ENVOY BACK IN THE WATER AT MARMARIS

Envoy went back into the water on the 20th, just nine days after our return.
The marina is very busy at this time of year, and that day about 30 boats were launched. Ours was at 2200hrs, and it was dark, chilly and drizzling. After Envoy had been hoisted in the slings, and the wooden supports removed we had to apply two coats of antifoul in the areas where blocks had supported the hull. In the water the trusty Lugger engine started in a second, and then we followed a guide boat to our marina berth.
It’s great to be floating again as we can use our own shower, washing machine etc: life on a boat on the hardstand is not much fun at all.
Di has made several trips in to Marmaris town using the Dolmus (bus) to replenish our supplies from the supermarket, as the shop here at the marina has limited availability, and is expensive.
It’s not “summery” here yet – one day will be sunny and low 20s, while the next is overcast, blustery and 16, but we’re happy knowing that we’re moving into summer.
Berthed on the same pier is a 1989 Nordhavn 46 called “Frog Kiss”, and this is hull number one - the first Nordhavn passagemaker ever made. It was great to meet Christine & Patrick, to look over their boat, and compare layouts, storage systems etc. I have already implemented one of their ideas – having a forestay to support the mast during heavy weather. Frog Kiss is the boat that started the Nordhavn domination of the passagemaker market, cemented in place by the fact that of 10 production power boats that have circumnavigated, 8 are Nordhavns (and most of those are 46s). Although we are coastal cruising not passage making, it’s great to know we have a boat that came across the Atlantic and is capable of going anywhere in the world.
TECHNICAL
We’ve ticked off many jobs now, and getting close to being ready to leave – probably in about a week. Everything that was working when we left Envoy is still working.
Before we arrived back here Demir Marine installed two new start batteries – these are Deka brand from USA, AGM Start batteries. These are not Deep Cycle (DC) as DC are recommended only for House Batteries, not for Start. Our electrician friend and battery expert Doug Gooch says that Deka are among the best batteries you can buy, so here’s hoping our occasional engine starting problems last year were battery-related and over now.
The antifouling went well and this time we got two coats rolled on instead of one coat sprayed on, hoping it will give us more thickness and last better. Next year we’ll do this ourselves as it’s nothing very complicated, and we’ll have more time.
We got the above-waterline areas of the hull polished and it came up beautifully. This is a tough job, working on scaffolding and we’ll continue to get Demir to do it, however we’re going to do all of the topsides (watch out guests!).
We removed the gearbox of our Maxwell windlass for a 3-yearly oil change, and that’s all working well – very important to have a reliable windlass.
That brings us to the HRO water maker and Naid stabilisers.
The new high pressure membranes for the water maker were here, but just before installation the engineer, Muradhan, found they’re the wrong size – too big. He phoned me and said, “Laurence we have a problem, you’d better come up to the workshop”. Membranes have to be kept moist until they’re installed, and then the water maker needs to be used straight away. That’s why they couldn’t do the installation until Envoy was in the water. We looked at trying to adapt the unit to accept larger membranes, but without success. The membranes go into a tubular manifold made of Kevlar to resist the high pressures, and there’s no way to duplicate that here. So the correct tubes have been ordered ex USA, and supposedly will be here in two weeks. We’re not going to wait here - Muradhan will meet us somewhere further north to install the membranes. In the meantime we’ll get water from harbours, both directly into Envoy’s tanks, and using our 30L containers if necessary, just like last year.
The new electronic control box for the Naiad stabilisers was also here waiting, and yesterday the electrician, Ozan, installed it. There was progress as the system powered up OK, the hydraulics worked, the cooling system worked – none of which happened before. But the control system still isn’t giving commands to the hydraulics. Ozan has emailed a US Naiad engineer with an outline, and hopefully we’ll make progress in the next few days. Otherwise, like last year we’ll just use our simple, bullet-proof, and effective paravane stabilisers, and save quite a few dollars in the process, as we haven’t paid for the new control box so far.
In the next few days I’m going to change the primary and secondary fuel filters on all three engines, check the fan belts, and replace the Genset impellor (with help).
I’m also getting a Demir electrician to fit a relay ON/OFF isolating switch to our inverter, because when we turn the inverter OFF at it’s control panel, it occasionally somehow switches itself back on. This is not desirable as it could deplete the house batteries, depending on what equipment is ON.