How bad can things get just before you set sail? | Ep87

[@jez987s]

Fair winds to Malta.

[@marccohen5477]

Good luck.

[@davidnichols147]

Thoroughly engaging, these seasoned sailors take us through general maintenance aboard while afloat in Montenegro. The educational, provocative, and deeply entertaining we deeply appreciate their candor and are thankful for their sharing this truly marvelous episode. Please stay safe as you voyage westward.

[@svfairisle]

Thanks David, that’s a very kind message

[@martinpate6016]

That encapsulates older boat ownership perfectly, the highs and the lows. I recall many days tracing a problem with water pressure on my Trintella, two pumps overhauled, a water heater taken apart, and an exasperated engineer all finally traced back to a small hole in an obscured and innocent-looking pipe. I felt your exasperation. Often the best cause of action is to take time to reflect and rethink and overcome the temptation to rush at it with raised blood pressure !. It's after all part of the joys of owning an older BOAT ( Bring Out Another Thousand!). Enjoy Malta we stayed in Grand Harbour Marina Valetta, prettier than the others as its less busy and surrounded by historic buildings, and Camper Staff super helpful. Safe travels.

[@smulismuli7976]

Older...trust me the new ones have probably even more issues

[@genevievemay3461]

Judy. We bought a little Candy automatic washing machine (3.5kg) in Valletta a few years ago and had it installed there. It sits perfectly in our port cabin hanging locker. I wouldn’t be without it. Also, sailing into Grand Harbour Marina after a few days at sea is just sublime!

[@judyaslett6209]

That is very good news. I will look out for that. Do you remember the shop?

[@chrisellsay5480]

Great video. Thank you for the inspiration!! Fair sailing.

[@hughburgess4168]

Can’t convey to you how much I enjoyed this video. The hydraulic hose that you eventually discovered was leaking brings back so many incidence’s I have incurred in owning two boats over 4 years! And I don’t even have an automatic windlass or a bow thruster! Mind you I have a fin keel which makes reversing into a pontoon easy…unless a gale is blowing me off. I loved Judy’s quip about if it all goes wrong…save the sail. In all your frustration of things going wrong you never stress out your viewer….it is all so pleasantly told! Happy Adventures! ⛵️

[@jimmerriman6920]

You guys are amazing! Challanges arise, and you find a way to solve it and have a bit of a nice hike... When lemons roll your way, you two always make great lemonade! Well done!

[@judyaslett6209]

That’s what keeps us sane!

[@tomriley5790]

Congratulations on getting the bow thruster working!!

[@saviourcassar1080]

Hi really pleased that you are on your way to Malta. I live in Malta and I always watch your videos. If you need something don't hesitate to ask it will be my pleasure.

[@svfairisle]

Well thank you Saviour. Hopefully as my sister lives in Malta we should have some help. Hope we bump into you somewhere. We should be staying for a while.

[@machyrudinaceus]

Just when you think you’ve got a handle on all systems, & then find yourself in another learning experience! So glad you’ve had great mechanics to help you work through this challenge. Can’t wait to see Malta & Gibraltar w/you! Also excited for your Atlantic crossing!!! You 2 are an inspiration. Thanks for your incredible videos. Fair Winds-Dr. Mac

[@thepigwillfly5869]

Boat jobs....never ending!!! Nice video, I always enjoy the technical stuff. That road thru Serbia looked a bit narrow in places, I would have hated to run into on-coming traffic.

[@lynetteblackburn-leary8431]

27:50 another great video! Hope your passage has been a good one. Miss walking past FairIsle each morning. The surprises one finds in the bilges. Nothing a new holding tank won’t fix 😷🙄. Windy here again tonight 💨. Cheers

[@judyaslett6209]

Ah thank you. Rather windy here as well! Should die down overnight

[@Swan441]

Glad you got the hydraulics working, at 16:42 when you are testing the system from the helm, my wife noticed a grey seat behind you, she asks where did you get them. Paul and Sarah from NJ.

[@judyaslett6209]

They are called comfort seats. We bought them from a friend. I think the company is Dutch

[@stephenchapman8344]

Great to see the problems solved. 👍

[@maritimetees2315]

Just love your videos. Thank you, guys.

