After all the hassle during the build, it looked like the boat might be finished soon. Not so: the inverters caught fire! they had been incorrectly installed.They were eventually repaired and replaced. BB announced that the boat was finished, the boat was in it's usual grubby condition and was moored in a mud berth with hardly any warps or fenders correctly positioned. It appeared that this boat was abandoned by the builders and that nothing more was going to be done. The boat was taken; in the first 6 hours of use: the boom contacted the
bimini and destroyed 2
solar panels. This was despite a
kicker being fitted and the topping
lift being set up by BB with a
safety knot to prevent just this! Both engines stopped
charging, the
steering developed a 'knotch' which added to the concern. The 4 forward hatches all leaked the first time a wave came over the decks, wetting the bedding in the 2 forward cabins. The
anchor jumped in it's locator hitting the surround and causing local cracking and delaminating. The
cockpit drain funnelled
water from the bridge up to the
saloon door, this
water then ran inside the boat, wetting the
saloon floor. The
holding tank seal did not hold in the pitching (motoring into a force 5, moderate seas) and the contents were transferred to the bilge!! Finally, when moored up the inverter/chargers overheated!
The
kicker gave no support to the boom and has been returned to the manufacturer, Z Spars; Z Spars and BB response is "they don't advise fitting a kicker". The clearance over the
bimini is about 6" (150mm) the topping
lift is 10mm braid about 38metres in length; the obvious conclusion is that the topping lift stretched at least 6-8", this is denied by the
rope manufacturer.
The hatches (Gebo round) when installed have a tolerance of 1mm. I doubt that the
deck is true flat to within 1mm. However, when the boat pounds, the decks flex, the hatches flex and the water comes in through the
hatch seal! At present looking at replacing with
Bomar (BB fitted these to earlier 385's) as these have larger
seals and also 3 clamp handles(against Gebo's 2)
The boat will have to be lifted to check the
rudder bearings (and clean the mud from the mud berth).
Volvo engineers are to check the engines (they are assuming incorrect installation)
The bedding will probably have to be replaced, the
solar panels replaced, the
anchor bulkhead repaired and the
cockpit drain modified.Total cost approx Ł9000 and counting.
It does not sound like the advertising blurb does it!