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Old 29-06-2011, 22:37   #1
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Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 'Maestro'

Yes we have finally done it and are now the proud owners of a 2002 Fountaine Pajot Bahia Maestro. We have been looking at these cats (and a few others) for a little over four years and have finally made the break.

We sold the house and waited, we knew we wanted a Bahia maestro version but there was just nothing close to our part of the world NZ/Australia that took our interest. Finally we came across a private sale in Tahiti and flew up there late last year to try her out and after extensive negotiations we returned to Tahiti at the beginning of May this year to buy her.

We have just successfully sailed her from Tahiti to Fiji, (two handed) after only owning her for a few days and were joined in Fiji by Clyde's son and a good friend for the last leg down to NZ where we will get her fit and ready for more adventures in the Pacific.

We had a fair mix of weather over the three weeks of sailing but were more than impressed with the boat and it's handling. Unfortunately it was solely a delivery trip with no time for sight seeing but we had a thoroughly enjoyable time anyway.

It has all been such a huge learning curve in such a short space of time, having to deal with the various authorities and paper trails as well as learning the boat on the journey across. There is much information that we are happy to share with other CF members should anyone be interested.

We would also like to thank the forum and it's members for all of the useful pieces of information we have gleaned from them over the years and will continue to do in the future.

Cheers
Lisa and Clyde
s/v Va'a Roa
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Old 29-06-2011, 22:44   #2
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Re: Now proud owners: FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Hi Guys, congratulations on becoming FP owners.
What sort of distances were you able to cover in a day?
I’m hopping to bring my Lavezzi into Australia in the next two weeks so any info you can share would be appreciated.
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Old 29-06-2011, 23:15   #3
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Re: Now proud owners: FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Thanks DL, for a lot of the trip we had very little or no wind from directly behind and motorsailed with one engine just to cover the miles and only covering about 120 -130 nms per day.

On the good days we did 160 -180 nms sailing but have to say that we were just going easy on the boat (and ourselves ) not wanting to push her as we were all so new to each other, so to speak.

The funny thing was that we got our best breeze every day at evening meal times and the worst storms in the middle of the night. Drove me crazy . Boat loved it!!
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Old 30-06-2011, 00:01   #4
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Re: Now proud owners: FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Congrats!!! have the best trip back home... Too bad we were never able to meet up for drinks...Cheers and fair winds!!!
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Old 30-06-2011, 00:35   #5
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Re: Now proud owners: FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Hey Shadow thanks. The boat is back in Auckland now. We are back in Oz at the mo but back to NZ next week. We do still mean to catch up for those drinks but just catching our breath in the mean time.

Cheers
Lisa and Clyde
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Old 30-06-2011, 03:55   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiwikat
Thanks DL, for a lot of the trip we had very little or no wind from directly behind and motorsailed with one engine just to cover the miles and only covering about 120 -130 nms per day.

On the good days we did 160 -180 nms sailing but have to say that we were just going easy on the boat (and ourselves ) not wanting to push her as we were all so new to each other, so to speak.

The funny thing was that we got our best breeze every day at evening meal times and the worst storms in the middle of the night. Drove me crazy . Boat loved it!!
Thanks for that info Kiwikat, I was getting a bit frustrated that my delivery skipper has been struggling to get 140 miles a day but It sounds like he has been doing well.
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Old 30-06-2011, 04:37   #7
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Yes, congrats Kiwikat - you must both be very excited!

Cheers!

Brad
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Old 30-06-2011, 05:15   #8
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

DL,

There has been little, or no wind oout of Oanama if he just left. Last year we made 36 miles in 24hrs in the ITZC........i2f
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Old 30-06-2011, 08:58   #9
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

wow pretty lines on that! congrats!
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Old 30-06-2011, 09:44   #10
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey View Post
wow pretty lines on that! congrats!
Yahoo ,love those cats as well as the poweryacht that sucks the fuel through those twin volvo turbo diesels. My ride until i secure a deal on another cruiser or trawler . Not sure just which as oops . another file has landed on my desk i must deal with so duty calls as i sail this laptop so_to _speak.. Cheers
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Old 26-07-2011, 23:08   #11
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Lovely boat...exactly what we are hoping to get as well. Some info as to the sailing performance of the Bahia would be great. Also any pitfalls, problems, places to avoid from your experiences would be beneficial. Was all the "standard" gear on the boat adequate? How much did you have to do to have her ready for the trip home? Thanks for all your posts and fair winds.
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Old 28-07-2011, 23:57   #12
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Hi Eldarbaker, Not quite sure what you are asking about in this sentence, especially the "places to avoid". Do you mean geographically? Are you also from our part of the world or do you refer to situations?