[@gregvaughn4286]

another great video time to get moving. THANKS SO MUCH

[@williamnewman8850]

Sorry about that there is closed captioning available thank you. Boat is extremely well equipped

[@svfairisle]

It might not be that accurate though I’m afraid, it’s done by an automatic voice recognition and it’s not always that good!

[@Henri-ubels]

I enjoyed watching your movie, luckily everything is working again 🎉

[@apistosig4173]

watch out for Orcas

[@returner323617]

All fun and games..! Yes, sailing into the Grand Harbour at Valletta is on my bucket list..!

[@matgreen]

I empathise, hydraulics are great until they stop working and cover your boat with hydraulic oil. I have just had to drive a 2500km round trip in from Spain to France to drop off my in-boom hydraulic rams, unfortunately it will be several months before I can get them back. At the same time my electric windlass failed so had to haul chain in manually several times, not easy with 100m of 13mm chain and an 80Kg anchor. Another great video, thank you Steve and Judy!

[@peterhaymaker7562]

Loved your video; always so interesting. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the year with you. All my hydraulic problems have been with farm machinery but equally frustrating as things only go wrong when you most want them. No long journeys to Serbia every necessary though. Thanks, P.

[@nortonmolly]

Excellent video 👍👍

[@Karma-fp7ho]

I paddled a cast iron bath tub across the bay on Lasqueti island, with a good wooden plug they do float.

[@svfairisle]

Difficult to row though I would imagine!

[@meandmybuddy964]

She’s a bad ass sail boat

[@dwaindibly945]

Should have gone Electric 😂😂😂

[@billygrahamyachtsinc753]

Hi folks, oh the beauty of mast hoops and parrels versus Harken cars...and the huge $$$$$ savings and longevity.

[@sailingsheriff3349]

Glad you got the hydraulics sorted. What a nightmare that must have been. Love Orca think it’s a great app wish I had the views you have I might of got one a bit cheaper. I did ask but no chance. May put it on my list for next year. Have been using their free app on my iPad which is very useful although my crew still prefer Navioics. Less clunky and easier to see at all hours. Looking forward to your next episode. Always enjoy thanks

[@marktaylor484]

Boat's eh? Ooh shiny new tech! A la coracle paddling...

[@forgetn]

It’s funny when people suggest that a new boat would give less trouble…clearly they have never sailed. The advantage of an older boat is that it’s built solid much more than newer vessels. How many horror stories from owners of new vessels. Also when you first discussed hydraulics my first thought was that you have a puncture on your hoses but I assumed that you had checked that first, because in hydraulic systems the cheapest and easiest to fix is the plumbing. Everything else is very expensive

[@mememe5231]

Great learning for all. Thank you for sharing! While electricity might light the world. The world is moved by hydraulics! Superior in all ways except refit installations and initial cost. My two cents

[@MichaelJohnson-uy4zs]

That purple flower at 6:47... do you know what it is... I have one in my garden in Twin Falls, Idaho... or it looks exactly alike?

[@svfairisle]

I think it’s a fritillaria, I used to try and grow them, they like marshy ground. I never had much luck but I could grow it’s cousin the ‘Crown Imperial’ no problem at all.

[@jamessalayo2803]

❤❤

[@jamesl5149]

I hope those tunnels are one-way !

[@svfairisle]

No they are 2 way!

[@cliffordxuereb]

Very excited for you to be coming over to Malta. Would love to meet you on the island. If you need anything please let me know I will be happy to help.

[@svfairisle]

Thanks Clifford, we have many kind people offering help in Malta makes me proud to have a Maltese heritage ( my mother was Maltese) Hope we get to meet

[@cliffordxuereb]

@@svfairisle looking forward to that!

[@billhanna8838]

Are you going with 3 reefs in the main , I actually set up a 4th in a boat i had (55fter) & found lying a hull in 50Kts with the 4th in worked remarkably well as setting up a stormsail was just to dangerous , Just a thought . Fair winds .

[@svfairisle]

Yes I think 3 reefs in the main is enough for us. It’s a true cutter so the main is smaller and I would always have the stay for the storm jib ready in any sort of weather and we sail well on just that inboard storm sail. She will even heave too with it back-winded.

[@edu_ironia]

Héyyy, are you think a spend some days in Tunisia this summer? Good loock.

[@svfairisle]

It's possible yes, we would like to visit and it has the advantage of getting out of Schengen, we will see how it goes.

[@charliemcgrain]

Many thanks for another great video. I am surprised there is no reservoir for the hydraulic where you would see the level going down and thus work out there was a leak.

