Saba 50: Improvements to the Saba 50

[Helia 44]

PART TWO, to the Post above:

Talking around, the best replacement and sort of a 10 year life expectancy is called FERRARI cloth... It feels a bit stiff, like a coated dyneema or something like a carbon fibre or something. A bit stiff, and the whole thing stretched tight is like a soft deck.. GREAT! I mean really about three times as firm and stiff as the stock FP Trapeze, it is much stronger and firmer.. !

Pictures below....

Bonus picture shows my Bridle Chain hook. I stow it like this so I do not lose it out the anchor roller. It goes back in the smaller forward anchor locker, just coming out through a mooring recess under the hatch. Now here is the bonus: Not the chain hood is drilled, and a tie rope on it. I put it on the chain, and tied it to the chain so it does not fall off while I lay it out... Above that is a shackle that slides on the loop, and a larger snap shackle. Why? I have found the chain hook tied come loose and it is a "shirt" of a thing to retrieve it hanging bridle and all. So this is a safety if it does come loose.

Also note the two openings in the Ferrari cloth: Sometimes when you are hauling in the chain, at a bit of an angle the chain hook will jamm in the opening.. In and out and in and out trying to get it to unjam and come into the anchor locker where you and undo it. Well this is so I can lay flat and reach down and take it off from the outside if I have to.. Arms through the holes on the trapeze, beats the alternatives..

One last thing: Some might say the Ferrari cloth could hold more water weight plowing into a big wave... Yea, but I think this is another dock myth.. First of all I am not plowing into any big waves, unless I stupidly time it wrong coming out over a bar.. Yea, done that.. once.. Secondly it will drain easy and over the edges and rush over the bows nearly immediately. Further it is about half opening holes.. And if things are that bad in bad weather, I am running down wind from it, not powering into big breaking waves.. I only LOOK stupid.. !..

Kind regards to all, and more to come if I am not boring you...
Helia 44, Master of a Saba 50 now, and feeling Blessed to be so fortunate..

[Cuvee]

Nice new trampoline. Can you share the price and the dealer? I'm coming up on 5 years on my Saba hull #2 trampoline and it's showing the same wear.

[Helia 44]

Hello Cuvee, nice to hear from You...

I am afraid, while I am happy to tell you, it is near useless as they patterned it off my boat with the roll of Ferrari cloth... You are about 10,000 NM away..

Anyway, after watching the Charter Fleet for the Great Barrier Reef area, I found the Ferrari cloth to be the new thing... I have been told it is a 10 year life, so where ever you get it done I can recommend it. Besides a great look, lashed tight it is stiffer, like a soft deck when you walk on it..

Anyway, cost? $2600 Australia so X .69% = U.S. $, and the Canvas Maker is the Boat Cover Company in Mooloolaba Harbour... A bit expensive, but they did an excellent job of it.

Kind regards, Skipper single handling the Saba 50 Serenity, Hull # 11, top Luxury Cruising Cat in the world in my 40 years experience..

[Helia 44]

Hello Friends, Connoisseurs of fine yachts....

This is one, that many of you that dock up in the Tropics during the summer months will probably find useful.. Tropics, northern and southern hemispheres, during hurricane/ cyclone season, there is not a lot of cruising. Docked up, you sort of need two air conditioning units on in the heat of it for about two months.

Without two ac units on, it is too hot and your refrigeration labours and freezer will start to thaw. On the luxury end of thing, air conditioning at the peak of summer months is really handy, like in South Florida and further south, and here in Australia all of Queensland and the GBR, and even further south in the heat of summer as even in the far south the weather can get hot over 40C and 100F.

