We Broke Our Stabilisers - $10K Repair. (Captain's Vlog 103)

The main electrical mother board for the stabiliser system had a total failure, We dock in Calvi and the technician travels from Italy by ferry to replace the unit. It cost us just under $10,000.
Captain Tristan Mortlock is an award winning Super Yacht Captain with over 15 years experience. He started his yachting career in his teens and now runs one of the most successful charter yachts in the world. Tristan is currently serving on Motor Yacht AWOL, a San Lorenzo SD122, built in 2009. AWOL is a multi award winning yacht and her crew take a lot of pride in their work.
Captain's Vlog is about educating interested parties on what happens onboard a Mega Yacht, Super Yacht and the yachting industry. To share the life of yacht crew and life at sea. The BIG shipyard refits, paint jobs and marine engineering works. To travel some of the worlds most beautiful destinations.
The first owner of the Super Yacht AWOL was non other than Mr Piero Ferrari himself. The wheel house still contains the original Captain's chair with the Ferrari emblem.
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[@roberthartfield3505]

Capitan Tristan i just would like to thank you and the crew of the AWOL. i have stage 4 esophageal cancer and so as a way to escape for a little while ive been watching your videos. The beautiful views of the Mediterranean as well as your amazing yacht. Ty its the best therapy so far.

[@MrAli171]

robert hartfield good luck and best wishes

[@kendesjarlais7577]

Ask Jesus in your life, he loves you

[@bobvecchi7981]

My sympathies. My sister was taken from me with the same thing.

[@corymcdonald3703]

Where are you at in the fight???

[@roberthartfield3505]

@@corymcdonald3703 unfortunately Robert lost the fight last October 23rd.

[@bobuncle8704]

If only I’d known about the super yacht industry when I was younger and could have done the work. Now older and on permanent disability with 1 knee and 2 hips replaced because of a workplace accident, all I can do is watch and enjoy through this amazing channel.

[@flyifri]

Thank you Tristan Whenever I have any parts swapped out, I like to keep the old one for better investigation of component failure. This will assist in future on-board repairs at a much reduced cost, and allow for more informed decisions with objectivity. Simply because it is ten years old, is not the answer.! I do not want to buy a new car, every time it needs new brakes. Loving your show with much gratitude and respect of ownership. Thumbs up to you all.!

[@ToanTran-mm3uv]

The stabiliser control unit is basically a 'soft start'! We install and use these in factories for motor controls. I'm just an electrician.

[@WEVallely]

It takes some old school talent to maneuver without thrusters. Well done Captain.

[@NeilHyndman]

Enjoyed this a lot. Most yacht vlog channels don't show the technical stuff. This is really good - enjoyed it a lot. THANKS!

[@jsunit5354]

I think the decision to upgrade was a good call, considering the effort to diagnose, good logistics support, little down time, guests happy, captain and crew confidence high, and the cost was acceptable considering annual maintenance budget. I appreciate the honest reality of what's involved - no fluff. . And a thanks to the owner as well.

[@sailer0510]

What an amazing channel! Found it a month ago and binge watched all videos. I love how you also show the technical side of yachting. Look forward to every video!

[@mpccenturion]

Thank you and the group. I enjoy the vids as we get to sit with you. Cheers!

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

Add that stablizer component to your spares: An engine matched/programmed ECU (engine control unit), fuel pumps, sensors, belts, filters breakers etc. Also tools, repair kits, diagnostics, software, manuals and diagrams. If something fails, I have found the likelihood it will happen again is ten fold. I can’t tell you how many times this has paid off. You will also find out that parts get obsolete much sooner these days and inventories at not kept in all locations. And when things fail it right before a long holiday. Have an action plan for problems. For instance; you have a catastrophic shaft seal failure. 1 are the pumps able to stay ahead of it and make it to a yard? 2 If not, can you effect repairs? 3 Do you carry a kit to immobilize the shaft and stop the flow? 4 call Mayday?

