Mahe 36: Original FP Mahe 36 Thread

[oranaman]

This is a very interesting amd informative thread about the Mahe which contains some very well thought out modifications which are freely shared with other owners - many thanks - some of which are relevant to other FP models. I have an Orana - which I maintain myself - there are quite a lot of similar parts and problems. We live in Sydney for the European winter and sail our boat in the Med in the summer, so our spares generally come from the UK. If you are thinking of commisioning a new FP in La Rochelle make sure you buy the parts elsewhere as the local marine shops are the most expensive I have seen in Europe. However La Rochelle is a very reasonable priced haul-out for a Cat. If you want to know more send me a PM.

If you are think of modifying the woodwork on the Mahe I came across this edging which is a 95% match for my boats woodwork - see photos. This is sold by a French DIY chain called Leroy Merlin (leroymerlin.fr/) we puchased ours in Spain so I am sure its widely available from their stores in France and Spain.

Due to the high cost of VP parts I have complied a list of replacement filters, the Perkins fuel filters are certainly relevant to the D1-20/30 engines. Most of these parts are only 30-40% of the VP parts in the UK. See the attachments for details.

[Wayward Wind]

Originally Posted by Jef & Marin, Netherlands

Wayward wind, we have had exactly the same problem. The tridata sensor (depth TSW and water temp) and the wind instrument are on NMEA 2000, autopilot and GPS are on NMEA0183. Inbetween them is a Simrad NMEA2000 / NMEA0183 conversion module. It is located behind the fridge in a big space, accessible from the starboard hull, just behind the bathroom door.
Jef

Guys

The Sydney Furuno tech has been on WW . . . and could not find the conversion module, not even behind the fridge. Does anyone know where else it could be?

He is now waiting for the sparkie who originally installed the instruments in La Rochelle to get back to him, but I am hoping someone here can beat him to it as things may get lost in translation . . .

Cheers!

JohnC

[Cotemar]

John C,

The Simrad NMEA2000 / NMEA0183 conversion module is a very small device. The yellow caps make it stand out.
It has to be connected and very close to the NMEA2000 network.

Can only be in four places.
1) Behind the fridge
2) Behind the gages at the helm
3) Behind the Furuno GPS display at the Nav station
4) Next to your Autopilot controller in your Port engine compartment on the port side is a large grey box.

Mark

[Cotemar]

JohnC,

Was down at the boat, so I took a picture of where the
Simrad NMEA2000 / NMEA0183 conversion module is on my boat.

Mark

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s,

Just added a Gas Spring to the Stern Locker.
It always wanted to close at the wrong time, so here is my solution.

Here are the parts you will need: (www.spdhardware.com)

GSSX-5200-20 Stainless Steel Gas Spring $51.13
BRX-1010 Stainless Steel Bracket $3.50
BS1005SS Stainless Steel Ball Stud $3.10

Takes about a ½ hour to install.

Mark

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s

The factory Cobra VHF radio was ok, but I wanted Weather Alerts and Hailing with Fog Horn.

I purchased a Uniden UM625C color online for $209 with shipping.
It has all the functions I was looking for including being able to use a wireless WHAMx4 remote.

The WHAMx4 wireless remote mimics all the features of the base unit anywhere on the boat and up to ½ mile away.
I order this from www.marinewholesales.com for $112.50

Mark

[Scott730]

Well I just got back from 2 months in the Exumas, hanging out with IrieCat. We had a great time and the boat performed very well. In fact on the return crossing to Florida we hit 11 knots and ran for over 2 hours at 10.5+ knots! What a great sailing day.
We hung out with a restored WWII PBY, swimming pigs and huge iguanas!
Can't wait to go back.

Scott

[Wayward Wind]

Scott

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to being there.

JohnC

[Wayward Wind]

Guys

Is anyone using a laptop as a chart plotter and for passage making on board the Mahe 36? If so, how have you set up the system? Do you link your laptop to the Furuno GPS at the nav station? Perhaps you use a USB GPS? How do you then transfer your route on to the helm plotter?

Cheers!

JohnC

[Cotemar]

JohnC,

I use a Dell Laptop with a USB GPS antenna and MapTech Offshore Navigator software.