Now the problem is the additional load of your Hot Water Service (HWS) when living dock side. I still like to wash dishes with hot water, and showers of course. In North America all I have found is 25 amp 120v, and in Australia it is commonly 15 amp 240v to be inadequate and unreliable. Now these very rarely will take the max amperage without clicking off, as they suffer in the marine environment. Anyway, you cannot run the HWS and two ac systems reliably. Crawling down in the engine room to turn off and on the HWS every day, is a pain. So, on my Helia 44 I moved the Circuit Breaker to the HWS to the cockpit side by the power inlet, and did it manually during the heat of summer.

On the Saba 50, I have gone the next step. Now on most marinas, a Cat gets two slips, hence two power outlets. I have made up a second power inlet for a second power cord, and a switch to go between the two outlets, so the second AUX power inlet can be shut off and the HWS revert to the main power outlet. Or the option of turning the switch to OFF and turning off the HWS. Now you need a Professional to wire this up for you, for safety and Insurance sakes OK?

First picture is of the two power inlets, and switch between. I can run them both independently, with the AUX power inlet, only serving the HWS, or turn the HWS off, or run in only on the MAIN power inlet.... Three way switch..

Second picture is the Circuit Breaker (one of 3 on the Saba) in the STRB engine room. You disconnect the CB for the HWS and run it in conduit up to the new inlet. Next is a picture of the routing out of the conduit collection under the CB panels..

Then back up to the two inlets and selector switch. Works a Treat !!

Now on only one power outlet, I can limit AC or limit the HWS by turning the selector switch to off. On two power outlets I can run both at the same time..

Of course none of this is necessary when cruising with the big Cummins Onan, 9 kva on my Helia, and 11 kva on the Saba 50... BUT NOTE THIS FOR A LONG TERM GENERATOR HEALTH FROM MARINE ENGINEERING: Do not run the gensets without loading them up a little. I run two or three air conditioning units whether needed or not, for at least an hour during genset run times to clean the cylinder walls from glazing up running too unloaded.. When on the Genset, I run two Victron Charging systems, so maybe 2- kva, water maker maybe 1 kva, but my power needs are usually longer run times than the water maker needs.. Note that you want to run a minimum of sort of 50% loaded for best genset health. Kubota Dealer (Cummins Onan runs Kubota tractor engine which is just about unkillable). Kubota Dealer says minimum 35% but that is the very least, but Kubota Manual says 50%. I load it up a bit more with the 2 air conditioning units, needed or not, sort of 1 kva each.

Hope to have been a help... Skipper on Saba 50 "SERENITY" Single Handling up the coast harbour to harbour, island to island, heading north to the GBR and Whitsunday Islands for the season next 4-5 months...

[Lady Roslyn]

Great post. Thanks. Keep the ideas coming. Always interesting and useful. Nic

[Helia 44]

Well thank you for the kind words of interest Nic on "Lady Roselyn"... It will keep me going, knowing that I am not boring you all.. I will always be busy as a Tinkering Engineer, trying to find ways to improve anything that is inconvenient to deal with in this Lifestyle..

We are up inside the Barrier Reef in Mackay Harbour, about 50-60 NM south of Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. I am going to give it a go and haul out for a bottom job here, zincs, drain saildrives, the regular haul..

Tides here are about 4 metres, and at low tide the pilings are about 10-12 meters tall !! Steep gangway!!

Anyway, here is another one. I got tired of battling cleaning the super fine screens of the stock filters for the CruiseAire air conditioners. The fine screen clogs up with scum and is very weak to any kind of stray electrical current. The bore of the air conditioning units heat exchanger is about 1/2" o.d. and about 3/8" I.D. I cannot see the reason to battle the fine screen tiny filters. They clog up with scum too easy, and I seem to have minor electrolysis that softens and eats them out sort of two year life. Sooooo, I am going to replace them with these filters shown, engine generator filters with a lift out stainless strainer.