[@fw1421]

What beautiful places you travel to. The Mediterranean is amazing!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@tarawood-bradley2119]

My first thought when I read the title was a problem with the stabilizers outside the boat which would be a nightmare to fix. Lucky it was a electrical fault limited to one box which made swapping out a lot easier. It is also hard to diagnose electrical faults during downtime as it would require a complete teardown of the electrics on the boat which is just not practical and would probably create more problems than it solves. The general rule we use is if it not broken then do not fix it.

[@williamsmith2919]

Always so interesting. Much better than watching TV. Thank you.

[@shanemerrick8974]

Judging by the shine on the bright work in the engine room, there is an engineer who is detail oriented and takes pride in his work and work space. Being an automation/electronics guy, I could listen to Slav with his vast knowledge talk mechanics all day.

[@perrooceaniko2005]

Slav is a very funny guy. Seems to be competent. I have a blast listening his comments. As an engineer AND captain enjoy a lot both of them on the videos.

[@bobclark4994]

Thanx Tristan for the text overlay describing the controls while docking!

[@matthoward5420]

😂🤣😂🤣 how to keep Slav happy get a new plug 🔌 🤣😂🤣😂 he looks like a good guy 👍🏻

[@jcheck6]

Hope they fed him well.

[@_Mentat]

Interesting to note how little the guests know about what is really happening on board. Guest: why are we doing sea trials? Capt: Have another glass of champagne.

[@rickjones8735]

Wow. This brings up just one huge advantage to cruising the Med, vice Caribbean or South Pacific. Better food, better anchorage’s and seem to be easier to provision. Not to mention get repair parts to you. Very informative.

[@firstnamesecondname5341]

The number of times I’d ‘accidentally’ fall off that swim 🏊‍♂️ platform 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣 Brilliant video as always 👍

[@Donald_Shaw]

Tristan, I always enjoy your informative videos... and love to see the inner workings of AWOL.

[@ANGSTROMLTD]

Thank you, very interesting.

[@Ricoswayve1]

Outstanding work.!!!

[@paolocabrini107]

I am a technician, I repair breakdowns, I am passionate about yachts, what a beautiful video!

[@rockysouthflorida1707]

Awesome job docking Captain! Those deck hands on lil silver yacht were sweating it hard watching you come in! They heard about your little fender bender last month! Great job! Cheers from USA!

[@bernardonevarez9323]

Excellent video. Gd job Capt. Keep them coming.

[@MeiklesAndDimes]

Nice. Definitely enjoy the more technical videos.

[@craigwithrage]

Engine room related videos are very good and interesting 👍

[@climatechange-aerobservato2891]

spend many jears in this part of the Mediterranean racing Regattas - I know Cpt.Tristan does not like the Sailors - but sill I am deeply impressed how cool he handles all. the high tech odds on a Italian Yacht - a real Role model for many young skipper as marine-ecologist ! Keep the Spirit and greet the Crew / Paul Swiss

[@knife-wieldingspidergod5059]

Love to see one of those super yacht makes a port call at one of the Lake Michigan's Lakeside towns.

[@patrickdevos187]

Super vidéo Tristan. Can you explain in a future video how stabilizers are working on a super yacht. Thanks.

[@proslice56]

He does that in earlier episodes. Try vlog 6 it might be what you're looking for.

[@hans-dieterhommes7495]

proslice56 hat

[@Meekerextreme]

Send the other one off the Louis Rossmann on KZbin and have the board repaired...now that would be cool then you might have a backup unit should you ever need to swap them out. You can fix board level stuff.

[@rustblade5021]

sir, louis rossman repairs laptop computers

[@ptinvite7942]

Louis is the man for Mac repairs. But without a service manual or schematic it would be an uphill battle. * The * expert for industrial controller type repairs, esp. when undocumented would be Paul Carlson (youtube: Mr Carlson's Lab or creativedesigncomponents dot com).

[@henrycarlson7514]

@@rustblade5021 i would still bet on him being able to fix it

[@tommacbride3654]

Wonderful show, all of them! Happy trails, Cheers!

[@kyootfox]

Thanks for the Synchronized camera work!! It helps us understanding what it all going on .

