Ocean Yachts Motor Yacht

Picture from today. You can see the 2 spots on the keel being worked on.

I will investigate that, thanks.

I'm recently back from 10 days working on the boat and moving it up to Jacksonville. Fixed some things, found more things to fix, learned some things, plus made a few "Operator Errors".

-I will be changing the fuel filters to Racors at the end of the season. Changing the Dahl filters a not as easy as the Racors on my previous boat https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/2016-cutwater-c28-luxury-edition.34264/.

-Seems like the blocking at Cracker Boy could have caused some issues; The port side door doesn't lock anymore and the port shaft developed a pretty good wobble. The wobble did lessen after the first day, which is in line (no pun intended) with what I've read about not aligning the until shafts after 24 in the water from launching.

-The port rudder log leaked a little when the boat launched from Cracker Boy, and the was a terrible rattle on the port side prop whenever we went over 1500 rpm. The boat was hauled Thursday at Lamb's Yacht Center in Jacksonville, and the rudders were pulled out yesterday for re-bedding and re-packing. They did take it on a sea trial prior and heard the same rattle and thought it might be something with the running gear, but found nothing yesterday.

-They are also fixing the rudder linkage that has a lot of play plus was wearing on the rudder platform on the starboard side.
They also pulled the fuel pump on the Westerbeke 11BTD generator and are replacing it with a rebuilt one. It developed a serious fuel leak before we left Palm Beach.

-Operator Error; Going into St Augustine after 10 hours underway, and the first 4 in dense fog, I forgot to turn off the auto pilot. That made docking in the dark with a strong current very interesting because the rudder was turned all the way to one side.

-I didn't mention that Stabilized Marine replace the hydraulic cylinders with rebuilt larger ones. When we launched from cracker Boy and got out of the channel and up to speed, one of the hoses blew, and the engine room filled with smoke. We had the engine room door open so the smoke detector in the mid cabin went off which was a good thing. When I get the boat home I will have to pull all the batteries out to clean up the rest of the oil.

-I'm going back down next week to do more work and move it up to Charleston SC. I had the rest of the stabilizer lines made, and I will be installing them.

Oh boy, so much to learn! Thanks for the replies. I'm not blaming the yard, it just seems to be a problem with these boats. It has been more of a project boat than I wanted (or expected after the survey), but I do own a yacht, so I'm not complaining. I was told the props were tight and no issues found on the running gear. I will ask them to sea trial it again after the repairs.

When we pulled into Lamb's Yacht Center there was another 48 Ocean Yachts MY (1989) owner waiting for us, they had told him I was coming. He bought his 4 years ago with only 25 hours on the engines! He has given me some goods tips already and also mentioned issues with being hauled and blocking.

I was just researching an affordable place to leave the boat in Charleston for 4 weeks. It seems the 2 most affordable are Cooper River Marina and Charleston Maritime Center, both City owned and 40% to 50% less than the "Chain" marinas. I won't be on the boat, so convenience and amenities are less important than price. I will call them tomorrow.

I booked Coopers River Marina, thanks.

We made it to Charleston SC/Cooper River Marina about 5:20 pm on Sunday. Nobody around as they leave at 5 during "Winter" season. I pulled in looked at the available slips then spun around and docked at the Day Dock/Pump Out Dock. It was uneventful despite the high winds over 15 knots. The next day they recommended waiting until 4 pm for the best window to move to our slip. Then there was 3 dock hands to help pull into a corner in front of a catamaran. No problem even though they was still a lot of wind and current. Earlier in the day there were some serious rip currents running right there with bubbling water. Coming into Charleston Harbor I had planed to stop for fuel at the Charleston Harbor Marina but the winds were near 20 knots, and while maneuvering to go in, the port engine stalled (but restarted) so I decided to abort that plan!

The trip from Lamb's Yacht Center up to Charleston SC had some break downs. Getting ready to leave on Friday the starboard alternator filled the engine room with smoke. I shutdown the engine, but because the alternator is directly tied to the battery, a small flame started to grow inside the alternator. I was very happy that the previous owner installed battery cut-off switches 2 years ago. This was about 1 pm on Friday.

Well there is this guy Lewis, Lewis Starter and Alternator, in Jacksonville (904-764-0727). You drive down a dead end road, then across the grass, to an old shipping container next to a shack, with a tin roof between them. He tells me he can rebuild it in 2 hours; This just like the first one my daddy taught me on"! Less than 2 hours later he brings the rebuilt and repainted alternator to Lamb's for $250 cash. I put in in and we head out at 5 pm up the river.