F.P. TAKE NOTE AS I AM TOLD BY RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE IN FRANCE YOU WATCH THIS THREAD: These are cheaper and easier and will last indefinitely. I cannot think of a downside.. If you can please tell me, but even then I will just add some fine screen in them.. I cannot see a downside, and even if I have to add some fine screen and these are more robust and readily available.. Yes I did think of barnacle polyps getting in, but the lines are copper and that is one of the best anti-fouling materials and I believe is toxic to them. If I am wrong, please correct this Thread with your input.

So, these gen-set or engine lift out strainers are cheap and readily available, and are far more robust. I am going to replace the fine screen strainers with these:

[Helia 44]

Hello Friends, Connoisseurs of fine yachts....

We are back up in the Whitsundays, currently anchored between Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Island. I am keeping a slip for when the weather turns bad, in the new Coral Seas Marina renamed from Abell Point Marina.. Anyway I am back anchored out. I took a month to get up here, as I wanted to try a haul out in route at Mackay.. Got stuck there for two weeks for the haul out and bad weather. A bad south east blow put coal dust on the yacht from Hay Point coal loading facility.....

Anyway, the first picture, first blood for the season, the results of one morning beach combing, and I was back to the boat by 9:30. I found this brilliant great fender, my size, and the yellow net float, as well as these shells..

Now I am doing some more major improvements, a BIG Gennaker about 2-3 meters longer in the foot than the current one. And a re-rig to a two to one purchase for the Gennaker hoist roller furler to tension it up.. Two big furlers, one on a foil, a working jib, one a massive gennaker. Pictures coming. The purpose is to have a massive gennaker (sp?) so when I single handle I am not tempted to run the big aso-metric spinnaker.. Even on a sock it is probably to much for an old single handler to handle on a yacht this big..

Now the purpose of this Post is to show you a couple of little things that stopped me dead for lack of $20-$25 items that would be easy to have along.. I believe in big spares, I mean I have about $5000 in spares for the watermaker, and a full spare power windlass in pieces, and a lot more. These are things that would stop us dead if they failed...

But here are two simple things one would not think to carry, but now should, and I bought two replacements for each. One is the fuel priming pump on the 11kva Cummins Onan. This is a simple 12v fuel prime pump, as the Gen-set is mounted above the level of fuel tank. Without it you could not prime the new fuel filter on a change. It is not Cummins Onan, but a simple automotive diesel pump put in by the installer of the Gen-set... First picture is of the location on mine, but it could be different on your. Mine failed due to be under the salt water impeller on the Kubota engine, it corroded and failed and I did not notice. I have bought a spare as well as this replacement, and coated the top of the pump with silicone... But this left me without a generator, short on power and so on.....

The last picture is a $20 starting coil on the major high pressure pump motor of the YK3 water maker.. It failed, melted down, I hear they can last a few years or twenty but there is no determination on how long... Anyway for lack of these two little dumb unanticipated failures, I was single handling a major yacht, with no aux power, and no water maker. I now have spares for both. I thought it might be important to share with you....

I will look around to see what other simple little things I could be missing, but I though you might like this TIP... I was stopped dead for two little things I did not anticipate. No aux power, no water maker, it was back to basics.

Anyway, Blessings to you all, Helia 44 now on a Saba 50, in the Whitsundays..
Out on the last Frontier in Australia....

[HabibiDah]

Excellent suggestions! Thank you!

Nice Haul, by the way!

[Sunlight50]

Hi Helia 44, loving your updates! Had a big favour to ask. We decided to buy a new Saba 50 and now going through the specs list. Am sure there is a bunch of items that are better bought aftermarket or things to request from FP directly before they built the boat. Given your experience on the Saba now, and for a moment you would "put yourself in our shoes", what would you list include? What mistakes can I avoid before finalising the list?

Deeply appreciated for thoughts, many thanks.

Originally Posted by Helia 44

Hello Friends, Connoisseurs of fine yachts....