Charts come from:
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/charts.htm


GPSBabel lets you move data such as Routes, Tracks and Waypoints between popular GPS systems such as those from Garmin, Magellan Raymarine or a large number of map programs
http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html

GPSBabel software allows me to take all my MapTech Offshore Navigator Routes and Waypoints and bring them into my Garmin 5208 touch screen at the helm.

Mark

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s,

Here is the start of one of my big projects for the year, which is adding Solar Panels
The plan is to add 2 panels at 230 watts each for a 460 total wattage

May put both on the davits or one on davit and one on port bimini top

I purchased these SunPower 230watt panels $948 each shipped, Tax free in Connecticut
33lbs each 31 inches X 61 inches X 1.8 inch
18.5% efficiency
www.Munroelectric.com
http://www.munroelectric.com/silvereclipse/index.jsp?path=solar_products&prev=solar&altLM=sol ar

Purchased these SunPower panels because they are the most efficient, lightest and smallest for the power output.

Here is another website to get solar panels pretty cheap:
http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Hi all,
For a long time I have known that our Mahe nr 88 has a very large compass deviation between Furuno electric compass and the Plastimo compass. And that the deviation is caused by the Plastimo compass.
Last year I have made a deviation table, showing the Plastimo compass to have a deviation as follows:
+17 / -17 degrees deviation referenced to the Furuno electrical compass
+14 / -15 degrees deviation referenced to a high-quality hand compass.
See attached picture of the deviation table.

I have now found a very large source of deviation. This is the galvanized steel back plate of the steering wheel cable drive.
See attached picture.

Removal of the back plate changed the Plastimo compass course with about 7-8 degrees, from 248 to 241 degrees (this is the orientation of our winter berth). The deviation table shows 6 degrees deviation at 240 degrees. This means that probably a large part of the deviation can be explained by this back plate.
Another error might be caused by the galvanized steel end piece of the steering cable, with which the black cable is connected to the steering wheel construction (see the picture). I will try to use a demagnetizer on that piece, if necessary. Probably this is not necessary, since it is much smaller and farther away from the compass.

I intend to replace the galvanized steel back plate with a 316L stainless steel, laser cut plate, still to be produced.

Checking this is quite easy: just watch the compass turning when you remove the back plate.
Jef

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Hi all, yesterday we have modified the port forward bed to improve comfort and ventilation; as we have done on both rear beds already.
First you remove the matrasses and the 2-piece multiplex board under it. Then we mounted a slatten floor from Ikea, model Sultan Lillaker of 200 * 140 cm. Cost 49.95 Euro. On top of this went a matrass protector, special offer 13.95.
Since you remove the multiplex board and replace it with the slatten floor, the weight will actually go down!
See attached pictures.

Because the inside of the hull has quite a large angle, we had to adapt the shape of the wooden battens where they go inside the rubber end strip. This prevents to much torsion of the rubber end strip by the batten going in with the wrong angle.
At the outer side of the hull this was not necessary.

Jef

[Scott730]

Jef
I adjusted my Plastimo compass to compensate for the deviation, I am now within a degree or 2 of the Furuno compass. There are 2 wheels on the back of my compass for adjustment.
As it relates to the beds, I just added a 3 inch memory foam topper to the factory mattresses, What a difference it has made, I actually told my wife that I love sleeping on the boat now.

Scott

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Hi all,
We have now mounted all the LED interior lights which Mark (Cotemar) had kindly sent us from the US to Europe. See his post on this of some months ago. They are as bright as the 10 W halogens, the color is OK, but slightly greenish which is a lot better than blueish.
A friend has pointed me to a European supplier of comparable lights:
roh-tec
His experiences are good: the leds give good light, good color, service is fast, price is OK. They have a broader range of models than Ledwholesalers.com.
Put G4 in the search box.
I will order some light fixtures there for under the beds, and to replace the lights in the engine room and head. I want to replace the one in the head because the light tube suffers from many off-and on-switches. And the ones in the engine rooms because they don't work well with humidity plus low temperature, sometimes they don't start. Plus the leds are more durable, and use less power. (the head light is 11 W)
Jef