Esper Refit 53-55 - launch day - drone footage; Dripless seal issues
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ม.ค. 2025
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Finally, after one year and one month, Esper launches from PSS Shipyard in Satun, Thailand.
It wasn't without its problems, however. We had issues with the depth sounder, the dripless seal and actually leaving the yard. All is revealed in this final update from the yard (don't worry, there are plenty more clips to come from our time at sea).
This is to accompany a blog post on www.followtheboat.com
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Music at the end of the clip is Thanjai Selvi - Jilla Vittu, from the Tamil film, Easan.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching that series....again......better than the telly!
Glad you enjoyed it, Mark 👍
Wow, I can only imagine the conflicting emotions of finally getting clear of the yard. It has been a fascinating journey watching the refit from afar and you have managed to convey an entertaining and interesting video blog throughout. You had a great boat to start with but with your investment you now have a super boat that will stand you in great stead for your life and journeys afloat. Shakedown after a refit is never as straightforward as the landlubber imagines but at least you have avoided the need to be immediately hauled back out which is a great sign of the quality work. I am sure you still have quite a snagging list, not least getting all the electronics established and communicating in an integrated way. A few people wonder about the cost but it is a fraction of what you would have needed to outfit a new oyster to your standard - and it is tailor made to meet your needs. Well done all round and thank you for allowing us to share the experience.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Norman. You sum it all up pretty well. Yes, there is a snagging list and although we've spent the last few days at anchor doing nothing, tmr we begin attending to all those extra jobs. Thanks for watching.
This is one seriously excellent video- how you guys seem to remain calm is beyond me...
Although, I have been following you last couple months and I though the launch day would never come and you are stuck there forever. But here it is you are in the water again, enjoy your new (refurbished) home, best luck with everything, HAPPY SAILING!!
Thanks, Taner. Yep, it took a while but all worth it in the end.
@mike k - I can't seem to answer your comment directly on my tablet, but wanted to thank you for your kind words. Great to know you enjoy the clips.
Just "found" you on you tube. went to all the refits films in just two nights. Very good filming and love your British humor. Hope to see much more of your adventures!
She looks absolutely stunning. A credit to every one involved. Thanks for the refit journey and can't wait to see her in action.
Thanks so very much for taking me along on that adventure, can't wait to see where we go next...
Jamie / Liz
We have watched this entire process over the last two days and wow what a great journey with some amazing tradesmen & tradeswoman working on Esper.
It really does look like the PSS workers became family members.
Thank you both for sharing this refit with us 👍🏼
Gav, Hannah, Liam & Kyle xx
SV Compromise
[Liz] Wow, one year in two days, that takes some dedication! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And yes, many of those people are still our friends. Lovely place. Peace and fair winds!
The last song is a Hit Tamil- Movie song......Happy to hear it....Video is nicely compiled ,and edited....
+VINOD MATHEW A [Liz] We spent three years on the boat in Cochin, and visited Tamil Nadu many times. What a fantastic part of the world - still miss it! The music was a big part of our time there, I guess it settled into our subconsciousnesses. Peace and fair winds!
'Jilla Vittu' from the film Easan. We used it as our podcast theme and discovered the track whilst in a small nightclub in Madurai. After all these years I only this week looked up the lyrics. It's a very sad song but boy is it powerful. It's one of my favourite tunes of all time.
So heartening that you have vivid memories of your stay in my country.....yes its a movie folk song with a sad but factual lyrics of the state of many a woman and their hardship in their journey of life.....Thanks ..LIZ & JAMIE......
+VINOD MATHEW A [Liz] We looked up a translation of the lyrics on Google after reading your comment, and got the gist of the song's meaning. Yes, from what we learned during our three year stay in India, it seems a true reflection of the lot of many women. Peace and fair winds!
Thank You for sharing the Re-Fit of Esper. Amazing journey look forward to your cruising adventures ahead.
Our pleasure. We look forward to putting more episodes together, we love doing them.
Great series on the upgrades and refit! I look forward to more videos and following along on your adventures.
Hi Wolfgang Greystoke, great to know you're enjoying the clips. There will be more to come shortly...
Hello Both, I have enjoyed all of your short videos very much of both lovely sailings and the huge yard work- and all the updates on Esper. Happy sailing, "Sjöbjörn" ( Seabear), Sture Larsson , Gotheburg, Sweden.
Hey +sture larsson. Thanks for the great feedback, it's appreciated.
Finally back on the water, congratulations! It truly has been a treat to follow you guys on your refit and I thank you for sharing all the work and the insights into life in a Thai boatyard. I will look forward to all your future updates and followups. Best of luck!
Thanks, Renny. You've been with us from the start so we're happy you've enjoyed the clips. Should be more to follow in due course but we're taking a little rest for the moment ;)
Well it took me three days to view them BUT what an amazing set of videos, I learned so much from watching them. Unreal, keep up the great work and have a great adventure.