You can't make this stuff up.

Friday night we spent the night at the free dock on Sisters Creek near the entrance to Jacksonville Inlet. We got lucky again as now it was 7 pm and winds were picking up. There was one spot open, on the end, and a kid fishing the end of the pier who we threw the lines to! We started the generator with plans to bake a pizza in the oven, but no power at the oven? I only mention this because 2 days later I learned from another 48-OY owner Tom, that there is an "Interlock Switch". The cover over the stove top folds into a type of a hood and there is a micro switch that cuts all power to the unit unless it's in the up & folded position. Good to know. Yeah, it's a learning curve alright.

Saturday morning was calm and we headed out at 7:15 with about 100 miles to get to Hilton Head Island. Once into the channel the fog was unbelievable. Going against the current we were doing a slow 2 knots which was safer. The AIS and radar worked great, and was hailed by a tug when I crossed the channel. It took almost 90 minutes to get from the free dock to outside of the inlet. The fog lasted a total of 6 hours that day, unbelievable!

We made it to Harbor Town Marina about 5:30, fueled up and got into our slip. The shore power cord is on the starboard, which means running it up over the fly-bridge (I need a better system). After all that the GFI breaker was a no-go with us. That was the 2nd night on the generator, and then a 3rd at the day dock in Cooper River Marina which had no power.

The next morning at 7 am the port engine wouldn't turn over. It's helpful to have another engine to troubleshoot problems. Long story short, there is a pressure switch on the fuel filter that has an only purpose of preventing the starter from engaging while the motor is running. We bypassed it and headed out at 11 am. By then the fog was gone but the wind and seas were picking up.

As it's been said many times before, the calendar and a schedule is a bad thing on a boat.

There is absolutely nothing around Cooper River Marina other than cargo ships and docks. It was part of a Naval base and it was a "Degaussing" dock which the county parks & recreation took over and added docks. Things might be a little different in a year as there is a brand new mega shipping terminal opening next month. There is dedicated exit ramp from the highway to the marina being built which at least will make it possible to Uber, which would be very difficult now as they might never find you. The guys at the marina are all very helpful, and they even gave us a ride to the airport. Only dock at slack tide.

We had Captain Rupert Forester-Bennett help bring the boat from Charleston SC to Quincy MA. Basically (4) 20-22 hour runs, leaving between 10 am to 2 pm and arriving the next morning at a fuel dock. We stayed at Cobb's Marina in Norfolk VA for 24 hours because of some weather. Pretty cool marina docked across a boat ramp from the Navy's biggest amphibious base on the east coast, where the Navy Seals train along with the coast guard and other services. As we docked we watched 10-12 Navy men take turns ramming a jet thrust boat onto a boat trailer. Pulling into the marina you have to stay close to the starboard shore or the gun boat will let you know where you are not allowed. Rupert was friends with the retired base commander, so taking the weather break there allowed us to meet and have lunch with him. The other bonus was that Rupert was a former chef, and provisioned/cooked all our meals for $15/day a per head!

I admit the first night was hard. It was very windy and rolly out of Charlotte, and didn't calm down until about 2 am. Not how I imagined my first overnighter. After fueling the next morning in Beaufort NC, we headed out at 11 am, but I immediately heard a high pitch whine and thumping. The dock master Lee and his crew were very accommodating and gave me a number for a mechanic and a diver. The mechanic recommended the same diver, Rose Diver (John 252-241-9038). It was my 3rd diver in 3 months! But this guy was awesome. Not only was he very thorough, and knowledgeable, he video taped it (link https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSwaWchcm92e-Rjfc_OgVdTtP5MWUvCfm ). Turns out the shaft anodes put on in Riviera Beach weren't installed correctly and were loose. Apparently you have to bang them with a hammer so it forms completely around the shaft and doesn't just tighten (pinch) at the bolts. New zincs on and headed out at 2 pm!

It would have been nice if that turned out to be the rattling on the running gear/stern over 1600 rpm that nobody has been able to figure out, but it's still there. We ended up running at 1500 rpm anyway because that timed us for the morning fuel up.

Maybe with it's nearly flat/little deadrise transom and the extreme windage of the enclosed fly bridge, the boat wasn't very sea worthy. Crossing New York Harbor with a 20 knot wind on our beam and just 3 foot waves, there was one roll I didn't think we were going to recover from.

Charleston to Boston 873 NM, 1442 gal, .6 nmpg or 1.65 gal/mile, 1500 rpm most of the way.