[QUOTE=eldarbaker;738519]Also any pitfalls, problems, places to avoid from your experiences would be beneficial.

Anyhow, with the rest I shall do my best.

We often joke that these big cruising cats are the ultimate in motor-sailors and they are. We did have a lot of light wind 0-10 knots from directly aft on the crossing to Fiji and directly on the nose down to NZ. We did a lot of motor-sailing using one motor only. However, give her just a little more breeze and the boat just comes to life and sails beautifully. On the way down to NZ our crew got the gennaker(screecher?) out and working and light air performance improved considerably.
When we went up to Tahiti late last year, we did a test sail on her from Papeete to Raiatea overnight, approx 130NM. She performed very well, doing constantly around 10 knots (we were off the wind) top speed 15.1 briefly.
Two weeks ago back in NZ we were again impressed with her performance reaching in 12-15 knots. We have not had a lot of decent on the wind opportunity as yet so a little hard to comment but we did do a Charter in the Whitsundays on a Bahia a couple of years ago on one of our R&R (research and relaxation) trips and the skipper obligingly put her on the wind in about 30 knots in the Whitsunday passage and we were delighted, not so the rest of the paying guests.

When we returned to Tahiti this year to pick her up, we were in Tahiti for a total of eight days while getting transaction, and paperwork etc done. That is a complete story on it's own and an experience I would not wish to repeat in a hurry. However, knowing what we know now.........etc.

During this waiting time we provisioned the boat for the journey and did what we could in order to ready her (and ourselves) for the delivery. We did one small afternoon sail to check the sails, reefing systems, anchoring system, water maker etc. We replaced and repaired a few small items as we found them, if at all possible. Now here it gets a bit tricky. The boat had been sitting in Tahiti in the tropical sun, relatively unused for several years.
#1 Tahiti is a remote tropical island and it is very difficult to get spare parts or workmanship done if you don't have plenty of time to spare.
#2 If you possibly could achieve any of #1 it would cost you an arm and a leg (or four).
Therefore we were forced to ignore the fact that a few thing might not have worked satisfactorily (or at all). But nothing major, we were sure we would manage.
It was a private sale and the owner had dived and cleaned the bum for us prior to out arrival (it was anti-fouled when we took it to Raiatea in December). He and his wife had fully stocked the boat with bedding, towels, cutlery, crockery, cooking equipment etc, almost everything you could think of and what was missing he drove us around everywhere until we had exactly what we wanted. Silly things like a galley plug that fitted properly, an electric drill, a pair of cooking tongs, a torch and other such essential items. They also provided us with an assortment of tools (sans drill) and other equipment that might be necessary for such a journey. He also, being ex airline pilot, had spare parts in duplicate and triplicate including spare autopilot ram drive.

We had also taken up as many as we thought, necessary items of our own. Chart Plotter, Epirb, handheld VHF and GPS's, charts, charting equipment, laptop with charting software (we love the redundancy theory), cruising guides, weather guides, manuals, pilot books, wet weather gear etc. And last but by no means least, duvee's for when we got close to NZ .

On the delivery home to NZ we did have a few breakages etc. After a couple of days out a fan belt shredded but no worries as plenty of spares. The water maker did not make water although at first we thought it was working, after priming it and throwing out about 5 buckets of water we then realise that the priming intake was still open and we were just circulating water from the tank OMG! We think the impellar on the intake is gone or the intake itself is blocked. A job for some other time (much later).
The casing on the main halyard parted where it went through the jammer. Rotten. Email to the incoming crew to bring new halyard up to Fiji with them. Fortunately all of the original manuals are still on the boat, happily providing us with the required size and length etc.
We were often showered with bits of rivet and screws as they gave way to corrosion and a bit of pressure (oh so that was not a good place to attach the preventer), (or the traveller).
The casing split on the No.2 reefing line - don't worry, we'll replace it with the old mainsheet when the new one arrives.
The trampoline was largely a no go zone as it too was rotten with a few holes in it where to odd foot, (mine) had gone through.
We had absolutely no luck with the SSB until one day out of NZ. We had tested it and received a fax on it in Tahiti but we later discovered a very dodgy aerial attachment in the back of the set. Luckily we had Inmarsat and were able to keep in touch with our shore crew daily with emails, as they advised us of weather conditions etc and we put in our progress reports. Very expensive but worth every last cent!!
Another fan belt went - same engine, odd.
The genaker(screecher) parted from the prod. A combination of a dubious metal fitting (spot welded crap metal) and too much breeze. The manual says to be used only up to 16 knot breeze. When it got to 20 knots I suggested to the lads that it just may be a bit much for it, but of course I did not know what I was talking about, don't be a girl (but I am a girl). Oh well nothing that a bit of rope lashing and some handy duct tape patches wont fix .
The refridgeration died the day we arrived in Fiji and local knowledge and experience deemed it not worth trying to get fixed at such short notice in Suva so we just loaded up with 12 ice bags and had the extra crew bring up a portable 12V Waeco from NZ (thanks for your beer fridge Toots).
The autopilot also packed up, it got worse and worse over several days and we were at a loss as to what was wrong it. Read the manual (nah it can't be that simple). It just kept losing the plot and letting go leaving us heading off into nevernever land. In desperation we had a brainstorm and replaced the linear drive with the spare one. Wonders will never cease!!!
A small mystery oil leak and a cup of salt water in the engine bilge.
Oh and another fanbelt shredded on the last night into Auckland, seems a little hidden hose clip tail was the culprit.