We are back up in the Whitsundays, currently anchored between Hamilton Island and Whitsunday Island. I am keeping a slip for when the weather turns bad, in the new Coral Seas Marina renamed from Abell Point Marina.. Anyway I am back anchored out. I took a month to get up here, as I wanted to try a haul out in route at Mackay.. Got stuck there for two weeks for the haul out and bad weather. A bad south east blow put coal dust on the yacht from Hay Point coal loading facility.....

Anyway, the first picture, first blood for the season, the results of one morning beach combing, and I was back to the boat by 9:30. I found this brilliant great fender, my size, and the yellow net float, as well as these shells..

Now I am doing some more major improvements, a BIG Gennaker about 2-3 meters longer in the foot than the current one. And a re-rig to a two to one purchase for the Gennaker hoist roller furler to tension it up.. Two big furlers, one on a foil, a working jib, one a massive gennaker. Pictures coming. The purpose is to have a massive gennaker (sp?) so when I single handle I am not tempted to run the big aso-metric spinnaker.. Even on a sock it is probably to much for an old single handler to handle on a yacht this big..

Now the purpose of this Post is to show you a couple of little things that stopped me dead for lack of $20-$25 items that would be easy to have along.. I believe in big spares, I mean I have about $5000 in spares for the watermaker, and a full spare power windlass in pieces, and a lot more. These are things that would stop us dead if they failed...

But here are two simple things one would not think to carry, but now should, and I bought two replacements for each. One is the fuel priming pump on the 11kva Cummins Onan. This is a simple 12v fuel prime pump, as the Gen-set is mounted above the level of fuel tank. Without it you could not prime the new fuel filter on a change. It is not Cummins Onan, but a simple automotive diesel pump put in by the installer of the Gen-set... First picture is of the location on mine, but it could be different on your. Mine failed due to be under the salt water impeller on the Kubota engine, it corroded and failed and I did not notice. I have bought a spare as well as this replacement, and coated the top of the pump with silicone... But this left me without a generator, short on power and so on.....

The last picture is a $20 starting coil on the major high pressure pump motor of the YK3 water maker.. It failed, melted down, I hear they can last a few years or twenty but there is no determination on how long... Anyway for lack of these two little dumb unanticipated failures, I was single handling a major yacht, with no aux power, and no water maker. I now have spares for both. I thought it might be important to share with you....

I will look around to see what other simple little things I could be missing, but I though you might like this TIP... I was stopped dead for two little things I did not anticipate. No aux power, no water maker, it was back to basics.

Anyway, Blessings to you all, Helia 44 now on a Saba 50, in the Whitsundays..
Out on the last Frontier in Australia....

[Helia 44]

Wow, Sunlight50, I AM HONOURED,
POST NUMBER ONE ! WELCOME TO THE CRUISERS FORUM !

I do have some insights for you, that will be very helpful I think.. Having bought the first Helia 44 imported to Australia, and now the first Saba 50, 2015 from the original Owner (I think it just did not grab the interest of his Family like he thought).. Anyway, since the Helia, I have thought about ordering one from France, and spending a year or two there in the Med, then on to the Carib, and then home to Australia.. After years of thinking about this, and probably doing more improvements to the Helia 44 and the Saba 50 than just about anyone, I do have some suggestions and reasons why.... I thought about ordering one myself, but my Wife is a bit crippled up now at our age, and at 67 y.o. I decided I did not want to spend the time and wait for the new one. Since these were attainable right here right now, and a good value, I gave up on the idea of ordering new. However, I have had lengthy discussion with Multihull Solutions, the F.P. Dealer and Importer for the Southern Hemisphere, I do have some valuable insight..

This will be a bit of a project, give me a few days to formulate the ideas and condense it down to a page or two of the reasons why... I will compile what and why, and get back to you, in this Thread..

AND AGAIN, WELCOME TO THE FORUM, POST NUMBER ONE ! I am honoured to be the one to get you going, and will try and help..

Kind regards, Helia 44

[Helia 44]

Originally Posted by Helia 44

Hello Friends, Connoisseurs of fine yachts....

