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Thank you Claude. This year I am using a proper ascender. So up on the topping lift (replaced with Dynema) and ascender on the spinnaker halyard. It is so much quicker!

Thanks for your comment Jeff. TK Marine is the brand I bought locally, but there are many of them around the chandleries. Just a white marine grease. Flexofold don't mention use of grease, and in reality it is not strictly necessary, but they have commented (favourably) some time back on this video, and were not averse to my using the white grease - it certainly doesn't hurt!

Cannot disagree with you Thomas. Many come on a tour, spend a morning or an afternoon in Venice, and are gone. Hopefully, the 'taste' brings those who appreciate the amazing history and culture back sometime to spend longer. Then there is that dichotomy of tourists vs income. Venice has come to rely on tourism, but when you see some of the results of this .... We try hard not to be 'tourists', but of course we are. Venice and its people deserve great respect. We hope to return for longer and longer.

Hi, The grease is to minimise any chance off galling between the nut and the stainless steel shaft, and also to minimise any chance of corrosion between the nut and the shaft making removal difficult - or worse ...... The nut is retained by the retention tabs you see me bend up around the nut after torquing it down really tight. As a note on this, the minimised friction between nut and threads also means the torquing down process is more efficient. If you take a torque wrench and torque with a totally dry nut and thread, the pressure between the nut face and the prop hub will be less at the same torque due to friction, than if the threads were lubricated. This is usually a somewhat academic point, but in extremes, it can be significant. I hope that helps.

Glad you found it useful - thanks for taking the time to comment Michael

Thank you Helen - appreciate your feedback. The production of this video has dragged on, and on. Will try to get the next episode up much sooner!

Surprised at that. We find them very communicative, and as for installation, well it is very simple as you see. I would have to question the competence of a professional who had issues with installation - unless there is an agenda ..... On another note, Flexofold was brought under the Yanmar group a little while ago now - another affirmation of their standing. Anyway, I find the efficiency, simplicity (lack of seals etc) and quality to be very positive aspects. We did not ask for a Flexofold, but are very glad the commissioning yard chose the brand. I hope you get this issue sorted for your boat Ron

i had the same problem with kiwi feathering prop. had a nightmare dealing with them. ordered a prop and the distributor was the rudest man in the world (just propellers) it took ages to arrive and couldn't get any info on its arrival time. i simply asked when he might think it would arrive (boat was on the hard waiting for the prop) he abused me for asking that simple question. i immediately sourced a prop from some where else and asked for a refund for my deposit i had made. no skin off his nose. he refuse to return the $900 deposit. had to take him to court. i won. hes still an ahole. now i have a gori. waaaaaay better than a crappy cheap kiwi prop. it has over drive and full thrust in reverse. havent looked back.

Thank you for the comment Brian. We are a very small channel, but part of the plan is to have more 'Boat Tech' videos on here. Things are changing in our lives, and we plan on soon having more time for the channel, and more for sailing :). So regarding electrical contact (electronics/electrical is my background), as long as the anode is in close proximity to the metal being protected AND in electrical contact with that metal, it will do its job. Obviously it is in close proximity, but electrical contact or connection is the question. The points where that connection occurs are the mounting screws. Essentially the alloy of the saildrive is bare in those threaded holes, and the mounting screws therefore provide the electrical link from the saildrive to the anode. It is not a requirement for the face of the anode to be in electrical contact with the mounting area of the saildrive. In theory, you could connect a wire from the saildrive to the anode, and suspend the anode a few centimetres below the saildrive for a similar level of protection. With that electrical cell of saildrive, through the wire (or mounting screws normally) to the anode, there is protection. I hope that answers your question as you hoped, but do subscribe so that you will receive alerts when further vids go up (including a fully one of dismantling the prop and replacing the seals in the saildrive). David

It was a very special day - payment for the weeks in the yard getting ready :).

Sorry I did not get back to you earlier - just saw your message. Yes, I noted that also re the official procedure. Certainly you need the grease on the splines, but as for the gears that control the folding blades I have always used grease there, and never had an issue with any contamination. If I ever get a chance I will run this past Flexofold, but when they commented on my video (very positively) a little after it went live, there was no mention regarding my use of grease. When we lift, there is just that residual film there on the interlocking teeth, and to me, that has got to be better than just water. Probably the answer (in light of no adverse comment from Flexofold) is that it's not necessary, but does no harm.

@@SailingSharingLife Much appreciated for your response ... I'm about to put my yacht back in the water and think I'll definitely grease the gears as by the sounds of it - it can't hurt !! (as compared to the 200m's plus of nylon fishing line I found wrapped around the spacer so tightly I hat to cut it off - ugh!)

@@StormchaserIB Fishing line - Hmm. Really nasty when it gets to the seal.

Thank you for your feedback. Next time we will do a new video showing the disassembly of the Flexofold, but to answer your question in the meantime, the pins are very easy to remove. Basically it is the reverse of the assembly process. Once the locking screws are removed, a pin-punch is used to gently tap the pins out, one by one.

Thank you Helen - your feedback makes it all worthwhile :).

Thanks for the feedback Stephen - much appreciated! We will have more 'boat tech' videos in future - just need to edit the raw footage, so if you would like to subscribe, you will see when they are up.

Glad you liked it Tiago. Decathalon is amazing! We have a lot more sailing coming up this season, but next episode is getting back to the boat, then we have a bit of life around Venice - including the Biennale. Thanks for your subscription too - much appreciated!

Glad you liked it :).

Thank you Helen. Glad you liked it.

Thanks Gui. I intend doing a lot more 'Boat Tech' videos - just need to find the time to edit the footage :).

Yes, it's a great sound :).

It was sad to see Mostyn. Thank you for subscribing too - appreciated, and hope you enjoy what's to follow.

Thanks for the interest Nes. The ropes are Dyneema ® "With you when it matters. Dyneema ®, the world's strongest fiber™, is respected as the premium brand for Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMwPE)". Hope you liked the video. Please subscribe if want to see more.

Thank you for your feedback Amy - much appreciated. This is all very new to us, so trying to get to 100 subscribers so we can have our own URL. Spread the word if you can please. As to what is on the bottom, it's Coppercoat. Made in the UK. Basically a water-based two-pack epoxy with 2kg of spherical copper powder mixed into each litre. Supposedly after 8-10 years or so, you need to burnish it to scuff off the old resin, and expose fresh copper for another 8-10 years. This is our eight season, and so far we have not had to. Just a bit of slime each year, also last year we picked up some tubeworm. Had to scrape that off, but nothing this year (we are a good several weeks behind in the vids - nothing unusual there apparently ….). More coming in the next day or so I hope.