[@svfairisle]

The reservoirs for these sorts of hydraulics are huge to make sure the oil doesn’t overheat, ours is over 50 litres, so loosing a litre of fluid doesn’t really show.

[@svfairisle]

The reservoirs for these sorts of hydraulics are huge to make sure the oil doesn’t overheat, ours is over 50 litres, so loosing a litre of fluid doesn’t really show.

[@svfairisle]

The reservoirs for these sorts of hydraulics are huge to make sure the oil doesn’t overheat, ours is over 50 litres, so loosing a litre of fluid doesn’t really show.

[@charliemcgrain]

@@svfairisle Hind sight is 20/20 but I would certainly have cast my eye over the whole system before dropping 500 on a rebuild and a 300 mile drive. That said, there should be some way of checking the pressure leaving the pump "and" arriving at the busy ends of the system. But, no doubt a great lesson learned and one that will carry over to any future problem solving. She is a beautiful boat but you have so many complex systems aboard. Probably hard not to fall into that trap when you have so much room! We do love our creature comforts. That said, it's not easy to 'short hand' that boat in a marina without a bow thruster.

[@svfairisle]

You're right in that a bit morer detective work may have saved us some hassle, but to be honest the system is now 23 years old and Demir says the manufacturers advise new seals every 5 years, so I think it was time. This region has some great hydraulics engineers and its cheap compared with elsewhere as I didn't need much persuading on getting everything overhauled. You're out of touch if you think Fair Isle has complex systems though, we are a virtual stream train compared to modern yachts, on a scale of complexity we are probably in the bottom 10% of the boats you will find cruising.

[@davidpoole2294]

Great video as always. We are heading to Montenegro at the end of June. Which marina would you recommend to leave our boat for the month of July? Susan and Dave SV Pelican

[@judyaslett6209]

Hi both It is worth checking prices with Portonovi and Porto Montenegro. If you want to have the best facilities and see restaurants and a town Porto montenegro is best!

[@smulismuli7976]

Did you reach out to Orca or they got to you? Been interested in the system but have been bashing them too online about the fact that there's no real live user experiences anywhere to be found other than "sketchy" user comments on social media. Yours is the first one I've seen in actual boat and cruising environment so looking forward...

[@svfairisle]

I contacted them about 6 months ago when I heard about the system, I think they’ve beefed up their team recently & someone got back to me. Seems to be taking off but like you I haven’t found any real user reviews. Should be interesting

[@svfairisle]

I contacted them about 6 months ago when I heard about the system, I think they’ve beefed up their team recently & someone got back to me. Seems to be taking off but like you I haven’t found any real user reviews. Should be interesting

[@aytacercen944]

Curious about one thing. Wasn’t there a substantial amount of hydraulic fluid loss in the tank that you could see as the tell tale to what the problem may be? Oh well, at least it is fixed. I don’t envy you trying to clean that fluid in the bilge.

[@svfairisle]

It was probably about a litre of fluid , the header tank alone is over 50 litres, these systems take a lot of fluid as it needs to stay cool. Luckily none of the oil went to the lower bilge so I could mop it all up from the upper bilge.

[@chrismulvey49]

Wow 50 liters thats a lot of fluid.

[@timothymulholland7905]

Maybe your next bow thruster should be electric!

[@svfairisle]

I don't think so!

[@thomasthornton5737]

👍👍👍❤

[@taylorjs2534]

The 'rollers' at 1:51. Can you tell me what they're called, and ideally where I can get some? I've been looking for something like that for ages!

[@svfairisle]

They are made by Schaefer, but they were already on the boat so probably came from Holland

[@taylorjs2534]

@@svfairisle Thanks... we've been enjoying your films for more than a year - very inspiring.

[@svfairisle]

Glad to hear it!

[@markpeter1968]

Hi, any thoughts about older boats versus newer boats,?. Capsize screening numbers versus 'form stability' are older boats safer?