This is one, that many of you that dock up in the Tropics during the summer months will probably find useful.. Tropics, northern and southern hemispheres, during hurricane/ cyclone season, there is not a lot of cruising. Docked up, you sort of need two air conditioning units on in the heat of it for about two months.

Without two ac units on, it is too hot and your refrigeration labours and freezer will start to thaw. On the luxury end of thing, air conditioning at the peak of summer months is really handy, like in South Florida and further south, and here in Australia all of Queensland and the GBR, and even further south in the heat of summer as even in the far south the weather can get hot over 40C and 100F.

Now the problem is the additional load of your Hot Water Service (HWS) when living dock side. I still like to wash dishes with hot water, and showers of course. In North America all I have found is 25 amp 120v, and in Australia it is commonly 15 amp 240v to be inadequate and unreliable. Now these very rarely will take the max amperage without clicking off, as they suffer in the marine environment. Anyway, you cannot run the HWS and two ac systems reliably. Crawling down in the engine room to turn off and on the HWS every day, is a pain. So, on my Helia 44 I moved the Circuit Breaker to the HWS to the cockpit side by the power inlet, and did it manually during the heat of summer.

On the Saba 50, I have gone the next step. Now on most marinas, a Cat gets two slips, hence two power outlets. I have made up a second power inlet for a second power cord, and a switch to go between the two outlets, so the second AUX power inlet can be shut off and the HWS revert to the main power outlet. Or the option of turning the switch to OFF and turning off the HWS. Now you need a Professional to wire this up for you, for safety and Insurance sakes OK?

First picture is of the two power inlets, and switch between. I can run them both independently, with the AUX power inlet, only serving the HWS, or turn the HWS off, or run in only on the MAIN power inlet.... Three way switch..

Second picture is the Circuit Breaker (one of 3 on the Saba) in the STRB engine room. You disconnect the CB for the HWS and run it in conduit up to the new inlet. Next is a picture of the routing out of the conduit collection under the CB panels..

Then back up to the two inlets and selector switch. Works a Treat !!

Now on only one power outlet, I can limit AC or limit the HWS by turning the selector switch to off. On two power outlets I can run both at the same time..

Of course none of this is necessary when cruising with the big Cummins Onan, 9 kva on my Helia, and 11 kva on the Saba 50... BUT NOTE THIS FOR A LONG TERM GENERATOR HEALTH FROM MARINE ENGINEERING: Do not run the gensets without loading them up a little. I run two or three air conditioning units whether needed or not, for at least an hour during genset run times to clean the cylinder walls from glazing up running too unloaded.. When on the Genset, I run two Victron Charging systems, so maybe 2- kva, water maker maybe 1 kva, but my power needs are usually longer run times than the water maker needs.. Note that you want to run a minimum of sort of 50% loaded for best genset health. Kubota Dealer (Cummins Onan runs Kubota tractor engine which is just about unkillable). Kubota Dealer says minimum 35% but that is the very least, but Kubota Manual says 50%. I load it up a bit more with the 2 air conditioning units, needed or not, sort of 1 kva each.

Hope to have been a help... Skipper on Saba 50 "SERENITY" Single Handling up the coast harbour to harbour, island to island, heading north to the GBR and Whitsunday Islands for the season next 4-5 months...

*******************************************
ERROR, WARNING, ERROR....

This system works well with the directions I have given, BUT: If someone does not have both plugs in, when you run off just the one top cord, the lower power inlet is HOT...!!

Also, the Hot Water Service is isolated, and does not run when the Generator is on. There is a relay that turns all power over to the generator, and the HWS is off line then, isolated.

