Week 239: Sea trials

A shorter post this week as we're in the middle of it all and keeping busy.

Monday and Tuesday were the sea trial days aboard Matilda. It's always an intrusive feeling having a surveyor poke around your boat. They question everything. Writing notes and scribbling down observations. Some are trivial, like "the portal is dirty." Some are more embarrassing, like "the bilges are dirty" (don't worry, we cleaned them more thoroughly).

One thing they pointed out (which I knew from the weekend) was that the heat exchanger on the generator was leaking. On Monday after, we were able to get to a Cummins dealer and buy the correct parts and I fixed that one so it was all shiny and new on Tuesday.

The weather was rough on Monday night, and we remembered why we DON'T always love the Mediterranean. There are many reasons to enjoy it, especially in summer, but on the edge season like this, when it's cold and the wind blows hard, it's good to remind ourselves that we're not missing out ALL the time.

Tuesday morning, the wind stopped, just in time for the actual sea trial with the engine mechanic aboard. This went smoothly to start with. The process is simple enough. Travel for so long at a certain RPM while they monitor the engines, then do it again at a higher RPM. Eventually, you reach max throttle, and for a clear test, Volvo requires you to run at max RPM for 3 minutes without overheating.

We failed. Ouch. We've only ever operated Matilda at slower speeds (1550 - 1800 RPM). At max throttle, she overheats, a sign the coolers need cleaning.

On Wednesday, we put Matilda aside for a moment and headed to Athens to meet with our lawyer. We're also selling The Nest and settling up here in Greece, so we signed a power of attorney to let her handle the documentation so we won't need to return in the future (for this, anyway).

We enjoyed a good meal at a local Vietnamese joint (true to our philosophy of there's only so much Greek food you can eat) and shopped, so we had some food aboard Matilda.

On Thursday, we bought some essential parts to close out a few more items on the survey list. Some were confusing! An air duct was missing from the starboard engine room blower to the outside of the boat. I'm sure it was there when we purchased Matilda (it wasn't pulled up on our survey report), so sometime between now and then, someone has been working in the engine room, knocking it down and pulling it out! Very strange.

Some other work that was done caused different issues. The replaced AC water pump just left the pipe running over the shaft and had to be pinned up. The same mechanic fixed the solenoid for the toilet and, at that time, disconnected the heating duct and didn't reattach it. No one looks after your boat as well as you do, and these things must be supervised!

Still, we've knocked over a few more items on the survey report each day. Everything we can do ourselves has now been addressed.

We had a massive win on Friday morning (a huge relief, to be honest, after several setbacks) when the watermaker specialist came out and fixed the watermaker in about 10 minutes and didn't even charge us. We thought the high-pressure pump was failing, but it turns out it simply wasn't getting enough water flow. The reason for this is twofold. One, I didn't understand something about the filters, and two, we made a mistake back in Türkiye at the end of the season in 2023.

There is a pre-filter before seawater is pushed into the membranes (that separates the water from the salt). This pre-filter is a 5-micron one (very fine). We had been running out of them, and one day, the filter clogged up and had to be replaced. I had a 5-micron carbon filter, and I thought, well, that's got to be okay.

Wrong.

I didn't know then that the different filters have different flow characteristics. The water maker uses paper cartridges that filter to 5 microns and allow high flow. The carbon filter is longer lasting, filters more things and is a low-flow filter. This didn't allow enough water through for the high-pressure pump to function. The other problem was a very minor adjustment of a pressure valve, which is user-serviceable on the top of the watermaker unit. Over time, it relaxes and needs to be tightened to prevent airflow. I didn't know this needed to happen (or recognise the symptom that would cause it to be required). The watermaker expert changed the filter, adjusted the screw and voila, the watermaker works like new again (with a €800 new membrane we purchased in Mytilini because we thought that was the issue).

That's been a frustrating experience—we've had several local mechanics out on the islands look at the watermaker issue, pull it apart, break other things, and fail to fix the issue. We knew we needed to get to Athens, have Matilda in the water, and find an expert. In 10 minutes, it was fixed, and he didn't even charge us! I can highly recommend motorcraft.gr in Athens as very reputable and helpful.

We've decided that this weekend is a time to think about what we want and where we go with Matilda. Should we sell her? Or should we pull her out of the water, make some repairs and wait for a better price? We believe we can get more money by the end of the season (September). It's a tough choice, and we're crunching the sums – both have pros and cons. No doubt it will become apparent by Monday. We're hopeful we can close the gap between what we need and what the buyer is willing to pay or, if not, take action to haul out and get back to Delfine.

Things in Belgium are starting to get exciting, and our genuine desire is to get back there ASAP and focus on that. The floors were sanded and redone this week–and we haven't seen them yet! The electrician is due to start rough-in. There's some more demolition to be done. Simon's waiting on me to help finish and mount the wheelhouse. Martin has completed some more electrical work. The chef we met wants us to come by for a taste test. There's a lot to look forward to and focus on that's best served by having Matilda put aside for now.

Big decisions to come!

Until next time,

Tim & Karina