Thanks, +mikeyc181. It's always nice to read positive feedback. Hope you continue to be entertained by our episodes. Fair winds!
What a beautiful job they did on your boat. Looking forward to seeing more updates.
Thanks again, Trent Young. We now have two series running concurrently. Our sailing blog, published on one Sunday, and the sailor's questions, published the other Sunday. They appear as video playlists so they're easy to follow. Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind comments.
I already know that you guys will have fairwinds and safe passage!!! it's my Birthday!!!!
[Liz] Happy belated birthday!
What an awesome journey... Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks, Matt Kurrle. Appreciated.
What a wonderful series on you re-fit. Fantastic job.
Looking forward to more from you guys.
I know others have asked, but give a little hint as to how much a one year re-furb in Thailand actually costs, as you say you will share the good bits and the bad bits, time to share a little more!
Keep up the good work.
You guys did a brilliant job on the refit. Congratulations.
Cheers, lebarosky.
Congrats on the launch and thanks for sharing so much of the refit!
Oh, I hope not! Very sad :(
Hi ***** interested to know where you read this, was it an old blog post written in Turkey about a nightmare I had many years ago? Anyway, all good here aboard Esper. No dragging anchors yet. Limited Internet connection now but when sorted more updates to follow soon.
I would be interested in knowing where that bad info came from as well?? Glad to hear everything is ok. :)
Go to followtheboat.com/blog On the map in Turkey is a log entry about dragging anchors. You need to read the whole thing to get the context though LifeisLikeSailing - Vancouver, BC
I will check that out! :)
Such a great job! I really enjoyed watching and I'm willing to watch all the videos. Love you both.
from Algeria, NORTH AFRICA
[Liz] Yay! We look to reading your comments in the coming weeks! Don't forget to catch up with the sailing logs...lots of pretty pictures and an unfolding narrative of life afloat. Peace and fair winds!
I will. Thank you Liz
Another awesome refit video guys!! Enjoy the great vids... Keep it up....
Thomas Keenan Thanks, Thomas. We're upping the ante and putting more effort into our videos. Watch this space...
Congrats on the launch! Beautiful refit. I would love to see a before and after tour of the interior of Esper with a description of what you changed and why.
I have really enjoyed your refit series. Despite being poms, you have a cracking sense of humour too ;-)
[Liz] We learned it from our Streyan friends.
Almost complete with my refit as well! Wish I had video taped! Congrats to you both!
Wow is all I can say, after a year on the hard the emotion of this move must be unreal. I have really enjoyed your vids, always waiting for the next one to show up. I do hope you can do the walk throughs of all the changes and how that will improve you cruising life.
I will, follow the boat!!
Can't wait for a full tour of the boat!
We should have some fun with that :)
I love the look of those fishing boats.... Could make a good house boat....
Those things are huge, Michael. Aside from the maintenance they'd make great house boats with a fantastic view from the cockpit.
Great video..i can wait to see a new up date from you guy. It's gonna be an inspiration for me & my son. Bon Voyage. Good lucks
Got one already for you, Zam Benz. Check out th-cam.com/video/IH9M4slwMyM/w-d-xo.html
Great story,
+Dixon Reed [Liz] Glad you like it, and thanks for taking the time to comment. Peace and fair winds!
I love that firecraker thing. I guess its for "good luck". I'm not even sure I schould say that... Still learning about all of theses rituals...
Yes, they do it with all the fishing boats, every time they go back in the water. It's nice, as yachties, to be included. 😃 Liz
great videos! always interesting and a good view into what you guys are into and up against. thanks for sharing.
Our pleasure, Paul. Glad you like them. More to come (just been up the mast and got some great aerial shots at sunrise).
I enjoy it thanks for sharing it
Our pleasure, +dj Jeff cee
Congratulations on your launch! Mine was not so pretty. I nearly sunk overnight after my launch but more on that later...
Thanks, Paul Young. You know we almost sunk on our first night too? It was down to us not securing the grub screws on the dripless seal properly. If we hadn't have checked after half an hour of motoring, we wouldn't be here now uploading videos. Keen to know what happened to you - can you tell us?
Very cool.
Den Morbeck Thanks, Den.
Wow... Great job.... Can I ask why you decided to lose the teak decking?
Roughly in this order, +billyarseface: temperature, maintenance, environment, cost. Removing the teak decks has significantly changed the temperature of the boat down below. The teak used to hold the sun's warmth well into the night and removing them has reduced that temperature. It's a noticeable change. It's a surprising move but we're really glad we did it and have never looked back. We're glad to have got rid of them.
