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robinm

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Posts posted by robinm

    Boat refit videos

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    I've really enjoyed these too. I like that he takes the challenge head on and addresses everything, very inspiring to this also, youngish software developer with little experience, and you're right, he's actually pretty entertaining!

     

    I spent a few weeks addressing leaks, battery and wiring issues etc etc on our Lotus, (now up for sale), and was down at the boat most days and weekends fiddling with things. I'm amazed how few people I see on their boats, are many just rotting in their berths or is the maintenance happening at midnight?

    Choosing an offshore boat

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    The usable space in the Oceans 12 was much better than the Moody 44 we looked at, I'm impressed just how much boat Alan Wright has stuffed into 12m. I can see how it may be a bit rolly, and had considered that. The centre cockpit layout works well for my family too, if I was sailing solo, I'd actually go for something smaller with an aft cockpit, but I'm not, it has to be a joint decision by us all. The idea of having some privacy in the aft cabin is also good, and it will be somewhere to ship the snoring relatives off to while the rest of the family camps out in the saloon.

     

    The big news is..... we've put in a offer and had it accepted! Between this advice here and the various people we've talked to, as well as our own preferences, this boat feels like the right one. Yes I'm sure there are better boats and we could spend the next 12 months scouring Trademe and wringing our hands over a better choice, but why wait, the boat is called Impulse II after all. ;)

     

    We rang Mike McCormick (thank you Willow) who was very encouraging and is also a cat 1 inspector, so I think we'll need to stop off in Tauranga on the trip north next year.

     

    We will get an SSB and we'll probably get something like the inreach for satellite backup.

    Choosing an offshore boat

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Thanks everybody. We've just been back down to take another look and if we can manage to get the right price we'll be in the market for a surveyor! Thanks for the different points of view it's very comforting to have your help.

     

    Does anyone have a recommendation for a Wellington surveyor?

    Choosing an offshore boat

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    We did look at a couple of Farr 1220s but they just aren't very well looked after boats. The centre cockpit of the oceans 12 feels very reassuring as a place for a 9 year old to be sitting. I've emailed Alan Wright for his opinion as well and hopefully some more details on the design. Where would one normally find an AVS for a New Zealand designed boat?

    Choosing an offshore boat

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    IT, do you mean the Ocean 12 design's not a good sailor because it is heavy and needs a bit of a breeze to get it going, or something else?

     

    Thanks all for the encouragement, I'm feeling comfortable about removing the salthouse so maybe I just needed my instincts confirmed.

    Choosing an offshore boat

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    My wife and I have decided to bite the bullet and upgrade our Lotus 9.2 (yes the one with the recently replaced batteries and anchor) for an offshore cruising boat to get ready for a 2018 trip to the Pacific for the season and possibly beyond.

     

    We've looked at boats in a few places, but the two close to home are both quite compelling to us:

     

    Impulse II - Oceans 12 - https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1046580204
    Stornoway - Salthouse 48 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=788138132

    There are a lot of pros and cons:

     

    The Oceans 12 well kept and is lovely down below, the engine bay is like a dental surgery in it's cleanliness and orderliness, and the owner is happy to show us all over the boat, it has an encapsulated keel. There are not a lot of flaws that I can see, except that we'd need a new rig, and all the Cat 1 gear, it has no SSB and has reasonably small winches in the hard dodger covered cockpit with halyard winches on the mast and slab reefing on a cutter rig. It does have a nice boarding platform which is a family pleaser. The vberth is small, but our 9 year old will be happy in there.

    The Salthouse 48 is also a nice boat, it's a centreboard, not quite as well kept as the Oceans 12, it seems it has been largely unused for a couple of years, but I think it's pretty good. The owner acknowledges the teak decks need work but it has all the gear, radar, ssb, lots of sails etc etc. Big 120hp engine. It has leisurefurl main and nice big self tailers in the cockpit. Soft dodger as well. It seems to need some work around the windows as there are small cracks appearing in the fairing below the windows and probably that speaks generally to the condition.

    We're really scratching out heads here, we think we'd be up for the same costs either way - but that's not allowing for work to replace the teak decks (as an aside, any idea of the cost of glassing instead of replacing?) 

    My main question is, what should we consider when choosing? e.g.  48 is too big / 40 too small / Oceans 12 less seaworthy / Salthouse needs too much work.

    Look forward to your sage advice, thanks,
    Robin

    Understanding my batteries

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    Thankfully I have a good separate start battery which behaves like a gem. Maintenance free of course. We are planning a christmas holiday trip to Durville and Abel Tasman so as long as I can cross the strait with my VHF and nav lights working (LED) and leave an anchor light on overnight I don't really mind. I think the budget may be best spent on a Rocna. I don't have an electric fridge or windlass, but the electric head pump is a concern. Ahhh what to do, what to do...

    Understanding my batteries

    in TechTalk

    Posted

    I am having trouble working out whether my batteries are stuffed or not.

