Saba 50: Improvements to the Saba 50

[BigBeakie]

Hiya Skipper,

That's quite a haul you've discovered! Nice thing about floating lures is when the hook dissolves after the breakoff, up it floats to find a nice secluded shore, waiting for anyone with sharp eyes. Well done. Fun, isn't it?


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[Helia 44]

Hi ya Big Beakie!
Nice to hear from you...

I am up here for another month, then fishing the long way home looking for Mahi-Mahi, Sailfish, and Swordfish for about two weeks out near the outer reef and on the continental shelf...

Yea, a Guy has to do something, so my thing is beach combing the remote islands. You can always spot my house in Mooloolaba with the biggest collection of fish floats, netted floats, fenders, anchors and chain, and all the rest all over my deck and dock and hanging from the house... The Hoity Toity Fashionista sorts hate me with my Sea Junk everywhere... Heh he... I actually use my boat..

Hope you are well. The Saba 50 is so fantastic in all proportions, that I think I have decided THIS is it until death do part... It is a shame it sits behind my house in Mooloolaba for 7 months a year, but I think I am going to take it down south to the Gold Coast every year for the International Boat Show at Sanctuary Cove and PARTY!!. I am also thinking of gearing her up a bit more (crazy man).. With maybe a 12volt water maker for when running on the engines, and also additional charging capability on the 11 kva Cummins Onan..

Anyway, that trip: That will break the 7 month drought of cruising for me. There just is not much of anywhere to go from Mooloolaba except north to the GBR.. I mean maybe Brisbane River for a week, but that gets old and noisy but the lights are beautiful at night, and Moreton Island, but that is a muddy bay on the protected side... Maybe I will take those little trips to break things up and justify keeping such an OUTRAGEOUS personal yacht.. Those destinations just pale in comparison to the Whitsundays and the GBR.. I mean I can hardly speed in my 50 hp Honda tender, for the whales.. And on the last trip out on the reef I saw maybe 50 turtles and 50 skates and rays in the water only about a meter deep at high tide.

Anyway, I have included pictures of my last trip out, to the outermost islands past where the Tourist go, and yielded this lot of fish net covered 7 floats. As well as these separate six-seven floats, and the biggest reef trolling plug lure I have ever seen.. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.. This is the best year ever for netted floats and fenders, and the biggest Ship fender I have ever seen on 1" hawser, the last two pictures show my seagull striker getting over loaded.. Heh he. I will have to move it all to the top cockpit lounging area over the main salon before I head home..

Steve, on Saba 50 #11 "SERENITY"... Back eating and drinking too much in Coral Seas Marina, Airlie Beach...

[BigBeakie]

That's a serious amount of loot you got there pardner. My envy was raised by the popper though. Have you popped for GT's yet along the reef edge? You'll need to find alot more poppers though, those GT's are so brutal, you do go through a few lures. And better to take off the trebles and replace with really strong singles, safer & more effective.

I'm actually taking lure making stuff with me when we launch ( pleeeeeze don't ask when....I've had a few dramas like firing the builder and falling off the boat and breaking my back in 3 places &#128545 , so that will occupy me making poppers while we're on the hook on the trip back to Oz.

Hey if you're bored in the off season, why not do the daggerboard upgrade on your Saba? That'll keep you busy for a couple of weeks.😉

Keep well.


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[Helia 44]

HELLO BIG BEAKIE !!

Look, before I show you the latest improvement, replacing the fussy electronic Whale sensor in the shower sumps, I will address a couple of your comments:

First of all, yea, my treasures, house and yard are filled with them and anchors and chain...

Second of all, I will post a picture of this years collection of lures and poppers I have collected off the beaches in my travel. I must have about 20 of them this year, hanging overhead on a big front window. Blow it up and have a look!!

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, take care of yourself, when it comes down to it all we have is the Lord and our health!!

As to adding dagger boards? No, it would ruin the layout of the Saba, and I don't hate myself enough to want to live with massive dagger boards that it would take on a boat this big...

