About us and the boat

About us and the boat:

We were lucky enough to retire early at the start of 2013 so we could head off and "live the dream" on board our Nordhavn 47 Trawler Yacht. The idea is to see some of the planet, at a slow 6 - 7 knots pace. There are no fixed goals or timings, we just had a plan to visit Scotland and then probably the Baltic before heading south.

The idea is to visit the nicer areas in these latitudes before heading south for warmer weather. If we like somewhere, we will stay for a while. If not, we will just move on. So, for the people who love forward planning and targets, this might seem a little relaxed!

If anyone else is contemplating a trawler yacht life, maybe our experiences will be enough to make you think again, or maybe do it sooner then you intended!

The boat is called Rockland and she is built for long distance cruising and a comfortable life on board too. If you want to see more about trawler yachts and the Nordhavn 47 in particular, there is a link to the manufacturers website in our "useful stuff" section. For the technically minded, there is a little info and pictures of the boat and equipment in the same section

Regards

Richard and June

Monday, 28 August 2017

Puffing and blowing

Maintenance news:

 Yes, normal folks can skip this post. Only those with an unhealthy interest in exhaust silencers and messy jobs need read on.

The next day, after some biblical rain finally cleared up, we took off the grille from the side of the stack and did the horrid horrid horrid and very messy job of removing the insulation from the muffler.:


Like the stuff that we replaced earlier this year in the engine room, the outer foil surface was de-laminating in some areas and the wire arrangement to hold it all in place was great fun to remove.

Did we say how horrid the job is? Sure enough the silencer was pretty rusty overall as we expected at this age:





It also had a small hole in the top of it, the insulation had been holding the loose rusty metal in place and preventing a major leak. Some serious prodding revealed that the metal around it wasn't fit for a temporary repair as the little hole turned into a big one. Replacement earlier than planned is needed:





Cleaning out the rust, soot and general grot after we dragged the wrap out of the stack was another horrid job. Looking at the bolts holding the old unit in place, we can see an angle grinder (messy!) or a cutting torch being used.  We will give them a good bath in penetrating fluid but we cannot see that doing much to help free them off.

How best to support the silencer and pipes during replacement? Time to get advice from the folks who have already done this job at Nordhavn Europe. The new muffler and wrap were already on order so, a quiet time until they arrive perhaps?
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4 comments:

  1. Erik Andersen1 September 2017 at 23:16

    Following with great interest.
    Recall from Nordhavn Europe's sales presentation for ANNIE M og Glasgow (N47-56) a PDF photo showing an alteration in the drystack.
    Photo only disclose the lower part of this alteration - but if you can locate the previous owner (thru Nordhavn Europe) this might be the way to learn more about this alteration. Give me an e-mail (erik@andersen-middelfart.dk) and I shall mail you the PDF file.
    Best regards/Erik

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2 September 2017 at 09:15

    Thanks Erik. Email coming your way. We talked to Anthony from NEL who has replaced a muffler on a 47 and got some tips from him. One was to cut an access hatch behind the vent grille at the bottom of the stack. Regards Richard

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9 September 2017 at 08:27

    Hi Richard and June,
    That silencer has certainly seen better days!! Are they standard commercial units or bespoke to the N47/52? I remember Annie M had a custom stainless sheath over the exhaust insulation in the engine room. I didn't look inside the stack so I don't have any information on the alteration that Erik Anderson mentions. Wondering if a stainless silencer would be worth the cost... but 10 years for a silencer is pretty good given the conditions it lives in. Looking forward to seeing the installation progress. Hopefully all goes well and you are mobile again soon.
    Best regards
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9 September 2017 at 08:40

    Hi Andy. Yes, it was a bit sad ! Erik kindly sent me the Annie M pictures and we saw the modification on her. Luckily the new muffler arrived OK. It is a standard Harco unit so no bespoke work needed. Big heavy beast of course. Now fitted and about to put the wrap on. Pics and thoughts on stainless to follow!

    Regards

    R and J

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your ideas / cheek / corrections / whatever! They should hit the blog shortly after the system checks them to make sure they will not put us or you in jail.....

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