First week of haul-out in Marmaris

Today marks our first full week of being in the boatyard of Yacht Marine in Marmaris.  Thus far, the only work performed has been the few items that Bill and I do personally.  BeBe was not hauled until 17:00 last Monday.  Michael and Linda of S/V B'SHERET met us at the travel lift and assisted with the dock lines.  Thanks!  Extra hands are always welcome!

Love the fact that you pay for the entire day even though the boat isn't hauled until closing time.  


By the time the boat was chocked with tree trunks (a first for us!) and electrical was connected, it was too late in the day to begin any work project.  We are continuing to stay in the apartment out in the Ambutalan district of Marmaris while BeBe is in the boatyard -- until they kick us out of the apartment on 15 May because they are booked after that date.  The trip from the boatyard to the apartment involves 2 buses and takes at least 1 hour, so Monday was pretty much shot by the time BeBe was secure in the boatyard on day 1 of this haul-out.

High-power junction box

Turkey is not a third-world country by any means, but a few things do fall into the third-world category.  For instance, the junction between 2 high-power electricity boxes is located right beneath the bow of our boat in the boatyard.  This high-power junction is covered by an over-turned plastic Coke bottle.  Safe, huh?!!?!!

The next day Bill and I removed the auto-prop and the line cutter, and drained the 9 liters of oil.  

The first time we did this 5 years ago it took us (and the prop shop experts) a day and a half to remove the prop.  Now we can remove the auto-prop in about 15 minutes.  Amazing what the proper tools can do to make a job easier.

This is part of the routine maintenance we do during any haul-out.

But this time it was also time to replace the bearings.  In fact, we are about 200 engine hours past the time to replace these bearings.  We had ordered the bearings from Brunton's in the UK and had hoped to get them replaced during our last haul-out in New Zealand in March 2009.  But the package was held up in NZ Customs and the job did not get done as planned.  Now, it was definitely time to get the new bearings installed.  


 
After the auto-prop was removed, next off was the line cutter.  That needed the zinc replaced, of course.


After the line cutter was removed, now we could get to the nitty-gritty of this job -- the wear bearing.  Now, before people start thinking that they don't have such a thing on their boat, let me explain that this is an Amel idiosyncrasy.  And I am sure that there must be other boats that also use a wear bearing.  This bronze bearing has 3 grease-packed seals that fit around it.  The seals wear against the bearing (hence the name, wear bearing) and slightly score it in several places.  The wear bearing protects the prop shaft.  Our prop shaft is still shiny and smooth as ever -- 8 1/2 years after leaving the Amel factory.   Part of routine maintenance during any haul-out is to replace the 3 grease-packed seals and the bronze wear bearing.


As you can see, the drip bucket is still in place to capture the draining 9 liters of oil.  It takes several hours for all that oil to drain out.

The following day we serviced the bow thruster.  Sorry, no photos taken during that process this time.

On Friday a guy picked up our auto-prop to replace the bearings.  We do not have the correct tools for that project.

And here is a close up image of the bottom of our hull.  Nasty looking, isn't it?

When BeBe was lifted onto the transport ship in Male we noticed that the bottom paint was peeling off in large sections.  So we knew then that all the paint would have to be removed during this haul-out.   

As I mentioned earlier, our last haul-out was in New Zealand in March 2009.  The paint has held up very well as far as preventing marine growth.  But it is flaking off terribly!  

BeBe has never had any type of anti-fouling paint except for Micron 66.  It is expensive paint but worth the cost if a boat is kept in warm equatorial waters -- our favorite places to sail.   We had taken the paint off completely in May 2006 and 2 coats of International barrier coat was applied before Micron 66 was rolled on, 2 coats overall with 3 coats near waterline.  In June 2007 another 2 coats of Micron 66 were rolled on, with 3 coats near the waterline.  But in New Zealand in March 2009 the Micron 66 was sprayed on rather than by roller application.  That is the only difference -- spraying rather than rolling.  We strongly suspect that thinner must have been added when the paint was sprayed.  Either that or the surface was not properly prepared.  It certainly is not due to incompatibility of products since the only paint ever applied has been Micron 66.  We are in contact with the company that did this work in New Zealand and await their comments.  


So the 2 coats of flaking sprayed-on paint must be scraped off, then the 4 coats of rolled-on paint must be sanded off.  Then 2 coats of International Gel Shield 200 will be applied as new barrier coat before the new Micron 77 can be rolled on.  The suspected incorrect application in New Zealand is costing us a lot of money!  And time! 


We have been extremely pleased with Micron 66 for the past 6 years, but are now switching to the newer formulation Micron 77.  Micron 66 is good only in salt water; fresh water deactivates the paint and renders it useless.  Micron 77 is effective both in salt water and fresh water.  We don't plan to go up any rivers, but will be glad not to have the salt-water-only restriction anymore.


BTW, I have noticed several sailboats in this boatyard that have strange keels in various configurations.   I do not understand why having a hole in the keel would have hydrodynamic advantages over a solid keel.  These holey keels come in various shapes.  Some are rounded fore and aft.  If anyone knows an advantage of such a keel shape, please chime in.




As always, click on any image for larger view.