THIS NEEDS SOME WORK, I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEMS. RIGHT NOW, THE 1500 WATT HWS DOES NOT WORK WHEN ON GENERATOR AND I HAVE TO MANUALLY PLUG IN THE LOWER POWER INLET TO THE BOATS ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TO GET HOT WATER.. !! It was not obvious when I was on the move everyday as the port engine also makes hot water. Now I am anchored off Whitsunday Island, and no hot water on the second day. My temporary solution is to plug it into the boat electrical system with an extension cord just to the lower power inlet, and this works well. But I am going to consult with an Electrician and try and figure out a better solution, maybe a manual switch by the AUX inlet. But again if someone does not use it correctly, the AUX is HOT when the MAIN is plugged into shore power. It could be dangerous if misused.

THIS NEEDS SOME ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING REVISION, WILL POST THE RESULTS...

[Helia 44]

AGAIN, SO IT IS NOT MISSED:

DANGER, DANGER, WARNING IN THE ABOVE LAST POST...

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


Hello again, SUNLIGHT50

My notes regarding the order of a new SABA 50...

I am honoured to help you.. I have a few suggestions, but then a very important over all bit of guidance for ordering, what and why...
Suggestions: Get the French to put in all this gear, it is too hard to retro-fit. Most of my improvements in this Thread, are indeed improvements...

1) Basically tick all the boxes. If you are going to the tropics, you need that bit of relief in the afternoon heat during a generator run time. so two air conditioning units in the main salon, and one for each sleeping cabin... It is so much easier to get it built in from new, thaN try and retrofit it later.. aND stick with CruiseAire, world wide service and parts and very reliable...

2) Generators: Cummins Onan, you cannot kill the Kubota engine, it is a real tractor motor, and if given proper care 99 out of a 100 will run 10,000 hours or more. It is basic engineering, KISS Keep it Simple Stupid, and I have lived with the 9 kva, but for the SABA I would take the 11 kva. Look, they will try and sell you one of the other Euro more compact gen sets, but they need computer "initializations" and maintenance, and are just toooo compact and high tech. You want dumb old style engineering like the Kubota engine on the Onan style generator and it will run forever. You can get your hands in if you need to pay attention, and the others are just too sophisticated for YOUR own good..

2) On Navigation, double system up in the cockpit and down at the nav station: Three things, GARMIN, GARMIN, and GARMIN. After 45? years of doing this, I think they are the best, last the longest, and are the Market Leader everyone measure themselves against. Navionics was just bought out by them as well. Everything in the Garmin system, Radar as well, can be upgraded. In their wisdom they made it so everything you might want to add is already in the parent systems, like forward looking sonar or cameras, it is all there for you so you just plug in the options, even add it later...

3) Water maker: I do not think there is a better more reliable system than the YK3. It is in the French Nuclear submarines, and the Russian fishing fleets. Not only is it robust, but they make a manual that tells you step by step troubleshooting, and how to bypass the automated controls and run the whole system manually piece by piece. Mine is the YK (3) for three membranes, unbelievable performance and I think the most robust I have seen. Further, get the modular version that you can fit all the components into the spare places in the port engine room. And again, LET THE FRENCH DO IT..

4) Rigging, French sub-contractor Z-Spar... Look, think in advance about anything you want on the mast and have it pre-wired for it... Amplified TV antenna, Cel-Fi, Radar, VHF, what ever you can think of is so much easier to have them do and put in conduit. Think hard, because they are also working on a Boom Furling Mainsail.. It still has horizontal battens, but it power furls and reefs, with a manual over ride. I WISH I HAD IT. I Single Handle the Saba, and I still may get the whole system, but again it is cheaper and easier to do on order than retro-fit...

5) Bow Thruster: I have one... But don't use it, don't need it. I mean even with a wind blowing you onto the dock, with a flat fender out on the rear corner, you can just put on the outside engine in reverse and walk the bow out from the dock. Engines are like 20' apart and She will pivot on a dime with one in forward and one in reverse. You have to learn how, but it is so easy to manoeuvre once you know how, I am not sure a thruster is worth the money...

6) Power windlass, I have the large Quik vertical capstan rope head and chain gypsy. Like the water maker, I have spares for it as well. The bigger the better IMO..