     

    I have two 5 year old 85ah lead acid batteries which due to mangled cell caps hadn't been topped up in some time, I don't know how long as I inherited them with an unknown history. With the aid of much ingenuity and elbow grease I removed the caps and topped up the cells to revive the batteries. Each battery took almost a litre of demineralised water!

     

    I used my ctek mxs10 to recondition the batteries, the program successfully completed, then I left them to fully charge. On removing the charger each battery measured 13.45v on the multimeter. After about an hour this dropped to 12.6v and on returning to the boat 10 hours later they had settled down to 12.4v

     

    Are these batteries worth keeping or is it time for new ones?

    Seaworthiness

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    It sounds like you have very similar plans to me and my family. We've had our boat for 8 months now, a Lotus 9.2 based in Wellington and have crossed over to the sounds 3 times, we've really enjoyed it! Our plan is to sell it some time and upgrade to a 40ish foot boat for a season in the islands.

     

    We looked at Raven 31s when we bought ours. I've chartered one up in the Bay of Islands with my family, and we were really impressed. Sitting in the saloon looking out the window is a nice touch and they sail very nicely in my opinion, easily single handed. I think a boat like the raven or my lotus at 30 ft is awesome for around wellington and the sounds, but for heading offshore I'm not so sure I'd be that comfortable. Waikiore's suggestions sound good for that. 

     

    I have Alan's email address Lydia, PM me if you want to talk to him. He is a nice guy. 

    Wave issues in Clyde Quay wharf.

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    Ultimately this is the reason Sojournie is now at Seaview - I would love the convenience of Clyde Quay, but I've seen this problem first hand. Those Port Nic 1 and 2 boats of Ocean Sports really bounce around like crazy. Anyone can stand down next to the apartments and see the swell bouncing off the wall and into the marina with their own eyes, I'm surprised there is a question of whether or not it's happening.

    How not to cross Cook Strait

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    We were flying back from Picton on SoundsAir and saw it unfolding outside our window, it was happening around 4:20pm. 

    I was really impressed by the police when I read the article and put 2+2 together, it appeared to be all taken care of in a very short period of time from what we could see, all in the space of maybe 8 minutes?

     

    We also saw an entire load of AC/DC concert-goers getting off the plane before we got on - ALL smoking cigarettes! 

    Davidson 28, Carpenter 29 vs Beneteau First 285

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    If you're interested, we went down and looked at all these boats as planned and many more in Picton and Nelson. (Mercedes Clipper, Lambert C10, Dobson 34, h28, Townson 34 and more) In the end we've decided to put an offer in on a Lotus 9.2 in Nelson. Funnily enough the 9.2 was a favourite design of mine along with a Townson 34, but these didn't have the walkthrough transom my family were keen on, but once my wife saw the actual boat and read the Bill Endean article about them, I could see her immediately see that this was the right one for her. Now it's time for a survey, mechanical inspection and sea trial, wish me luck!

     

    Thanks everyone for your input, I felt much more prepared than I otherwise would (and now am wondering about chainsawing a hole in a boat I haven't even purchased yet)  :wtf:

    Davidson 28, Carpenter 29 vs Beneteau First 285

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    The open transom topic is turning into as big a topic on here as it is at home with my family! It's the reason the Cav32 ended up getting sidelined as an option - there was a real minter on trademe about a month back, but I think it must have sold. The current plan is to look at boats with either an open transom or a swim platform, or a boat that a swim platform can be installed onto. It's not make or break for me personally, but for the other two members of my family it's the first priority, we've chartered boats with and without swim platforms and I have to say the open transom is great for boarding, swimming, fishing, rinsing feet etc etc

     

    I'm really interested in how a few of you have cut out the transom yourselves, that's a whole other possibility I hadn't considered.

    We looked at the 950 in Wellington, which is a modified 9.2, but unfortunately it would be quite a big project to get it up to the standard I'd feel was functional.

     

    Thanks everyone for your input, definitely has helped me get my head around the boats I'll be looking at over the coming weekend.

    Davidson 28, Carpenter 29 vs Beneteau First 285

    in MarineTalk

    Posted

    As for a Young 88 - I am now looking at these too :)  Although I'm a little sad that people are less favourable of the d28 - certainly this one seems to be very well maintained from what the current owner has told me.

    I have a great book, New Zealand Classic Yachts by Bill Endean which covers most of the boats we're talking about here. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it, I picked it up for $5 at an op shop but I've seen copies on Trademe for $175 :roll:

     

    The book talks about the Y88 as being an "outdoor boat" with a small waterline beam over 2 feet less that the L9.2 and a much bigger cockpit vs interior space. As we're really wanting a boat primarily for cruising and learning, the book had initially put me off. I wonder if the Y88 is just a bit more of a racer? The only way to find out is to take a look and compare I guess.

     

    Performance is not something I totally want to discount, my wife is learning to sail (fast) and already she's smiling when we're close-hauled and considering putting in a reef....

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