10 December 2010 « Service

After the first ten hours the outboard engine needed its first service, the main tasks are to change the engine oil and engine oil filter as well as the oil in the gearbox near the propellor. I would prefer to do these things myself, but for the warranty to be valid the service has to be performed by a registered dealer. The engine is supposed to warn you when it needs servicing by flashing the engine warning light (it's only means of communication), but I never noticed it flashing. The manual doesn't say how long it should flash for, or whether it will flash again if you happened to be looking elsewhere and missed it.

I'm pleased to say that after ten hours the engine still looks brand new inside and out. The same cannot be said for the boat itself, which has suffered two failures:

One of the straps that connect the bow bag to the attachment points on the boat pulled out of the bow bag during the trip from Sandbotnen to Kvalvika. I put a full, 10-litre fuel tank in the bag during this trip and I think the tank was probably too heavy for the bag and caused the strap to break when the bow of the boat hit a big wave. It's a shame the bag wasn't stronger, because it provided a nice way to keep heavy items right in the bow where they balanced the boat.

One of the straps that hold the inflatable floor to the rest of the boat broke close to the point where it attaches to the floor during the trip around Tromsøya. It doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference to the shape of the boat, but it has made me worry about the quality and durability of the rigid inflatable floor. I was riding in the boat alone when it happened and was carrying only a light dry bag containing clothes and the pump.

In order to use the boat early in the year I have ordered a dry suit from Hammond Drysuits. The suit has wellies at the bottom of the legs instead of the typical ankle seals, which means my feet will stay totally dry. I wear dry suits like this at work, and I was surprised to find that few manufactures offer sailing\leisure dry suits with wellies. I can't imagine that wet boots would be vewry confrotable in temperatures below freezing.

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