7) Power outlets, more... They do not put in enough in the main salon..

8) Davits: Electric Hydraulic. If it ever fails, you can use winches to run them manually. The raising swim step is cute, but if it fails you are stuffed there is no way to run it manually. It does not have the capacity, no back up plan, I don't like that version and would opt for the electric hydraulic davits that have a remote as well...

9) Fresh water flush toilets: Look, no smells, no sulphur smells of dead micro-organisms when you don't use them, the Planus Systems are up and coming on all Mega-Yachts. If you go the way I did in this post, and have the large central holding tanks in each hull, you also have the room for very nice medicine or towel cabinets in each head where the holding tanks were...

10) Salt water wash down pump and outlet up on the bow: This is really necessary to wash off the anchor and chain when in muddy conditions!! Sooo much easier to route and do from new than add in later... There is also an option for a fresh water outlet up there with a plug in fitting to turn it on. This is really handy, wash salt off salon windows, dive gear, misc. I mean I do not use it often but it is handy and far easier to route it from new than try and retro-fit...

11) You are going to want the full canvas enclosure in the upper nav station. Get all the panels so they zip off for hot weather. Also get the thicker 1mm clear rather than the standard 1/2 or 3/4. It lasts longer, is stiffer, and stands up to polishing better. It cost very little more from new, but pays for itself in use and longevity if you polish it a few times a year. Dirt and calcium absorbs the UV that breaks down the clears, so the cleaner and polished you keep them, the longer they last. Like maybe a good clean and polish every few months...

Well, there is the top ten (11), but here is the general idea you need to think of: Things like adding a winch? Wow, so easy to do from new, but when they put the head liners up you have a problem. And Power Winches, I have all three powered up in the cockpit. Again so easy from new, pain in the tookass to have to run big cables as a retro fit. I have two winches on the port side, for spinnaker or other use, furling, and so on. I have not needed the second one, but it would be handy if racing or getting fancy. I have two furling units and run the furlers on the starboard side, with power winches.

In general, any thing you want to add, is big trouble routing under the floors with plumbing and wiring and cables, and so easy to add when new. You have to imagine what you might want to add on and allow for it from new. It is nothing to add from new, an extra run of battery cable or water line or wiring, but to route it later is sometimes hard and tedious...

All for now, but I will field any questions. Basically you are going to want more than than F.P. is going to be willing to do for you. There are after market shops there that will do some of it for you. Multihull Solutions runs all the F.P. work in the Southern Hemisphere, and they have a shop there in the Med. You can Google them, they are quite substantial and Champions to work with. The French are a pain. A French Representative was demolishing a bottle of Scotch on my boat with myself and one other, and when he got loosened up he spoke a bit of wisdom, words to this effect: "So, you do not like the French?" to which I replied: "Well, besides Mururoa and the Rainbow Warrior, they just treat you like $hit... Even in French Polynesia, if you do not speak fluid French to honour them, they treat you like $hit"..... To which he replied: "Yes, this is true, they treat you like $hit! But that is the French way.... They treat EACH OTHER like $hit, so don't take it personal... "

From all reports, as to modifications, they are not going to want to know you. All serious mods have to be done after you receive the boat. They are unwilling to do much in the Production sequence that might slow things up, and rely on the Dealers to organise after market modifications to suit..

More as I think of it, and I will field any questions you might have..

Kind regards, Helia 44, now Blessed to be on the Saba 50 SERENITY...

[Sunlight50]

Hi Helia 44, wanted to ask your thoughts reg the following: We are just about to finalise the order of a new Saba 50 and been going through the various options one can add. Would love to get input from sailors who have advise on what/what not to add from the factory specs list and what items are best to get as after service rather than directly from the FP factory installed. Any advise would is greatly appreciated.