[@jokerzwild106]

Very informative video, thank you. That is a very beautiful boat you are parking next to at the 6:00 mark, not that yours is not, just saying. A gorgeous place you are at. Living the dream!!

[@chrisscannell5635]

A good electronics engineer should be able to repair that ECU - It will be worth keeping as a spare !! Motherboards should still be available anyway-there is a requirement for a manufacturer to support for 14-17 years after end of run. As stated a small resistor or capacitor popping can be all it takes for a complicated control board to malfunction. Luckily electronic boards and processors are very reliable now however they are sensitive to working parameters which include temperature and electrical supply. To expand slightly on the latter without over complicating things - the input voltage is key- not too low and ideally protected from “Spikes” (sudden high voltage surges). £10k (peace of mind/spare) - worth the repair I would say. Chris. 👍♥️😇🌹💐

[@Dobermanator]

If the whole thing installed is 10K and a good portion of that would be delivery / installation. Add to that the time / cost to trouble shoot isolating the one of three problematic boards (while you have guests awaiting). Afterwards you remain with two 10 year old boards and one new, how much in savings might be realised and what do you suppose is the best investment? Power spikes are controlled by the expensive Power Supply. There are two possible modes of MB failure, an individual component (often might be seen) and the Board itself which are susceptible to temperature and humid environments. The latter can produce swelling / cracks in soldered joints over time which means if one board had such failure, guess what condition the remaining two would be?

[@schwags1969]

It seems that the technology was a bit old anyways so an upgrade is not that bad an idea.

[@shakenbaked3]

Wouldn't even need to be an engineer.....board repair isn't that difficult especially if it was just a resistor as the tech mentioned. If it was time for an update then fair enough but if you replace the resistor and get another 10 years out of it then money saved. lol

[@robertfrost1683]

Great video ~ I like the idea of using the engines to take strain off of the windlass while raising anchor ~ very educational.

[@perrooceaniko2005]

very interesting ...... happened the same to us ,not stabilizers but electronic engine controls. We lost forward/reverse capabilities in one engine. We didnt changed a box but a whole board from Mathers controls.

[@dierkrieger]

This video reminds me of how I would have to change out frequency drive computers on tower cranes. Super cheap parts but charge an arm and a leg for the system. They have $2000 in parts and charge 15 to 20 thousand.

[@cicco1838]

Thank You for Sharing With Us!

[@niall5181]

Love the Blog keep it up and we love Barbara’s accent so cute .

[@ropetrick6289]

I have recently found you vlog and loved the couple that I watched. I liked the work you did on making them that I started from the beginning. They have been very educational for use less knowledgeable about the marine and even the super yacht word. Keep up the great work and videos. I like that you show all aspects of yachting, the good and bad. Can't wait to see what you make in the future.

[@GeenIdee2]

Nice video's Tristan. The atmosphere looks amazing and makes me want to go on holiday again. Being a mechanic I like the technical vids ass well. Really interesting to see

[@michaelanderson7715]

videos, as

[@bnkwupt]

Enjoyed very much. Good combination of technical, operations and maneuvering.

[@gotggotg3520]

This was a great video!! Give one a good understanding of Super Yachts!!

[@anthoneyking6572]

OMG I bet that box was a lota Cash but you had to have it being a Super Yacht Great Vlog as all ways Captain thanks

[@ge77el65]

It is always nice to receive specific explanations about the yacht. Would it be possible to make a vlog about the wheelhouse? I mean about the instruments. But then the details. How it all works. Or is there anything about it on youtube?

[@berndhaverkock6070]

If i remember right Tristan did a walk-through of the bridge quite a while ago.

[@MarcusLeepapi]

Looking very nice....Thank you..

[@macdchef]

The smile on your face at the end Priceless 😂😂😂😂

[@Michael._The_Storyteller]

I'm viewing in order, just up to the crash. Saw the new video, had to say ouch, Good show Captain.

[@michaelcorder8561]

Thanks for another great vlog.

