วีดีโอ

Hey guys. I see you are fellow Etappers too! I was really worried about doing the rudder bearing job beforehand, but it was actually quite easy and quick. Not sure if you watched the video before this one 'The Boat Projects Begin: Haul out and Rudder Removal', this one may be useful to you as we show how we removed the rudder in the slings. Basically once in the slings we removed the tiller from the rudder stock which was just one big bolt. Then we released the rudder stock from the rudderstock housing (the bit just underneath the tiller), again just one big bolt. The rudder stock is then free but you will probably need to bang it a few times or to give it a wiggle and it should just drop down. Have some chocks ready to put under the rudder so it doesn't bang on the floor and have someone at the bottom guiding the rudder down. (Yard staff will help with this and from our experience they were really knowledgeable about the process as they will have seen it done many times.) Also just make them aware that you are dropping the rudder in the slings before hand so they know it will take extra time. The whole process took us around 15 mins. Hope this is helpful, let us know if you need anything else.

​@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloatthanks for the response, I have seen your video, but wanted to check how it was actually attached as that wasn't captured. Pilling out later today so hopefully should go ok

Thanks Andy! 👍

Thanks Jack! 👍

Maybe something to think about when I do it, although some yards around here are funny about sandblasting. Something to bear in mind next haul out.

Great work addressing the issue with rusty keel, should work well enough to keep you sailing this year. Thanks for the video, enjoyed watching it.

Thanks Jonathan. Hope you are all good and everything ok with your boat.

We just have 2 red switches on the bulk head in the aft cabin. One for the engine battery and one for the domestics.

jep that's where I found them to. They were well hidden 😊

Thank you, hope you guys are all good and enjoying your adventure!

Yeah we are really pleased to have it done too, piece of mind it’s all done and I can’t believe how much more water we have out of our exhaust now the sail drive is cleaned out and that blockage around the sea cock removed.

I’ve got more local footage coming for you!! Yes it’s so good to trust the boat again. We had a lovely sail up to Blyth last week and stayed a couple of nights! Even though it’s not far it was so good to have a change of scenery. The dolphins were out and it was so nice to be sailing again! How are you both doing? You’ve done so well with how far you have got. Say hello to Captain Yewey for us. X

I think the engine may have been on the verge of getting too hot before. I can’t believe the difference it’s made to the water flow. We now have double the water coming out of the exhaust, it’s amazing! We also had steam before at high rpm which we no longer have, so feel really pleased with it now. Thanks for watching. 👍

Cheers for that and glad you found it useful.

Thanks for that and thanks for watching.

Haha....trust me I have! 🤣

@@theresnobodyhere5778 Sorry for the suspense, but the reveal is in next weeks video! 😜 It was a shocker though! 😱

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat its like a murder mystery i,m getting lieutenant Columbo onto it

Thanks for watching! ⛵

@@jussiryhanen7851 Thanks for watching. The kit cost £500 and it came with some pretty decent instructions too. We bought it direct from Volvo online

We got the rudder bearings from David Morris who is the UK Etap parts specialist (davidmorrisboats.co.uk/spare-parts) and the saildrive kit was direct from Volvo. I know some people who have had rudder bearings manufactured at a fraction of the price, but you never know how good they will fit so I preferred to pay for the proper ones. Hopefully I will never have to do it again. Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful.

Access to the top of the engine is a bit tight but that back access is a good design. Just noticed you do TH-cam as well, we will check out your videos. Nice to see another Etap! 🙂

Thanks so much and so glad you have managed to get up to Amble. We will definitely be calling up there this summer so will give you a shout! Sorry for the delay in replying, we have been away quite a bit in the last couple of week. Is everything going ok with Spellbound now?

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat Hey!! Sorry I missed the notification. Looking forward to more of your channel. It's a relief to get the engine sorted but there's always something to do. Just installing a diesle heater now, then we need to refurb our sprayhood somehow. Loving your channel!!

Thanks both of you and yes that was an eye watering price! Hope all is going well with your adventures! ⛵️

Have you had your Etap long, what projects are you doing? We got a lot more to come...next video will be out within the next week showing step by step how to replace the bearings.

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat Not very long, buy it in 2021, after that i planned a lot and do nothing ;-) Just today it is in my barn and i start today with rudder removal and Saildrive renovation. then comes the painting of the hull

They are great boats! Ours had previously been used for racing so had had a hard life and needed quite a bit of attention. We have some sail drive videos coming out soon which will show the process of removing and re-hauling it. Where about are you located?

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat Germany near to Bremen

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat Breitengrad : 53.066735 | Längengrad : 8.690751

Cheers, I think I was more stressed this time worrying if the rudder was going to come off ok too.

All gone good thanks, we got everything done in the yard we wanted, but now the on water jobs start…and there’s loads! 😂 Hope you guys are doing good and enjoying yourselves!

Hi David, I wonder if our aft cabin hatch was put in by one of the previous owners. I'm doing part 2 of the rudder bearing video next week and then we move onto the saildrive videos. I worked with James from Tyler marine on all the projects and feel like I've learnt loads and filmed as much as I can too. I feel really lucky as some contractors wouldn't have liked me working with them. Thanks for watching and hope you are managing to get out sailing!

Thanks for watching, our boat is an Etap 28i. A 28ft Belgian cruising yacht. ⛵️

There's a few around where we are now that need attention too. I agree they all need looking after as they are a great piece of our heritage.

Thanks Steve! We are back in the water now and moved back onboard. Now the on water jobs start! Got plenty more boatyard videos coming of all the work we have been doing! Hope you are both keeping well! x

@gavin_and_james_sailing glad you're both back on board. Looking forward to seeing more of the videos. The work you do fascinates me! We're both good thanks xx

Good to hear from you Anne and hope you are doing ok. Thank you, we are back in the water now and just moved back aboard...now the on water jobs start! We have loads of videos coming of what we got up to in the boat yard. Hope you are staying out of trouble! 🤣🤣 xx

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat glad to hear all is going well & will soon be ready to set sail again. Me? Trouble? Do this 2 words go together?….Hell Yeah-taking no prisoners 😉🤣🤣👍xx

Exactly...we didn't have much money to spend on the boat last year, as it was our first year living abaord, so it was just bare minimum. This year we are going crazy and getting everything done. 15 years of it been a race boat had taken its toll, but we are getting there now! 😁

Thank you, everything is going ok so far🤞….apart from the weather! 😂Hope you guys are ok and having fun.

It’s a big list of jobs this year, but all going well so far. Your right…it never stops! 😂

Thanks for watching Mike and yes it was so good to have lots of crew around! Would love to hear more about your Atlantic journey as we have a similar sized yacht to you. Do you have a blog or on socials?

Thanks guys and yes those Prawns were amazing! Can't beat locally caught sea food!

Thanks Keith, glad you enjoyed it. I loved looking around the boat too.

Hi Coleen, thanks for watching. We are all speaking English but there's a few different strong regional accents going on. I've got a Yorkshire accent and Colin the Skipper has a Geordie accent. (North East of England). When we arrived in the NE I struggled to understand the Geordies too.

@@GavinAndJames_LifeAfloat ...very cool. It's funny because you write perfectly. No problems with reading it.

A year on and we still love living aboard!

Thanks so much for this comment, its lovely to hear comments like this. We are working on our next video now which will hopefully be out in the next week or so.

It was one of the best Christmas Days we have had!

👍⛵

Thank you, we were lucky to see this. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. This is the guys who look after the Oysters in the North East of England. Wild-Oysters.org