If I am that hard pressed to windward, I am happy to just turn on an engine to assist. That will get me upwind close hauled and faster than the dagger boards would anyway.. I carry 1000 litres of diesel, and try not to sail any distance close hauled on the wind like that. I am leaving the GBR island hoping down to home for 10 days - two weeks. When the wind is not with me or on the beam, I will wait for it to change. Right now I will have calm wind break for five days and that will get me about half way home. Then the wind comes around to the south- southeast for a couple of days and then switches to the north so it will be behind me...

Cruising the Great Barrier Reef area is a seasonal trip... You have the dominant SE Trade winds to go north in winter, and then it goes 50-50 this month and then goes to Northerly weather in late October/November.. Since I am Single Handling a boat this big, I don't mind motoring on one engine when the wind is not favourable or very light. Plenty of fuel and only just over 1000 hours on the 75 HP Volvo diesels, not going to hurt a thing, so I will motor on light wind and sail when favourable. But I am not going to buck into the Trade Winds bad enough to need or want to live with Bloody Dagger Boards...

******************************************

Now the latest improvement: ATTENTION FOUNTAINE PAJOT, The French Luxury yachts come with Shower sumps that are below the water line for good drainage, and Whale sensors that run the diaphragm type pumps to pump them out automatically. The Whale electronic sensors can last two days or two years, they are extremely unreliable and expensive. My Saba 50 is less than 5 years old, and I have replaced four of them in 18 months, one twice.. It was my idea to switch them over to the mechanical Rule 35A float switches...

Turns out my idea is good, but not original, and the Airlie Beach Marine Electronics have been doing this successfully for a few years. They make brackets that adapt the screw in lid with the sensor on it, in alloy, to take the 35A Rule float switch that goes on and stays on with a few inches of water movement down to off as the float goes down. This is a far simpler and better and more reliable system... Pictures included...

I believe this to be a cost effective and reliable improvement..

What is coming to Saba 50 Hull number 11? I am thinking power furling Main boom furling, recut main with same horizontal battons. Further power furling big Genoa sort of large headsail... Also thinking a smaller possibly WhisperPower 4-5 kw Genset to back up the big 11 Kva Cummins Onan when all I want is battery charging and hot water at anchor... Shame to run the big Cummins Onan at 1/3 load, it is not good for it.. If I load it up with added use like dryer and air conditioning and water making, it uses twice the fuel the WhisperPower would when all I need is maybe 4 kva for battery charging and hot water service...

Secondly thinking of an Aqua Base 12v 60 ltr/hr water maker to make water at about 25 amps DC when I am motoring and to back up the big YK3 180 ltr/hr water maker... This allows me to make water when motoring off the engines 100 amp alternators.. More efficient, and back up.. All in all both will not add 100 kg to the Saba...

This will make me more energy and diesel efficient, for very little weight, and totally independent at anchor up in the Great Barrier Reef. Will keep you posted...

Kind regards, Steven, Blessed to be on the Saba 50 "Serenity"...

[BigBeakie]

Sorry Steve, that was just my warped sense of humour, about the daggerboards. Wasn't really serious.

We're building ours now, and there's alot in it, to do it properly so they don't jam, or do serious damage to the boat if you hit something solid at 10 knots (like a whale at night? &#128563

It's a bit of a weird feeling to have these nice sleek hulls, and then you chop these huge holes in the hulls for the daggerboard cases.....

Loved the lure collecting. Don't know why, but I really like finding lures.. just cheap, I guess🙄. Then again, I've donated my fair share LOL.


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[Helia 44]

Here is an important TIP for EVERYONE....

I am a Veteran cruising with whales. I mean in the annual migration of the whales... They are going north, when I go north, and they are going south when I go south.... Inside the GBR in the sheltered waters between the GBR and the mainland I see whales every day, some close, some far...

Here it is in case you did not know: When in the whales migration, and Females with calves, LEAVE AN ENGINE ON AT NIGHT.... MOTOR SAIL AT NIGHT. They will hear you and avoid you. You really don't want one to sound underneath you, or breach over the top...