[@svfairisle]

Oh wow that’s a big question! And of course there’s no definitive answer. In general I would say modern cruising boats are becoming much more focused on form over function. That is to say even some of the boats that prefer to design boats that sail well off shore are opting to compromise that with large cockpits and aft cabins, I think they simply can’t compete with the with the space there appears to be in many production boats and the appeal this gives them at the boat show. Added to that there seems to be more focus on price of the build for manufacturers and therefore more cutting corners than there used to be. The flip side to this is some good advances in technology and materials to be able to make better, faster boats and to have some nice safety features like multiple water tight bulkheads. Like everything it’s all a compromise. For what it’s worth my feeling is that with very few exceptions you’re better off with an older heavier design for crossing oceans and full time cruising but for everything else there may be a more modern design that will suit you better.

[@markpeter1968]

@@svfairisle thanks for taking the time to answer. Your conclusion makes sense. Thanks for sharing your experience

[@softwarepearls4202]

Note to self: no hydraulics on my boat, when I get one. I prefer the Musk mantra: the best part is no part.

[@markbennett9787]

So did you in fact have to have the two components serviced by going all the way to Serbia ?

[@svfairisle]

Yes. Every cloud.....

[@matthewclarke269]

Is that a known fact, loctite preventing galvanic corrosion? Or just personal experience? Handy if you don’t want something to come apart but do want it to one day!

[@svfairisle]

Oh yes Loctite definitely helps stop galvanic corrosion. I have always lent towards using Tefgel for that purpose though as it's specifically made for the job, as I commented in the video. That is just an assumption of mine though, that it's better. I would like to know if anyone has done a comparison study between these sorts of products. I would have always gone with Loctite for this purpose but actually i now lean more towards Loctite in situations I might have previously gone with Tefgel is because Jade (our rigger who really knows his stuff) doesn't hesitate to go with Loctite rather than Tefgel for things like STA-LOK fittings.

[@matthewclarke269]

@@svfairisle I’m with you, it’s Tef-gel’s primary role so I’d assume it’s better from a corrosion point of view. I’ve been using for years so I can see how effective it is. Useful to know that loctite works as well though, plenty of situations onboard where the locking function must be the primary consideration! Have a great season, look forward to watching you get some proper mileage in!

[@Jackanory222]

What advantages do you perceive the Orca core has over a chart plotter or a tablet/iPad with the likes of Navionics

[@svfairisle]

Well when we bought Fair Isle there was no plotter, I looked into a system with multiple displays and the cost was ridiculous. So I went with a much cheaper system with one small display on the Nav table but it had WiFi so I could send info to an iPad. I expect to want to expand the system when we had the money to do it. What I found though was I much preferred Navionics on the iPad and that became my primary source on navigation. So I definitely prefer iPad over fixed plotter. I like the Orca system as it’s designed for a portable display. So although you can get add ins to send extra info to your Navionics Orca has it all built into the core. That’s the only bit I’ve tested so far and I like it. Great AIS info straight on my chart, remote auto helm etc. The thing that should really set it apart though is the dedicated display which they say doesn’t have the problems of a tablet, ie overheating, viewing in sunlight, water. I can’t comment on that yet as we haven’t tried it, but looks like it might be a game changer.

[@machyrudinaceus]

Thanks, Steve, for answering this great question. I enjoy your thoughts on new and new to you products. It’s all new to me as my sailing experience has been inland lakes and charts for coastal sailing.

[@aaronw.markel9319]

Mai Steve and Judy, I’m currently looking into my own HS 48T I found. However it’s in Hawaii. Any recommendations on how I get it to Tampa Florida? I won’t be able to do it myself, so, are there skippers that transport or sail it to your destination?

[@svfairisle]

Sounds great! Yes there are definitely many delivery skippers out there that do that for a living. Not the easiest trip though as you need crew for the canal. Maybe if you get a delivery crew of two people you could travel down yourself with a couple of mates to help through the canal? Would be an interesting trip and if it were me I would want to be onboard to make sure there was no damage going through. It's always good to sail with someone that really knows what they are doing as well so hopefully you'll find someone that understands full keeled boats. If you have it in Florida before we get across (probably 2024) I'll be happy to give you some tips on sailing these boats.

[@aaronw.markel9319]

@@svfairisle thank you so much for the response and I would appreciate that

[@jeffreyholt4169]

Isn't Orca a Europe-Only device at present?

[@svfairisle]

No they cover the whole world now

[@jeffreyholt4169]

@@svfairisle Great to hear. The system seems well thought out. I look forward to your insights after a bit of use.

[@kg8549]

Hi what was the problem with your webasto in the end?