[@cbrusharmy]

Couldn’t have happened at a better time. Glad Sly is happy. 😆

[@skunkjobb]

That's a variable frequency drive (VFD), I thought it would be something more specialized but I'm sure there is some more control boxes too. There was an automatic car garage (one with an elevator for the cars) in Sweden last summer where the cars got stuck for at least a month because of a faulty VFD (of some Japanese brand, not Emotron). I think it would be possible to refurbish the old Emotron VFD but I'm not sure it would be less expensive than a new one. In my work we buy a lot of VFD:s and one of that size is only about 1000 USD, maybe 2000 if you only buy one so I guess the largest cost for you was traveling and work, not the VFD itself.

[@tubehound8]

Thank you

[@carlodemicheli7389]

double view during mooring operation is super interesting, hope to see it often!

[@paulogrinke7020]

Cool video. Thankyou.

[@seatravel8536]

Great video, love the geeky stuff about yachts. I assume you have zero speed stabilizer system. Appreciate how you have your channel all encompassing on yacht operations.

[@chunkychinn]

Very interesting Tristan, thank you. Would love to have a look around the accommodation and staff accommodation if ever you are able to. It's a much bigger vessel than I thought. Thankyou

[@berndhaverkock6070]

Guest accomodation he showed in one of his vlogs. He did a complete Walk-trough of AWOL. And as AWOL is for sale : www.iyc.com or www.yatco.com there you will find some information an pictures from the yacht as well. Crew cabins not, there might be some personal belongings of the crew and as Tristan mentioned lately, they are only larger coffins...

[@chunkychinn]

@@berndhaverkock6070 thankyou, yes I saw it on iyc.com. I am aware of personal belongings etc, thats why I suggested to Tristan maybe next time AWOL is in dry dock and no staff are onboard we could have a proper look around. I am not interested in still pictures I want to see properly, if at all possible.

[@barbaraross1751]

very very interesting. love the tech side of yachts. bravo

[@stephenboyle3195]

Well handled skipper!!

[@mic8624]

You can’t beat shore power !

[@Quoodle1]

Love this stuff

[@CheersWarren]

It was great/lucky that there was a replacement electronic controls unit in stock for a 10 year old stabilizer! Try that with a retail electronic product! I guess it was good the stabilizer fin did not get stuck in a strange angle causing erratic movement of the yacht . Nice fix guys. Warren

[@robertbennett6697]

Is there a way to manually position the fins?

[@ringocomedynews5825]

Love your boat...

[@brodycuzick7697]

First time watching one of your videos, the first thing I noticed was the Ferrari captain’s chair! Lol

[@Elfin4]

Loving the videos Tristan...

[@paulmenard3232]

I saw Awol in Bonifacio this evening it seems so big IRL

[@Roger_Stenning]

I'm rather surprised that they couldn't repair the board in the old unit; it will have voltage and current testing points in the service manual, after all (licenced radio amateur, so familiar with electronics). never the less, a quick and efficient replacement supply, so kudos for that, at least. Good channel, informative and entertaining :) Thanks, and keep it up :)

[@timujin02]

Very interesting. I'd like to know how the stabilizers work on the ship.

[@vickidianacoghlan8946]

Another Great video

[@MrJking065]

My question Captain is...Can You Parallel Park Your car tho'? That was some might fine ship handling.Thank You for Sharing With Us!

[@Pfsif]

He has side thrusters on his Lam.

[@CallieMasters5000]

At this point I suspect he's probably more wobbly on land than on water! 😁

[@randypopperwell2183]

good docking

[@TheNigeltwist]

Actually an explanation of the stabilizer operation would be interesting.

[@kolsen6330]

Stabilizers are computer (usually) controlled underwater fins that move to keep the ship upright and prevent rolling. They are commonly used on ships where the designer forgot the "More below than above" rule. I have seen a couple of yachts that I would call scary unsafe if they had a stabilizer failure at sea. I have been a Shipfitter since 1976, and I have worked on some ships that were designed by a condominium architect instead of a marine engineer.

[@TheNigeltwist]

@@kolsen6330 Thanks Kim, interesting info. I sail keelboats so no problem there!

