Taking on WATER on passage sailing from Fiji to Vanuatu.

[@garycody1929]

`great sailing channel Thank you. Its about sailing and no nonsense like some commercial ones that only have click bait rubbish

[@sailingjaygo]

Hey Gary. We were just having a conversation with friends 10mins ago about click bait! Unfortunately for the channels that need/want to make it commercially viable, T&A and drama click bait works, and they know it. We were even hesitant to put “taking on water” in the title. Glad you are on same wavelength as us although we are in awe of the time and effort that goes into many of those channels to which I think you are referring.

[@kimphilley621]

Nice video. You doing a great job. Nice cinematography. Nice narritive. One of the very few real no BS sailing channels. I bet this channel will grow fast. I only just had it come into my feed 1st time today. Good on you. I left the west coast of the States 2010. So have been all these places pre Covid. Thank you for putting together a nice clean sailing channel.

[@sailingjaygo]

Thanks Kim. Dee does the filming & editing all on her phone so she loved this comment! Rob.

[@Coleen_West]

That was a really good episode! Felt like we were on the sailboat with you. Perfect camera work and the sound of the crashing waves and wind were perfect! We recall an episode with SV Delos who had a similar bow thruster. I guess that this thruster seal must be a bit of a common issue. -- QUESTION -- was there some sort of alarm that warned of water coming in?

[@sailingjaygo]

I wouldn’t say that seal commonly causes problems on an Amel. We changed it to a different seal and my installation should have been better. Some owners have put bilge alarms in that front bilge but most Amels don’t have this as water would only end up there for a couple of “not normal” issues. We used a portable 24v bilge pump that can reach anywhere in the boat to pump the water out.

[@Coleen_West]

@@sailingjaygo ...that is good to hear. Those Amels strike us as very well built.

[@sailingjaygo]

👍

[@Coleen_West]

Your Amel appears to be so clean and in such great condition.. -- QUESTION -- Strange question, but do sailboats have an "odometer" of some sort to show how much they were used? Would be curious to learn how much your sailboat was used as it simply appears to be in such great condition. If there is no odometer how does one determine how much a used sailboat was sailed?

[@sailingjaygo]

Hey Coleen. An experienced eye can easily see how well used and maintained a boat and its equipment is. If you are not sure, hire a recommended surveyor is what I would advise. Often a boat that is frequently used & constantly maintained, is a much better buy than one lightly used with less maintenance.

[@davidi4306]

Saw a recent video of a totally dismasted Super Maramu. They weren't sure what actually happened at that stage. Bow thrusters (and stern thrusters - saw one on a Halberg Rassy recently) frighten me.

[@sailingjaygo]

Hey David. The Amel community are all looking to see the cause of that dismasting as this is such a rare occurrence & the owner appears to be pretty conscientious with his maintenance. We all feel for them & are glad they are safe. As for the bow thruster, we fitted a new design after market seal which in the long term will be maintenance free. The failure was totally due to poor installation on my part when I fitted it. (The seal is above the waterline on an Amel SM).

[@PerthHunter]

@@sailingjaygointerested to know what part of the install didn’t go as planned. I’m planning on replacing the factory seal on mine with the aftermarket and cap next month. Presume glue or maybe using adhesive with the screws on the top cap next time?

[@sailingjaygo]

@PerthHunter. The cap was pulling the top half of the seal down too tight when screwed down to mate the surface. This caused the seal to bind on the bow thruster post, preventing it from freely travelling up & down. I had backed the cap off to allow movement and clearly not left enough screw shaft length to bite properly. The screws pulled out. I have since added spacers & better screws to get the right pressure on the seals. It works perfectly now without a drop of water entering the boat. I recommend those silicon seals. 👍