[@svfairisle]

Wish I knew! Basically when it started playing up I swapped out the ignition electrodes and the fuel nozzle as those were the spares I had and the things you would most expect to be wrong. It didn’t fix the problem but the problem was now different, I got no ignition spark. Strange thing is shorting out the ECU contact to fire to ignition worked so there was some sort of electrical problem with a bad connection or a duff ECU. Cleaning every connection seemed to make the ignition sequence work fine, it sparked but no actual firing up. Weird in that I had fuel and spark but no flame! In the end I swapped the nozzle back to the old one and it worked! So seemed there may have been something wrong with the brand new spare nozzle. So there were several faults and I’m not really sure how I fixed any of them, or maybe there’s still an intermittent problem with the ECU. Not very satisfactory, basically in just waiting for it to fail again!

[@kg8549]

Thanks for the reply. I live on a narrowboat lurking arround in England's muddy ditches you are always waiting for something to go wrong with the electrics or the engine! Never a dull moment living on a boat!

[@charlesduzzie9811]

Busy I am sure..... 🙄

[@naiboz]

You’d think that would have been found before

[@svfairisle]

I did check the run for leaks but at that stage none were visible as the pipes were routed under a non liftable part of the sole at that point. Our hydraulics engineer Demir was also convinced it was the pump as neither the windlass or the thruster had pressure. they have seperate pipes but we had missed the fact that there is also one pipe that sends the signal for extra power to both.

[@naiboz]

@@svfairisle the joys of troubleshooting 😁 nothings ever as easy as it would first appear

[@charlesduzzie9811]

A moderate walk until you are in your 60's.......

[@svfairisle]

That could be true!

[@dwaindibly945]

Electric doesn't leak😂😂😂

[@svfairisle]

Ha! Well that’s where your wrong!! You’ll see in the next episode leaking electricity flattened our starter battery yesterday on the way across the Adriatic, the fun never ends!

[@WilliamAArnett]

Well, at least when the electrons leak they don’t make a huge mess in the bilge 😊

[@williamnewman8850]

Need to have text very hard to understand what you are saying!

[@seayavietnam]

Can someone please explain why this poor woman after so so many years doesn't have a washing machine? He has all the toys and gizmos and she still doesn't have the one thing that would make her life on board that old tub easier. It can't be space. My sister started watching this channel and I just can't deal with that man.... It's like watching Newsround. Just missing the dog.

[@howardbeer5214]

All caused by bad maintainance !!! which seems to follow you everywhere ! So when did you last change the Hyd oil and filter ??????? Your hyd tank and lines should be removed and cleaned or it will all go wrong again !

[@svfairisle]

The problem was actually caused by chafing, something that can happen in 20 years or 20 minutes depending on the circumstance. The line was installed pretty well, but not perfectly. There was a rough section of the bilge floor right at a point where the pipes weren’t tightly held and couldn’t be seen (under a section of the sole that can’t be removed) I’m actually surprised it lasted as long as it did. The pipes are now rerouted and all possible chafe points checked. You could spend your whole life forecasting these sorts of problems but then you would never go sailing. We prefer to sail.

[@howardbeer5214]

@@svfairisle You said in the video that there was metal particles in the pump ?? They get there due to contamination . or a failing pump or the motor its driving. The thing is that metal is in the whole system now .Beleive me the system needs cleaned out and the filter changed or it will destroy the pump again . The last time we had a pump fail was due to the motor is was driving had failed which in turn left bits in the system so it must be cleaned. Your boat your choice

[@svfairisle]

Yes I clearly said in the video that the whole system needed flushing (it has been now) and the mistake I made was although I had been replacing the very large main filter there was another filter inside the large header tank that I didn't know existed, that has now been changed. The advice from our very experienced hydraulic engineer was that in those circumstances the level of contamination in the oil was to be expected so not to worry about it too much. I will however have the bow thruster stripped and serviced when we next haul out, along with the windlass.

[@peterengel7885]

@@svfairisle Your filters should take care of any contamination. Often there can be a problem with the filter inside of the header tank. How can you know if it is plugged bring inside the tank. In the future you might want to remove the internal filter and put on a external filter. This could solve a future problem. Leaks and moisture are the most common problems in hydraulic systems. Enjoy your trip sailing.

[@stephenjdixon1]

sound is poor

[@joeldelamirande5792]

I sent you a private message on messenger for your pots did you get it

[@svfairisle]

Yes thank you