Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure
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On the way to the island for lunch with @Madame-Buttonfly ....
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Looks pretty blissful
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We knew that we would need cleats on the swim platform of SAKURA. In the Med, they are not really needed because most mooring is done stern-to. But in northern Europe where we have actual tides, stern-to is not common, and we will normally moor side-to a floating pontoon. So to get access to the boat without tripping over mooring warps, we need them. I had spec'd them to be added on during the build, but for some unfathomable reason, I deleted them.
So we had to get some made, and boy are they things of beauty.They are going to take ages to fit because we have to add access panels and that creates a series of further complications. Anyway, today, I got the big bolts that will fix the cleats onto the swim-platform deck. They are 316 (or A4) stainless steel and came unpolished, so I have spent an "enjoyable" (actually, sad to say, I do quite enjoy it) hour or two polishing the bit that can be seen (was going to say head, but thought better of it)....
Backing plate I had made out of 316 plate by a local engineering firm.
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@Giles said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
They are 316 (or A4) stainless steel and came unpolished, so I have spent an "enjoyable" (actually, sad to say, I do quite enjoy it) hour or two polishing the bit that can be seen (was going to say head, but thought better of it)....
Any fingers that got hurt in the process?
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Your gorgeous splice-jobs will look their utmost best on those mirror-finish cleats!!
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Nice polish job.
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@Giles said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
Nerd mode enabled....
7,000 drawings, 3,800 knots
Gordian Knot, too?
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So, for any of you who are remotely interested in the fuel tank issue, today we got to try some shit out.
Basically, I was told that I needed to get the port engine to fail (which historically has occurred when the port tank gets to 30% full). I told them to get fucked, I was not going to knowingly take SAKURA out and force a situation where I lost an engine), so I came up with an alternative (and much safer plan). It relied on my getting both tanks to about 40% full. Over the last few weeks, I have got us to that point. Today we pumped fuel from the port tank outlet via a transfer pump and pipe, into the starboard tank - we could do that tied up to the dock, putting no one or nothing at risk. The theory was that when the port tank registered approx 30%, the transfer pump would start sucking air, and hey presto, we had proved that it was a tank issue.
Of course that did not happen. At approx 30% fule left in the port tank, it started sucking a bit of air, but still transferred fuel. This continued until the tank was registering 22%, at which point I got bored and said that we should hook up everything as it should be for normal running, and try and start the engine. That we did, and the engine ran for a few minutes and then shut down.
So we think that the fuel somehow gets throttled back at 30%, the transfer pump does not give a shit because it is unintelligent, but the engine management system senses a slower flow rate and shuts the engine down before any damage is done.
Next step, Volvo Penta guys come in next Tuesday to measure fuel flow rates on both engines at different fuel levels....
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Yes, there is, and all the work we are doing is under warranty, and I don't mind getting involved because it increases my sum of knowledge. But we have to work out what the problem is before we can fix it. Fuck all use replacing the engine and it turns out to be a tank issue or vice versa.....
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I thought about this a bit longer last night. Yes, I could be a complete prick about what has happened and where we are and how long it is taking to resolve. But, we can manage the situation. Our range currently is about 800 miles and not 1,100, so it's not a massive issue. Do we need to get it fixed? 100%, and I am sure we will.
But being reasonably reasonable is not an awful place to be. We've got 2 free lift-outs and another years free berthing (probably £15k altogether) and I am sure if I was being a complete pain in the arse about stuff, we would not be getting favours like that.
I liken it a little to our relationship with our retailers. If they are complete arseholes and make our life difficult when stuff does not go 100% to plan, or we make a mistake (yes, we are human), then when we release something special or super limited, guess who gets offered it last.....
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles It is interesting that you brought up that thought - I am following the thread for some time now, and it didn't even cross my mind that you could have been a total dick about it. Sure, you paid shitloads of money on that boat and can expect them to do better. But do you really want to be THAT guy?
That is probably because I'd look into the situation myself as someone who likes to tinker with stuff, and really understand everything involved in it.
It probably also has to do something with the fact that it's a boat. If it were a brand new luxury car, you would have brought it back to the dealer immediately. But in my eyes, buying a boat is not the final goal, it's the start of a journey...
