Ambrym was built in 1978 , and when we bought her, although in pretty good condition, we knew she was going to need some care!
The previous owner had her for about 35 years, and they put a lot of love and money into her, she was very well taken care of. Main engine and teak deck had been replaced in recent years, and they installed a lot of upgrades, mainly to make her easier to sail: roller furling systems (that means that the sails roll around a pole instead of having to be pulled up and down), electric winches, electric toilet...
We knew from the beginning that some things were aged and we would have to work on them. We also wanted to add some features: hot water system (only cold showers when we arrived!), solar panels...
So we made out numbers and our planning... and then, oh well, life happens! We moved to Greece in July, and right from the beginning, we found some things not working as we expected, or just breaking down!! Some things had just reached the end of their life and others they just decided to give us a very cold welcome.
Luckily most of the repairs we had to face didn't mean a lot of money, just time and frustration. We had the time, the skills, and a lot of tools, some friends came to help and we learned a lot through the process. But we definitely spent more time than we wanted working onboard.
We will write a series of posts detailing the works, so they don't get extremely long :)
We hope you find them entertaining and maybe we can help someone with them.
- Starting onboard. So many surprises!
- Wind sensor
- VHF not working
- Battery charger and electrics
- Outboard motor not running-damaged gasket
- And things started to break!
- Why is the windlass not working?
- Bilges so full
- Fuel tank leak
- Boom support failure
- Fuel sensor
- Toilet: sensor, air vent, pipes...
- Upgrades to make her our home
- Hot water system
- Cosmetic repairs
- Sanding the binnacle and doors
- USB plugs and LED lights
- Preparing for the winter
- Winter cover repair
- Hull cleaning and painting
- Anodes replacement
- Deck teak clean and oil
- Future projects for the next weeks/months:
- Battery upgrade / replacement
- Solar - let's get self-sufficient
- Wind generator
Stay tuned!!
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