All in all, we were very happy with the behaviour and performance of the boat. It was after all nearly 3000 NM journey in varying conditions, so we think we got off fairly lightly all things considered.

Now that we are home we are finding are few new little challenges, sewage outlet pipe clogged with calcified crud, no wonder it didn't flush very well and we suspect the others are the same. Faulty deck switch that sets the electric winch going without warning. Oh well that's boating.

We know we are going to have a lot of fun with her so each little setback is just a new way for us to get to know the boat better.

You can wake up now!!

Cheers
Lisa
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Old 30-07-2011, 15:32   #13
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Great info, thanks a lot...we are off to the Whitsundays later this year (after shearing and kids exams!)...trying a Salina 48 as no Bahia's up there. Only ever having sailed monos before hence my thirst for knowledge. The places to avoid, pitfalls etc was about dealing with officialdom, rip-off merchants etc. The boat we are currently keen on is in the Caribbean, just hope she is still available in another 12 mnths. ;-/. How did you find the fuel capacity? The one I am keen on has the tanks the other way round...1000 ltrs fuel and 400 ltrs water, (my admiral will need creature comforts to lure her off the land initially, so a generator is a must ;-))
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Old 01-08-2011, 00:42   #14
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Ok, firstly I will just mention that the Bahia we chartered was from Sunsail on Hammo. It was a four day luxury crewed cruise (for Clyde's 60th). Not available for bareboat but still operating now I believe.

In addition to the 400 ltr diesel tank we had another 6x 20 litre plastic containers with us. We found this to be quite satisfactory although I must say that upon arriving in NZ it was our initial intention to carry on through and clear customs in Auckland but due to lack of breeze and the sudden desire to arrive before the next weather system arrived, we motored hard and were forced to clear in at Opua in the Bay of Islands with about 40 ltrs remaining.

We had a similar experience with Fiji. Fuel was low but not exceedingly so, it was more of a time constraint thing, with crew needing to get the Ok from the Fiji High Commission to arrive in Fiji without a return flight. The weekend was looming, they were flying up on Sunday but we had to have cleared customs in Fiji on Friday before they got their permissions etc. We had initially intended to Clear in Lautoka but were forced to clear into Suva instead . Engine assisted we timed our run and were fortunate to get cleared by lunch time Friday.

The boat has a great fuel range if you stick to running 1x only engine at conservative revs. Of course that depends on your engine size. We have Yanmar 40's. We also have a genset.

The 800 ltr water tank was wonderful. As our watermaker was not working we could have been in serious trouble on the Tahiti - Fiji leg had we not have had the capacity. Sure we could have collected water by the bucketS full, but would not like to rely on that.


Customs and red tape etc? Well there is miles of it and it probably needs to be covered elsewhere, rather than just here on the FP forum. That which can be posted in public of course .

Just a little aside on Tahiti. There was an Aussie bloke with his boat on the mooring next to us, delivering his boat home from the Caribbean. He told us he had put his sail in for what he thought was a five minute repair. Well two weeks later he was still waiting and it is a very expensive place to wait indeed.

Feel free to ask, if you have any more questions. I'm sure you will. Either here or PM me.

Cheers for now.
Lisa
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Old 01-08-2011, 02:01   #15
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Re: Now Proud Owners - FP Bahia 46 Maestro

Never been on a multi. I see you're former mono sailors. What did you think of the cat's motion?
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