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| 10:00 today: 06 33n, 99 00e. 98 nm to go. |
06 33N 99 00 E
140 nm in 24 hours, 98 nm to go to Yacht Haven, Phuket. TTG: 16 hours. I expect they'll anchor tonite, somewhere off East Phuket, not go into Yacht Haven till tomorrow morning; tides are an issue there, and Xena can only make it safely in at low tide.*************
From Grant (20/11):My position is: Sunday 20th Nov 10:00
04 29N. 100 09E
just South of Penang.
....
Grant
*************
They've done 150nm since yesterday and 220 nm to go to Phuket, so ETA sometime tonite.
All well.
Only thing is... the $#@&ng autopilot has gone on the blink again. If you're thinking of buying Raymarine equipment, speak to me first!
Grant's been in touch with the Raymarine people in Phuket, and we hope we can work out a once and for all fix, as we've had problems with the unit over and over.....
More in the comments, if you're interested...
Grant email to Raymarine reps in Phuket (OctopusAsia):
ReplyDeleteHi Mick
Grant here..Delivery Skipper of 55 XYacht "Xena" out of Hong Kong.
You will remember last Kings Cup..Auto Pilot Unit failed.
Jefa Steering Serial No. DU 5280.
(please refer your Invoice)
Same has happened again.
Owners will not be pleased.
How do we fix permanently?
Is this Unit too small for "Xena?
Is never used in waves nor wind .. only when sea is smooth.
Why is Failing?
My position is: Sunday 20th Nov 10:00
04 29N
100 09E
just South of Penang.
Will phone you when arrive at Ao Chalong Phuket.
Look to repair before return delivery to H.K. after Kings Cup.
Cheers Grant
From Klaus:
ReplyDeleteHi Peter,
have been reading the Xena blog from time to time and noticed the repeating issue with the autopilot drive. Not knowing what Grant’s particular problem was, I can only comment from our experience.
The drive unit is eating up carbon brushes like crazy; the dust of the brushes blocks the small compartment in which they sit and in the end you don’t get any contact (drive power) at all; Guilty cleaned the compartment (unfortunately you have to take the whole unit out as you can only reach into 1 of the 2 slot when the drive is fixed), found the brushes worn down to next to nothing after 1,400 miles Sea distance (first day of our return journey), but not even 30-40% of it under autopilot, but when worn brushes went into cleaned slot they operated all the way to Hong Kong on our return trip.
Reasons why this is happening in my opinion:
- type of carbon brushes too soft
- drive unit is designed undersized
- carbon dust has no place to escape, and then clogs up the tiny slot
Hope this bit of info helps.
Good Luck for the King’s Cup
cheers
Klaus