[Helia 44]

Hello Sunlight 50,

I am just back in port from the Whitsundays, and in case you missed my answer from the Private Messages you put your question here but my answer is above, beat you to it...

I am putting this on in case you ticked an auto reply notification and my message got here first, in case you missed my comments on ordering a new one it is above your question here..

[Helia 44]

Hello Friends, Connoisseurs of the finest Cruising Catamarans Fountaine Pajot

Left home in June, spent a month cruising up to the Whitsundays in the Great Barrier Reef, never to do that again over the winter solstice here... Too cold, too short of days, and the haul out in Mackay on the way was OK but got stuck there in bad weather for two weeks.. Actually got coal dust on the boat, the southeasterly Trade Winds blew so hard coal dust came from Hay point, maybe 20 kms away.. Yuck... Anyway, I will haul in my normal clime down in Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast... I think I want to come up to the Great Barrier Reef before winter sets in because there is hardly a winter up here, just stronger SE Trades most days with only a couple days a week of calmer weather. You can always go to the lee side of the islands..

Right, after almost two months here in the Whitsundays, my latest improvement to the Saba 50 is the forward big genoa genaker. I have rigged two headstay furlers, one for the heavier weather working Jib, and now a monster Genoa. I had Doyle sails take a big Genaker to replace the original Genaker that in Monohull terms was about a 120.. The new one is about a 160 Genoa in monohull terms. I had Doyle Sailmakers here in Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia put sunshade sail canvas on the outside, a 16mm bolt rope in it, and made it my main cruising genaker for lighter wind say up to about 15 maybe 20 knt apparent..

The first picture is of the upper part of the mast, where I added two pad eyes and a turning block, you might have to blow it up to see the second turning block on the top of the sail to make it a two to one purchase. Now you can REALLY tension the Genaker as tight as you want. I am guessing about a 5 oz big flat cut racing Genaker that I can let out to run like a cruising spinnaker sort of thing as I Single Handle the Saba 50 Cat...

The second picture is how I raised up the roller furler on the prodder so I got the deck sweeper up a bit for better visibility.

The rest is what I do in the outer islands of the Whitsundays, beach combing the rocky grottos and rocky hard to get to beaches where no one goes. Besides about 25 net floats and buoys and fenders, I also found the big black ship fender, and a big half meter ship buoy for a docking line to be hauled over from a ship.. It is not all just "Sea Junk" for my waterfront property and dock in Mooloolaba, I also found some new current yacht gear:

1) A nice boat hook that extends out
2) Two new wetsuits about 4 nm apart on Hook Island
3) A new red horse shoe Life Ring and light (Which I have mounted on the Saba 50 in a launcher)
4) A new red round throw life ring with a light
5) Another horse shoe ring
6) A floating winch handle
7) An old bronze prop, electrolysis holes in it, motor and shaft gone, from an old wreck maybe 60-80 years old
8) A new red gas can,
9) Crew saver Life Vest for a pre-teenage child

And more.. Anyway, this has been the best year for beach combing ever for me... Maybe because I went to more remote rocks and islets, but wow what a load... In the third picture you can see my shell collection, and above are fishing lures I found beach combing.. Quite a collection, best ever for one season.. I put on a picture, last one, of the largest black ship fender I have ever seen... And my ugly mug standing behind it...

For any concerned about the GBR health: I cannot see any change now in the Great Barrier Reef area around the Whitsunday Islands and all the way up 500 nm. There does not seem to be any changes from any global warming. The reef and fish seem healthy, more turtles and whales than ever.. I mean coming down the side of Hook Island saw four mother whales and calves in one day. You see whales EVERY day.. Another day it was dead calm and all the turtles came up floating to sunbath, you could see them maybe every 3-400 metres sunbathing on a flat calm surface, they are healthy too.. No problems here in the last 5 years that I can see...

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this, my latest improvements to the Saba 50..

Steve, Helia 44 transition to the Saba 50, same sailing vessel just on steroids..