Unbelievably patient for 1 year to finish repairing a sailboat. The result is very good, changed the look inside. Very amazing and inspiring. What is the total cost to rehabilitate the boat?
Finally! Gratz!
Hoorah!
Well I have seen all the refit in a period of 10 days I have learnt a lot thank you,do you think the boat put any weight on with the refit ?I know one thing the wallet is lighter but a fantastic job with pure craftsmen and perfection and the boat is designed for you
loved all of the vids, havent came across a vid with the total cost, not wanting to pry.. But are you going to make a vid about it? Cheers!
[Liz] We haven't given a cost breakdown for various reasons, chiefly that we promised it to Sailing Today magazine in the final of a six part series we're writing for them.
Patreons have had a private video dealing with this topic, so if you're really curious join our Patreon crew to find out more--you can do that for as little as $2 per month (cheaper than buying the magazine for two years!).
On the other hand, all prices are available on the PSS website, including haul out, hard standing and labour rates. Most marine equipment is the same price in Thailand as it is elsewhere, but it's the labour which really brings down the cost of a project like this. We had unskilled workers for 400 baht per day, up to highly skilled workers at 1200 baht a day. This was 2 years ago, remember, so prices will have increased since we undertook this mammoth task!
Peace and fair winds.
+followtheboat fair enough :) my budget wont allow that for the moment but maybe in the near future. thank you for your time, cheers
thanks so much ,love it
Thanks, Don Fenhagen. We've just released a new video today with a 'first look' at Esper's exterior.
wonderful can hardly wait
with the PSS. put in a second set of grub screws to lock in the first ones. If not, down the track you will and shout me a beer in Brisbane :)
Hi +Terry Peake. The kit comes with a second set of grub screws. Also we added a retaining collar.
Great job. Thanks for documenting the process. Was very educational and entertaining.
So after over a year on the refit, and a lot of boat bucks or pounds... was it worth it for you to spend that time doing it? As I get older time is more precious than anything, even though I seem to waste a lot of it still, mostly sleeping, but then maybe not such a waste after all...
Good to know that PSS is out there should I need a refit on a yet to be purchased retirement plan... but not sure I would want to spend a year there... lol. But Esper sure it beautiful now. My hat is off to you.
+Bob Fomenko [Liz] Thanks for the kind words. To be honest, although it was hard work, we wouldn't have missed the experience for the world. We learned so much and made some friends for life, both workers and other visitors. Peace and fair winds!
nice job by the workers and good choice of colours ,you really gave the interior a modern look.what colour were the topsides again? might do my little boat the same colour .thanks for taking the time to document this.
[Liz] The topsides were Moon Dust, they were originally Oyster White. Thanks for the comment!
Just viewed the entire episode in the course of three days. Wow what a journey. Exceptionally well done and documented. Would it be too much or impolite to ask approximately how much that refit cost? I wonder if you compare that with the cost of purchasing a newer boat or was there some sentimental reason behind it. Thanks again safe voyage!
I want to thank you for a wonderful series if you refitting of your boat,
it is inspiring to see.and you both seem to be very nice. Is it possible to ask how much money you spent on this work
Hi guys, I wonder if this mega refit is saying something about the Oyster brand ? is this very common need for a boat this age ?
I don't think so, +nachum edelstein. It depends on the wear and tear. We could have patched Esper up here and there but she'd have looked like a 30 year old liveaboard boat. Now she looks like a new boat.
That was really cool to see you go in the water. I am going to guess the refit cost around 47,000 pounds. I added 10k just cause that is how it goes. I still think I am on the shy side most likely. Maybe 60,000 pounds would be more realistic. Amazing amount of work and she is looking really dam nice!.
Add a couple more of those and you could be getting close ;)
Totally worth it. She really is beautiful and ready to go for a long time. What an amazing transformation.
itsamikething :)
Hi guy's just wondering how much was the haul out fees and hard charges.
Hi +nivag63. You can find all the prices on PSS's website.
Aaaarrrrgh! :-) I now did watch all 45 episodes on your refit. Very - and I mean VERY interesting! (even so it seems that you sort of lost quite a bit of your positive energy after week 35..... I bet this must have been draging on and wearing you out? 1 year refit with a great number of people on a yard ...wow.
Anyway: Some time around week 30 you promised you'd be sharing the information about the actual and final cost of all the work you had done (and the cost of land-based accomodation?)
I do have a major refit coming up, and was wondering if it would be worth it to consider doing that at PSS?
(Providing the river is deep enough for my 3m of draft! - no info abot that on their website)
Would probably be interesting to many yachties who followed your videos - but if you dont want to share it publically, maybe you'd be kind enough to get in touch by email?
Thanks and happy sailings!
Peter
+MrPe Be [Liz] I hope our refit series was useful to you?! ☺
The channel to PSS is navigable by boats with deeper keels than 3m at high tide, so no problems there.
