One Step Closer

[Crisby]

Firstly, thank you to everybody for your help and advice, we are now the proud (and poorer) owners of Azura.

Secondly, There will be an awful lot of questions still to come, so don’t expect us to disappear just yet! She is currently in Sicily and we hope to head East in May so if you see us anchored up please feel free to come over for a glass of something cold. Which brings me to our fridge, 2 years old but not working, any suggestions?

Chris
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[moomba]

Grats and fair winds

 

[CJ13]

Looks like a nice boat- congratulations!
You probably need to provide more information re the fridge. For instance if the compressor and fan are running but it’s not cooling, then it probably needs regassing.

John

 

[sailaboutvic]

Firstly, thank you to everybody for your help and advice, we are now the proud (and poorer) owners of Azura.

Secondly, There will be an awful lot of questions still to come, so don’t expect us to disappear just yet! She is currently in Sicily and we hope to head East in May so if you see us anchored up please feel free to come over for a glass of something cold. Which brings me to our fridge, 2 years old but not working, any suggestions?

Chris
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Nice boat Chris , please it all went well .
Fridge , bit more info .
Have you tried turning it on ? new boat to you so is there any hidden switches ?
Do the compressor vibrate ?
Can you hear the gas running inside the box ?
Is the thermostat turned up ?
I have to say we had three engineer or should I say , so call engineer , and mine not any better and the only wY I can keep mine working is with a cheep Chinese timer .

 

[colind3782]

Could be as simple as low voltage. Make sure enough electrics are getting through to the compressor

 

[Yngmar]

Congrats, nice looking boat. If you come past Licata soon, I'd be happy to have a look at the fridge. Got ours going again, and that's now an adult fridge.

 

[Crisby]

Thanks for the replies, the fridge was new in March 2016, fitted locally in Trapani, and the boat was only used for 1 month during that summer and laid up ashore since. When I switch the fridge on I can hear the compressor running and see an electric draw on the the switch panel but despite leaving on for 24 hours and playing with the thermostat no change in temperature, so I am hoping it just needs regassing due to lack of use.

The rest of her seemed to be ok, 4 days in the water resulted in a little water in the bilge which I half expected after 2 years ashore, maybe half a litre or so. The batteries were fully topped up by the solar and combined with the wind gen matched all of our electricity requirements during our brief time on board.

She is back ashore now and we will be back in February to have the standing rigging replaced, any recommendations for riggers in Sicily gratefully received as it is not an area we are familiar with.

Chris

 

[sailaboutvic]

Chris it shouldn't need regasing unless it has a leak and if so regasing alone won't stop the problem you need to find the leak . can you hear it running through the plate ? I type so a hissing nose .
I would had said bridge out the thermostate but if you can see amps being use then the fridge in on .
How much amps is it useing ? Very hogh Amps indicate problem with compressor.

Rigging , dont know about Sicily but there good riggers in Malta guy called. Chris near Msida .the yacht yard would know .
or after that if your heading east Wayproint in Lefkas .

 

[Crisby]

Starting to sound like a leak as I could not hear any hissing through the plate. It’s keel cooled as well as the compressor which also has a separate switch next to the compressor. With that switch off, when we switch the fridge on we see the small electricity draw, I can’t put a figure on how much but the needle on the switch panel moves about 1 and a half mm. When we then flick the switch by the compressor it runs fine but the fridge itself just seems dead.

We had a quote from Waypoint, (7000 Euro!) and we have heard that they will do a good job but would like to get it done before leaving Sicily if possible.

Thanks again

Chris

 

[sailaboutvic]

Starting to sound like a leak as I could not hear any hissing through the plate. It’s keel cooled as well as the compressor which also has a separate switch next to the compressor. With that switch off, when we switch the fridge on we see the small electricity draw, I can’t put a figure on how much but the needle on the switch panel moves about 1 and a half mm. When we then flick the switch by the compressor it runs fine but the fridge itself just seems dead.

We had a quote from Waypoint, (7000 Euro!) and we have heard that they will do a good job but would like to get it done before leaving Sicily if possible.

Thanks again

Chris

Chris as you know we have the same size boat , and I could had kick myself when I said waypoint cos I know they expensive we Quote us €6k 18 months ago in the end they made up the rigging and I did all the work
€2k and even that I could had got cheaper if I ordered else where ,
not sure how anyone can charge 4.5k for removing mast and labour .
There yards in Licata but I doubt there be much cheaper . Malta may Be your best bet depending where You are on Sicily you are . If your on the North then maybe Crotone on the east coast of the leg in Italy .
Other then that ask locally there must be riggers about.
Just one thing you must have 8 and 10mm rigging although they may be over 10 years old you probably fine they ok maybe be best to have a rig check could come you a arm and a leg , unless you want them change for peace of mind .

 

[Crisby]

Thanks Vic, she’s in Trapani, south west of Palermo, at the mo. She has been very lightly used but well maintained so the rigging is probably ok as you say, but as we plan to have her for a long time it will need doing at some point so we think we might as well just get it done now. We are heading to Greece in May so waypoint makes sense if they can do us a better price, maybe when they are quiet, and a rig check initially is Sicily for peace of mind for the trip there.

Sicily does seem expensive for most things boat related and if we had more time there before having to get back to Vietnam then moving her to Malta would have been a good plan, we’ve asked the yard to source a quote for us but I have a feeling they will add their 10%! Sicily is probably not a good place to upset the locals.........

Chris

 

[sailaboutvic]

Chris i know your a multi millionaire and what 7k to you , haha but if your handy what I did was remove one strand at a time and had a pair made up then remove the next strand and so on the biggest problem was the furled as it had to come down but with a little help from a couple of friend that when fine , or if you don't want to be going up and down the mast , have the mast taken down some where like Ionian yard it cost you a few hundred euros then just take off all the rigging and get waypoint to make them up and buy new bottle screw .
Saving you 5k well not really 3.5k as the other 1.5 k was for my advise and saving you the money

 

[Crisby]

Not a massive fan of going up the mast but having it taken down and doing it ourselves is very doable as I am a massive fan of saving money! If we go down that route I’ll put the cheque in the post, honest......

Chris

 

[Richard10002]

I found doing business in Malta and Sicily required counting my fingers after shaking hands on any deal. I know rip offs happen all over the world, including the UK, but my perception in Malta and Sicily was that they are experts at it

In Malta, the only place I felt comfortable with was Manoel Island Yacht Yard.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I found doing business in Malta and Sicily required counting my fingers after shaking hands on any deal. I know rip offs happen all over the world, including the UK, but my perception in Malta and Sicily was that they are experts at it

In Malta, the only place I felt comfortable with was Manoel Island Yacht Yard.

MIYY , Yea and that not cheap any more , believe it or not one of the cheapest place to fit a boat out is back in the U.K. , that's why you often see my posting saying , if you plain to leave and go cruising then fit out before you leave .
example I want to but a victrom 100/20 mppt for more panels , best price in Greece so far €209 . In the U.K. £155 and I bet if I look a bit harder I find it cheaper .

 

[Pasarell]

A friend in Lefkas earlier this year, about May I think, needed to replace his rigging on a 42' boat. Quote from Waypoint was high and they couldn't do it until the end of the season. CYS in Lefkas quoted quite a bit less and were able to do it in about 2 weeks.

 

[Crisby]

Hi Pasarell, thanks for that, I’ll ask them for a quote, less keen on Sicily after Richards comment!

Chris