Steve on Saba 50 SERENITY

[Adonf46]

One little tip when sailing , tie up a figure eight knot at the end of the halyard , this will stop it running through and out of the jammer then running all the way inside the mast , out of the exit block and cause your genaker to fall into the drink 👎😖😫😱😱😱.

[Helia 44]

Originally Posted by Adonf46

One little tip when sailing , tie up a figure eight knot at the end of the halyard , this will stop it running through and out of the jammer then running all the way inside the mast , out of the exit block and cause your genaker to fall into the drink 👎😖😫😱😱😱.

Hello Adonf46
That is a good tip for others, and Newbies, but it my case when I dumped the big Gennaker last season up in the Whitsundays, running like like a 140 Genoa in mono hull terms, it would have done NOTHING...

What happened was the original rig was a single purchase, through a side to side plates with a sheave inside that pivoted like a swivelling block and out to the top roller furler swivel... The big gennaker I was running at the time, about equal to a 140 Genoa in mono hull terms, actually chaffed through the halyard at the top where it exited the swivelling turning block. I had the Gennaker mounted a bit too high. Anyway, yes I lost the Halyard but in reverse as it came down from the top through the mast, and under a big press of broad reach the whole gennaker blew out over the side.. Dragging big trolling rigs and sailing over 7 knots, it was a real mess.

Now if you look at the new picture below, you will see my new Gennaker (the old one is rolled up and below in a V-berth, my new one is like a massive 180 Gennaker. I mean HUGE, about a 5 oz massive sail, can be pulled tight by a two to one purchase. Further there is an additional turning block on the furler swivel and the whole thing is mounted up higher. The original Z-Spar swivelling sheave in a flat plated mount is now gone off the mast, and a new pad eye is mounted up higher to accommodate this new rig. Works a treat!

NOTE: You just have to be careful how much pressure you put on it, as on a power winch and two to one purchase, I have slacked off the heavy rigged working jib mounted below it on a foil around the stainless rigging wire..

So there is a tip for you, this style works well for a huge gennaker, but with that kind of power you can actually slack off the main working headsail, that is your actual fore stay holding up the mast...

BUT IT COMES WITH A HUGE ADVANTAGE: With a 16mm stiff non twisting bolt rope rigged inside the big Gennaker, I think I have actually strengthened the rig, now having like a double head stay...

Anyways Friends, I am back home for the summer cyclone season here, in Mooloolaba harbour. My Wife needs another knee, and has some other problems, so a trip north back to the Great Barrier Reef Islands this year may be in doubt. She is just out of the hospital with a three vertebrae Laminectomy.. Genetic bone problems with age.. I will start more posts as I am planning on possibly a smaller generator back up for light duty charging, and a smaller watermaker back up for when motoring on 12 volt...

Will keep you posted... Kind regards, Steve, Skipper of the Saba 50 SERENITY...

[Matt Hagans]

Hi Steve,
I am considering the purchase of a Saba 50. There is one in HK and one in Thailand that interest me. Interested in a commission to help me inspect, purchase and possibly supervise of the improvements as you have done to yours?

Matt Hagans
matt@eaglecreekaviation.com

[Helia 44]

Hello Matt,

First of all WELCOME TO THE FORUM, POST NUMBER 1 !!!

Matt, I cannot help You, my Wife is needing some bone related surgeries and I am Port bound here in Mooloolaba, for the next six months...

The right People to deal with is definitely "Multihull Solutions" try Kelvin in the Gold Coast on his mob 0403 941 585, may have to be modified with the 61 country code for Australia for the first two digits..


I have bought my Helia 44 through them, and sold my Helia 44 though them, and then bought my Saba 50 from them... Anyway they are big all over Singapore, Thailand, and so on. In 19 yachts over 45 years, they have been the best to deal with EVER... Tell him I said to take care of you....

Kind regards, Steven Gibbs, Saba 50 "SERENITY"

Next major upgrades: Smaller 5 kva Diesel Generator, just for charging when I do not need to run the big 11 kva Cummins Onan..