We're halfway through a series of articles for Sailing Today magazine, in which costs will be given in the final piece (mid 2017).
The PSS website publishes rates, and the management will be happy to answer questions by email. Contact Jia Kittapong. You should be able to put together a broad budget for your specific requirements.
Or consider supporting us on Patreon where we have published an exclusive video on refit costs.
Peace and fair winds! ☺⛵👌
+followtheboat [Liz] Thanks for not only the answer but the surprising speed of it! :-)
Not intending to abuse your great space here, just very briefly:
I did found a "no-profit-foundation" (786global.com) with the goal "To make preserving our oceans popular". Quite a few specific projects ready in the drawer and we actually do own two boats to make that dream come true.
However: The first one (Amibon.com) is being held illegally by some mafia-type crooks on the island of Mallorca for the (unfortunately plausible) rumor that the original owner (one "Leonid Minin") had used it to smuggle 2 Billion(!) Euros worth in Gold out of Russia - so the boat ist stuck in Palma and I have been fighting that battle (of course alone) for the past 6 years.
The second one, (AmorMaris.com) got mysteriously "stolen" in November 2014 from its berth at Roses Marina (Costa Brava/Spain), just to, as mysteriously, resurface at the Port of Collo in Algeria a few days later. Supposedly having made that trip across the Med in the winter just on autopilot. The insurance (Pantaenius) simply has abandoned us knowing that we are not rich enough to sue them. Not a penny received - and Amor Maris still is stuck in Collo, half way between Algiers and Tunis - and getting there (according to the foreign office) requires a 500km road-trip pretty much straight throu IS-terretory. (Needless to say I cant find anyone willing to go on that endavor with me).
I still hope that we will be somehow able to retrieve Amor Maris from Algeria and following 2 years of being unattended it is easy to imagine, that her condition will be "beyond ecconomical repair". (At least with European Yard prices and cost of labor) - so watching your refit-videos brought me the idea to somehow get her to PSS and get the refit done there. Sailing her back will then be easy, I have sailed her for quite long distances before alone.
Thus my question and maybe a small explaination why I'd love to contribute but simply cant. All the money I have ever made in my life has been invested into purchasing and refitting AMIBON and the same for AMOR MARIS and getting the foundation off the ground.
The only thing I can say for sure: I am never going to give up. There is too much at stake - actually for all of us, (but obviously this story is my own problem to solve first.) - I had to give up on Amibon already since I simply dont have the funds to continue to battle a very wealthy and super-good connected Mafia-clan in Mallorca and it stands to be assumed that they also have something to do with the "odd theft" of Amor Maris. (Who'd steal a Classic like her?)
Enough of that - so, yes, your refit-series was very informative, and the enormous effort that must have gone into the making and editing is highly appreciated!
Fair winds to you, all the cruising folk and that little blue pebble we all are living on!
Peter
I have the same question except I will ask it in a different way. My question is how much do you think you saved by having the refit done there vs back in the UK? I am about to start a boat build in the spring so I've been following you for a while. Very interested in your lessons learned concerning certain systems in the boat. I would love to do a Skype interview.
That's a difficult question to answer directly as I don't know the prices in the UK for such work. We still spent a considerable sum but to undertake the same project in the UK would have been prohibitive. We don't really do Skype (it's very frustrating on a mobile network at anchor!) but we're happy to answer emails and if there's anything you want us to cover in a future clip, just let us know.
are we able to get a ball park figure on total cost ??? maybe a " if i was going to do it again i would "...
Hi Bobby. We're writing a couple of articles for Sailing Today and will break down the costs. We haven't gone through the figures yet but we certainly spent more than our original budget and there's definitely some hindsight that could be applied were we to do it again.
How much was the refit?
+cptnscarlet [Liz] Check out "Naked Sailing", vlog 039, for the answer to this question. Peace and fair winds!
how much did this cost you as compared to having this done in the US or in uk? i bet it was A LOT CHEAPER
Hi MrkStphn91. We haven't done a comparison yet but most of it was certainly cheaper than Europe and the Americas. We'll be publishing the figures in Sailing Today first and then we'll give you a breakdown. Stay tuned to the channel for further updates. Thanks for watching.
+MrkStphn91 google "Ocelot+ThaiRefit"
Article by Jon Hacking. who refit his 45ft catamaran in Phuket. His itemized summary might give you an idea of what certain jobs cost.
Absolutely great. Number of likes definitely under reality. Just watched in autoplay many episodes. Please, if anyone knows? How many man hours and $$ :-)
Great to see your back in the water. We have a PSS shaft seal as well. I installed one of these just behind the shaft seal collar just for insurance incase of slippage.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H1NNWNQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Aha. We installed one of those too, Orange Fish. Peace of mind, and all that.