450: Just signed on a new 450s!

[rspott]

Originally Posted by Yatt

"Rich peoples problems!"


Are all issues regarding catamarans "rich people problems"?

Sometimes. Sometimes not. It all depends on the definition of rich person I guess.


¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[davedindubai]

Originally Posted by atoll

Rich peoples problems!
just pay a rigger to do the job and get them to inspect the rest of the rig, whilst they are about it,it will save you money in the long run from chewed up halyards and other issues they might find.

This is my advice for all new buyers. YCS did our rigging and absolutely no issues, we had great service from them, totally recommend. However, their business is taking the boat from Lagoon and getting it in the water. The more boats they do, the more money they make, fair enough! All the commissioning companies in LSO are the same.

Get onto Don as said above for new sheaves and a couple of bow rollers as spares and get them fitted once you have your boat.

Atoll, how do you turn a billionaire into a millionaire? buy a superyacht.

[Ian-450s]

Hi Dave and everyone.


We have taken online shopping during Covid lockdown (Melbourne, Australia) to the next level and placed an order for a new 450's. Delivery is due in July 2021. I see that Susan Ann II is now on the market, so we have joined the club just as Dave is leaving it. I hope it's not to late to ask a few questions though...


1) Dave, did you have any trouble getting your genset installed after market?* Lagoons price is almost double the normal list price but i'm worried it will be hard to get a genset installed once in the water. The Onan 4KW weighs 166kg and it needs to go in a tight spot...


2) Was all the ducting or wire harnesses installed ready for the genset to be dropped in?


3) What was the deal with the mast head light. Do Lagoon not provide a tricolour at all or is simply too bright as sailingforfun points out?* I ask this because getting the commissioning team at Sailing Atlantic Services to install a mast head light may take some negotiations. Should this be a priority?


4) Finally... Are the local*chandleries in La Sables d'Olonne overpriced? Can you recommend any good online*chandleries?**www.svb24.com was recommended in this thread. Can anyone recommend any others?


Many thanks,

Ian & Jackie.

[vdavena]

Hello Ian and Jackie!

Congrats, Just in case Dave can't reply, I figured i'd add my .02. We just picked up a new 450s about 20 days ago from La Sables! Actually, had it shipped to Plymouth as France was off limits to us due to Covid.

Anyway, I do have a few answers as we added the Code-0, Genset, AC and a few other items after market via Robin Marine. We used our broker to manage the transaction (he called it X Factory), so we bypassed the typical Lagoon delivery process, went directly from Yacht Care Services, to Robin Marine and aside from a bit of Fit and Finish effort, the boat is in great shape.

I added a surveyor to monitor the work, he sent me lots of photo's, and only found one Cotter Pin was missing.

We have since sailed from Plymouth to Gibraltar where we are enjoying some light fitting (mostly storage organization, a bit of stainless work, and for our engine warranty/maintenance + spares) and find Gibraltar to be fine for provisioning but not nearly as much so as England. I would also say that England opposed to France offered much better supply provisioning.

To accomplished this juggling I worked with a local Chandlery called Oceano Sports for most everything from a proper Life raft, EPIRB, Life Jackets (DON'T PAY FOR THE LAGOON PACKAGE ITS TERRIBLE), extra water jugs, dock lines, bumpers/fenders, pots, pans, binoculars/specs, hand held GPS etc. This process was difficult, they replied to emails very slowly, but they did end up delivering most everything as they said they would.

I then outfitted properly in England with a van-load of supplies, I used Amazon for 75% and bought everything else locally. I think the savings was worth the trip across the Channel, but you do have to be aware that leaving any later than August/Mid-August can be rough going.

Feel free to message me any questions, I must say the boat was fantastic, handled big seas, light seas and everything in between quite well.

Best of Luck

Vinny

[Yatt]

Hello Jackie and Ian,
Congratulations! You got one of the best Lagoon boats ever.

Regarding the generator: I have switched everything to Lithium in Les Sables and add a 6kW ONAN 6MDKBJ genset - all was installed by Robin Marine, which is next door to SAS, and cost around 15.000 Euros +VAT. The generator is only a backup and we have used it only for three hour in the last three months.

