 306's, so if you ever want any advice, don't hesitate to call or drop us a line.

Happy motoring!

Tracey

 

[Guest]

Re your tender, just watch the lifting points. My neighbour across the pontoon had a Princess 388 with a Valient and within weeks the lifting points were pulling through . Basically his were not bolted all the way through the hull but glassed into the layup which did not seem like a great idea to me. On the other hand that guy was not too bright and I suspect the bung got left in at some stage.

As for bulging davits, the late lamented Amoureuse had at one stage a 3.2m rib with a 25 horse and that was a bit too much for her Simpson davits which since have had a slight 'pull' on the engine end mounting plate. I had an Avon rib with an 8hp Suzuki oil injection 2 stroke and that was
a) no problem weight wise
b) a good and very reliable alternative to a fourstroke

Just check the condition of the davit wires and replace if they show the slightest sign of fraying/rust. They can break and it is potentially very expensive if you happen to be doing 18knts as I was! Really for a tender with a fairly heavy engine, two or three seasons is about the limit for wires.

Finally, it is worth as a newcomer building up a set of check lists for various operations - e.g. leaving the boat
Gas off
Seacocks shut
Electrics off except auto bilge pump
Shore power connected and chargers working
etc.,etc.

You want one also for launching and recovering the dinghy

Bung in/out
Oars and fuel in dinghy
Starting outboard - fuel tank air bleed open, choke, neutral, cutoff switch connected, etc.

After a while it all becomes second nature but these can help you over the first few hurdles.

Have loads of fun and good luck

Nick

 

[Guest]

Re: yes, training

Hi Paul

It's tempting to "do a course" and such, but stuff such as Nick is telling you is not really part of any course, yet important. Much best to get a friend/recommendation of friend to show yo - tho if they're a pro you have to pay them. under 100 per day is ok, mebbe less.

make sure you get a powerboatie bloke: lots of instructiors are rya saily blah blah and easy conversion for massive boats - but don't know about generators, quick checks on massive engines.

Other thing might be to get the volvo engine chap to show basic engine maintenence, and a buy spares kit off him.

 

[Gludy]

Re: Look out for..

Thanks for the tips.
All the valves have been upgraded/renewed this year.
The exhaust has been fixed with extra welding etc but it seems it maybe best to swollow the bill and have new elbows put in ... what do you think?
Paul

Paul

 

[Gludy]

Thanks Tracey,
After the marina ignoring all arrnagements and hence a long delay in getting the boat lifted out this morning - she is now en-route to Swansea. I shall be going down to see her as she arrives this afternnon.

In looking over the old bills that came with her, I was amazed to find that the heating/airconditioning cost well in excess of £10k. I installed underfloor heating in a large house for only a bit more than that!

My main concern now is wether I should put new elbows in for the exhausts (apprantly costing £750 each!). The exhaust has been reiforced with extra welding etc but I certainly do not look forward to it going whilst at sea.

Paul

 

[Gludy]

A previous owner fitted de-salination plant because his company made them! The fitting was well done and used in brochures etc. This combined with the generator and air conditioning/heating system seems to amount to an unusual lot of big extras for such a boat.

Paul

 

[Gludy]

Thanks.
Well it seems that one owner picked his windscreen motor up up in the tin shed around the back of Swansea Marina .... so, Wales does have them! <grin>
Kind regards,
Paul

Paul

 

[Guest]

Re: Look out for..

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Have an engineer look and take his advice. If you replaced everything that had a reputation for failing you will need a very large bank account.
One of the advantages of twin engines is that the chances of both having a mechanical failure during the same trip are fairly remote, assuming proper maintenance. If you know something is dodgy, by all means replace it, but don't go looking for trouble and replacing perfectly serviceable parts

Nick

 

[longjohnsilver]

Re: Look out for..

Sounds like good advice to me (which is unusual from an accountant!!!!!!)

 

[Guest]

Re: We mean to please! NM