And smaller water maker to run on 12 volt when I am just travelling on one engine... Will keep you all posted..

Kind regards, Saba 50 "SERENITY"...........

[Chrishorseman]

Hi sorry if this is off topic but seems to be a lot of knowledge here. I'm considering offering on a fully loaded Saba (Most options Inc Swim platform, AC/11kva gen plus small dive compressor) and will add a Highfield classic plus 20hp Yamaha.

Does anyone (Pref owner, dealer or FP staff) have an idea what all up weight this is likely to be with full tanks and what kind of load capacity I'd be left with with 8 people on board including food and luggage. Is it going to be within limits and is it going to be horribly sluggish for Transat/World ARC?

Basic is 15,500
Fluids 1,600
People and luggage etc 1,000
Rib/ob 160
Food and supplies 450
Dive compressor 45
Total 18755 excluding boat options
Max load 19069
If options over 300kg boat would be overloaded which seems very likely as gen is 350 alone.
My assumptions or my measurements may be wrong and in practice may only be six people which would give back 300kg ish.

[Helia 44]

Hello Chris,

First of all WELCOME TO THE FORUM, POST NUMBER 1 !!!

I am maybe the only person to have owned and cruised a Helia 44, now on SABA 50 number 11, and am on my third season cruising north to the Whitsundays and beyond in Australia. I will be heading north in June or July...

Look, I have ALL of what you said, plus extra batteries, massive water maker, a long ton of 100 Metres of chain, two 105 pound anchors, extra canvas, massive 4.3 Meter hard bottom center console tender, with its own Garmin nav and VHF and 50 hp power tilt HONDA. I have twin roller furlers, spares for everything, even a full spare anchor windlass, bow thruster, and a lot more... In short: With all the chain and all the gear I am well over 2 tons more than you...

Look up at the SABA rig. It is THE MOST POWERFUL rig I have seen. Two tons more than you is nothing in cruising, really. Maybe you want slightly larger headsails like I have gone, but really: Not a concern in my book.

My only critical comment: I do not like the swim platform for cruising.. It is hard IMO to get the dinghy up in much wind waves at anchor bashing you around a bit. Further there is NO FALL BACK POSITION should it fail. I have electric hydraulic winches on my big davits, if they failed I can take a line up to the power winches at the helm and still haul her up, and my dinghy would be twice the weight of yours...

Anyway, I would have NO CONCERN on the weight you are posting, and would say take more gear!!! Comfort and spares, is the SUCCESS FACTOR...
I even have a full laundry and dryer and ice maker, and extra refrigeration built into an insulated settee in the aft cockpit... The SABA sails far better than you imagine, in safety and comfort. I have not seen better....

Kind regards, Blessed to be on SABA 50 "Serenity".....

[Chrishorseman]

Hi Steve, Thanks so much for this. I don't disagree about the swim platform but with a used boat you get what you get and I will at least give it a fair try before I think about changing.

Your response has put my mind at rest particularly as I am a fan of lots of chain which I hadn't even started to factor in. I will post back next week if I proceed.

Regards Chris

[Helia 44]

Yea Chris,
Good luck with that...

I always unwind a lot of slack with my davits Dynema line and blocks... Easy to pull it in to one of the sterns to board.. And it hooks to the dinghy with massive big snap shackles, and four safeties when up and travelling.. Anyway, to my point: When you have been gone all day or part of the day, and the wind has come up, and you have one foot or two foot wind waves coming under the boat, I aways hook up slack lined and let the Tender rest out a metre or two out from the stern.. I can then pull the dinghy in to the Saba, already hooked up, to get out on the stern area. Then it is easy peasy to haul the dinghy in with the power winches (elec-hydraulic) and raise it up out of the wind waves...

It will be tough to do with a pitching boat on a swim platform..


The good news is you can ALWAYS add davits. Live with the boat for a while, and decide what all you want above the davits, paddle board rack or what ever, then get them built in SS...