[@paulnero3885]

Summs it up pretty well. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2O0l4lnZr2Mepo

[@Richard-wk9le]

In addition to what Kim Olsen said ballast tanks can also be used to bring the center of gravity down and lower the water line applying the the More below less above rule but of course only so much or you could just jump on the nearest Sailboat.....

[@allsearpw3829]

Hi .your kingdom needs a shore power plug / Slav looks a happy guy with his huge plug ? Try to make it up to him on his Birthday .If you could clone your crew and start your own navy ,always an interesting video of life on board .

[@michaelgarlickmovies]

As always, fascinating and informative, thanks.

[@MM-fq9gi]

From my experience the tech rep visit was at least $1000, the parts depending on refurbished or new could make a difference of 50% in cost. ask for the part to be repaired and returned, to be retained as a spare. Finding out why it failed is a good step, environment, electrical spikes etc. (CE - Stm, Dsl, GT - Unlimited)

[@JCrook1028]

Slav gets a new toy!

[@chrismaurer2075]

Tristan I was curious if you have ever sailed on the great lakes ? I live in Michigan and a few years ago the Linda Lou was docked in Mackinac Island.I think a cruise on the lakes would be a lot of fun.

[@lgriestra]

Very interesting.

[@AndyC2_]

Absolutely loving the sly dog !!! 🤙🏼

[@jonsie1083]

are these used for at rest stabilization? I would like to see a high level overview of the ships systems and electrical demands.

[@Martin.H98]

you should have more cameras monitoring the handles you are using while manuvering :D that would be awsome

[@decmannix]

Hi. Great video. Can you at some stage, do a vlog on the stabilizers, differences between on and off.

[@alphaviews4639]

I really enjoyed this vlog, thanks

[@odc43054]

How about a video on the "5 things you least like doing as a Captain"?

[@borispoliti1008]

you have easier time than me to get a berth in calvi...i usually have to stay on the buoy outside. nice docking wind on the stern helps

[@sean4839]

Do stabilizers often break off from the hull? Are most marinas built to accommodate them at dock?

[@davidzimmer2694]

Amazing technical support for a already professional and highly trained crew. Does this get any better for the clients? I think not.

[@kerrydeare1790]

Very informative (although my 28 foot sailboat doesn't seem to have stabilizers; I'll check again later). More seriously, does "AWOL" have some sort of rig that automatically washes down the chain when hauling anchor?

[@makslol1]

What a coincidence! We had some issues with our stabilisers today as well.

[@perrooceaniko2005]

Ohhh .. may i know how old is the system ?? If never repaired, how old is the ship ? just a curiosity ...

[@zebratom2220]

Repair the old box ,and keep it for backup ...

[@bobbates6642]

Please explain what the stabilizer do what they are how they work and why the yacht needs them to remain stable in the water.

[@hussainbuhari3366]

Cap will u plz show me us fresh watergenerator system and the incinerators available in yatch

[@demonknight7965]

have you ever had an instance where there was a charter scheduled but owner decides last minute they want to use it during the previously scheduled charter time?

[@glennbrown1961]

G'day from Tasmania, Australia

[@MrIrrelevanT021]

Another great video, Capt. In this instance, are the guests made aware?

[@williammills5597]

If a yacht owner lives and travels the waters in the USA, are there factories in the States where they can buy replacement parts or is the yacht going to be unusable until the part comes in?

[@clifflee5404]

Out of curiosity, have you ever used gyroscopic stabilizers? Like a sea keeper? If yes what is your opinion on those types?

[@SuperYachtCaptain]

Yes I've seen them. not sure how good they are when the vessel is at cruising speed. do they work underway at higher speeds?

[@murica249]

Keep up the good work love the vlogs

[@Christian46jaar]

to complete the whole story, what is the damage ?, and it seems to me indeed wise to have the box repaired and kept as a spare.

[@JCrook1028]

a 10 year old obsolete spare?

[@craigmilas413]

When parking the boat does the next boat over allways come out to watch ?? I'm not shur how I would take that lol what do you doupt my skills????? Great vlog love it

[@ishaq9939]

The crew on that boat must come out to move the fenders if necessary and can even guide the crew of AWOL to how close or if to stop.