If you can wait with electrical works, go to Cascais, Porto or Gibraltar where labour costs are a fraction of this in France. For example Robin Marine quoted around 900 Euros for a Hella Triccoulor lamp, the same work was done in Porto for 400.
Robin Marine is good(even if we had a lot of problems and failures with our alternators), but Dave and Dylan in Gibraltar are better.They did all the repairs and additional Solar Installations and works which Robin Marine was not able to do. Daveindubai has mentioned them in this thread.

Gibraltar is also the place for stainless (INOX) works and for adding solar.

Oceano Sports in Les Sables is great, Colum is an young Scotsman, who speaks fluent french and english and can order everything. Prices are ok, much less than SVB24.COM
But he need time to answer Emails - this is true :-)

We also have changed the layout of our galley in Les Sables and did some Flexiteak works. For this, Les Sables is the perfect place.

Good luck!

[Ian-450s]

Thanks for your replies Vinny and Yatt.

We plan to spend a good amount of our first season working our way down the West coast and will winter in Gibraltar. For this reason, I suspect we will need to get most of our electricals done early on. Most probably in Les Sables.*

I have an extensive quote from Robin Marine and while I like the idea of having one contractor do all the work, I get the feeling they are taking me for a ride. For example, Robin Marine have quoted €16800 +VAT to install the 6KW Onan (2000 more than Yatt). They have also quoted €6800 to install the Victron Quattro 5KW with Colour Controller. I’m happy to pay a little more for convenience, but I can’t help but feel a little exposed here.

I’m still a little confused about the need to install a Tricolour on the 450. My dealer tells me that the boat comes with anchor and nav lights. Are they not sufficient?*

Many thanks,
Ian.

[jbinbi]

6800 for inverter? Does that include the inverter? At 100/hr for labor, that is 68 hrs.

[Integra]

Hi Ian,
We had our 5KW Quattro fitted to our 450F in Gibraltar by Dave Campbell from Electrical Marine Services in 2018 and it took about a week, but we were wiring up six solar panels too which was very time consuming. Two years ago Dave was charging £250 per day per person.
There are three reasons for installing the Tricolour - first of all some people find the lights on the bow too bright (they will reflect of your genoa), which makes it harder to see what's ahead of you at night.
Secondly, as a backup if your nav lights fail. This is a requirement for some organisations such as World Cruising Club, so if you plan to do the ARC, you'll need the Tricolour.
Thirdly the visibility of your nav lights are better on the top of the mast, so we rarely use the lights on our bow now.
We replaced our anchor light with a tricolour that has a light sensor for the anchor light - it just means we don't have to worry about turning the anchor light on and off when we're at anchor for a long period, and know the light will come on if we don't get back to the boat before dark.

[Ian-450s]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

6800 for inverter? Does that include the inverter? At 100/hr for labor, that is 68 hrs.

Yes, includes....
*€3400 Quattro 12/5000
*€500 Colour Ctr
*€1300 in cable, fuses and misc parts
*€1600 in labour

[Ian-450s]

Thanks for your reply Integra.

Originally Posted by Integra

Hi Ian,
We had our 5KW Quattro fitted to our 450F in Gibraltar by Dave Campbell from Electrical Marine Services in 2018 and it took about a week, but we were wiring up six solar panels too which was very time consuming. Two years ago Dave was charging £250 per day per person.

I have an additional quote for the solar install. I really think Robin Marine are pulling my pants down. How many hours do you think are involved in installing the inverter alone?

There are three reasons for installing the Tricolour - first of all some people find the lights on the bow too bright (they will reflect of your genoa), which makes it harder to see what's ahead of you at night.
Secondly, as a backup if your nav lights fail. This is a requirement for some organisations such as World Cruising Club, so if you plan to do the ARC, you'll need the Tricolour.

Ahhhh.... I understand now. That makes complete sense.

Thirdly the visibility of your nav lights are better on the top of the mast, so we rarely use the lights on our bow now.
We replaced our anchor light with a tricolour that has a light sensor for the anchor light - it just means we don't have to worry about turning the anchor light on and off when we're at anchor for a long period, and know the light will come on if we don't get back to the boat before dark.

With a light sensor... Pure genius... That's going on my must have list.

Thanks so much Integra.
Ian.