Anyways, look at the power in that main sail, and the massive triangulation on the mast.. The SABA is over rigged IMO... I have added bigger head sails as I said, but never lacking for power...

Best of luck, and if you get Her study all the things I have done... Further I am thinking Lewmar opening hatches on the two big front windows, and one each side of the main saloon. The cut out for the inside of the hatch about 100 mm smaller on each side so they can stay open in the rain, and a great improvement in ventilation. In other words the cut out smaller than the hatch itself...

Also I am thinking of a another diesel genset, a 5 kva, just for charging when I don't need 11 kva... They need to run loaded...

Also, eventually conversion to Lithium, with about half the weight savings as I have 7-130 amp hour batteries now...

Also, I am thinking of a smaller 50-60 litre/hour 12 water maker for when I am under power.... Love water, lots of it... ... THAT is how much I am worried about weight... ha ha heh he...

And on chain? I was crippled last year, lost 42 metres of chain and anchor on the edge of the GBR.. With only 38 metres left I ran crippled until I got home... (long story)... Anyway, now I have 100 M of 13mm chain, LOVE IT...

Bye for now, and good luck there... I will still have the MOST WELL EQUIPPED SABA 50 probably in the WORLD... But you cannot go wrong with the Saba.. A Lagoon is a motor sailor by comparison..

[CatDAzur]

Steve - thanks for your postings and great tips as always!

I also had a problem with the shower sump - the pump switch for the shower died while showering, and the water filled the shower pan. Had to create contact by hand. Bought 2 new ones on Amazon ($36). I may also install a float switch in parallel.

We had an absurd issue with an oil leak from the oil pan of the starboard engine. The oil pan is buried and totally inaccessible on the side where it leaked, below the genset. I couldn’t see where it came from and could barely place my phone close enough to take pictures. So we had to lift the engine. Great.
However, the opening of the engine room hatch stops aft of the center of the engines, so I had to build a special rig to lift and move the engine forward below the deck to clear the gear shaft, and then lift it high enough to be able to tighten the bolts of the pan which inexplicably had become loose. That was the problem. Volvo wanted 5000€ to do the job. Fortunately my boat neighbor knew a reasonably priced mechanic and together we took care of it, but not without some tense moments…

In any case, I am not impressed with Volvo, neither in their reliability nor their pricing.

I have now purchased a wifi snake camera which is a must-have (better late than never..).

An other thing worth mentioning: an issue with the transom cleats. Last year a very nasty storm hit the south of France and swells came into our harbor.
The motion was so bad that it broke the dock line springs and tore-off the laminate and the cleat on the stb side of the transom. The reason it failed is that these cleats are mounted almost vertically which means the tension from the dock is exerted in line with the mounting bolts instead of longitudinally as it should be.
So now I tie-up from the middle and forward cleats and use the transom cleats only for spring lines for sideways motion. Even in sheltered harbors there will always be some jerk at one time or another who will create a huge wake in a 3 knt zone.

Also worth noting - At the dock I now always turn-off the generator before pluggin-in the shore power even though it should transfer automatically (and I never turn-on the genset with the shore power on).
One time I didn’t - there was a voltage surge and it fried a diode inside the rotor. The whole genset had to be taken apart = 1500€.

For a better control of the cat while reversing into a Med harbor I am in the process of installing an electronic system with actuators for the engine controls linked to a 30' wired remote. It’s made by Glendinning in the US and is a very well designed and reliable system.

I am with you Steve re installing LifePO (lithium) batteries. I installed a pack 4 years ago on another boat. I got tired of installing 500lb of lead every 4 years. The price difference between top conventional batteries and lithium is not significant, more so when the lithiums could last you 10 years or more and provide more power. Now they make packs that include the Battery Management System. At the time I installed the lithiums each cell had to be connected individually to an external BMS. I had to also change the charger/inverter to an advanced Victron.

Question - did you replace the original main sail hooking system with an automatic system, or do you still have to pull on a lanyard the hook-up the sail to the carrier?

Cheers,
Yves