The rudders weren’t being attacked by Orcas, they were simply falling even off boats not more than a few months old. Fountaine Pajot like most manufacturers and especially in the marine industry was slow to admit fault just like the escape hatch issue where only the sinking of a boat with a faulty hatch forced their hand. As none of we owners were confident of FP coming to the party, I decided to take the plunge and get the rudders off and repaired properly. The risks of not acting were not worth considering! I had a clue we had an issue when the rudders were still dripping water 16 hours after being on the hardstand out of the water, I just wasn’t aware of the issue back in October. I maybe should have twigged to an issue with the dripping but missed it. Again Nina’s contacts came to the fore with Miljan, and a diver and the somewhat surly Zlatco removing and rebuilding the rudders properly with added strengthening internal tangs. I was helped with the design by the super knowledgeable and all round nice guy, Steve Mitchell, a naval architect in Sydney.

All that took 5 weeks. Trevor Richards, another cruiser and is a top bloke despite being a Kiwi and now a Queenslander, managed to get hold of solar panels and with the generous help of Marcus got them to us in Montenegro. Trevor has a great eye for detail and some clever ideas, and is fond of “Spanish” beer we discovered. The frame for the panels is huge and was made by a quick tempered older fella by the name of Vesko. His stainless fabricating and welding is excellent but don’t let him near a drill and fibreglass. He did a bunch of other items from a Starlink antenna mount, a passarelle heavy duty hinge, emergency steering tiller, life raft frame, and rebuilt properly made ball joints for the rudder steering posts, another FP weak point.

With all this new solar power, 2000W, we needed to harness it, store it and distribute it. We elected to use a well recommended fella from of all places the Carribean, to design the system. He then offered to supply and even fly out and fit it all at a sizeable discount. All good in theory but having paid for the components in October there was still no communication from the Carribean through to February. Miljan and I (mostly Miljan!) worked around this, purchasing some components in MNE and using existing batteries. We removed the gas cooktop and oven and installed the induction cooktop, combination oven. We added some nice features like relays so we could isolate these 220V items via the 12V panel adding cameras as well. These things are relatively easy to do when a boat is being built but bloody difficult post manufacture as cabling and access is designed for initial build not later additions. It was a struggle but Miljan’s expertise and know how shone through repeatedly. For instance one of the supporting poles for the entire upper deck needed to be removed as poor design prevented Starlink and solar panel cabling from passing through a 5” tube. Perversely FP fit a masthead tricolour nav light with requisite wiring to their boats but do not connect it nor provide instructions on how to. That tested Miljan!

Further work required involved a shipwright from FP in La Rochelle flying out to MNE to repair bulging decks and small bulkhead issues. Laurent had some difficulty as getting the required parts and getting his tools released by MNE customs was a challenge. He was a font of great FP knowledge managing also to sort a drainage issue common to the Elba. He got the jobs nearly all done except for our deck crack which had to wait. it may sound like the Elba is a bit of a basket case but in reality all new designs of boats suffer issues needing remedying, the rudder one however was worrying. (*edit: After sustained pressure on FP by Elba owners, FP have issued a recall and are supplying new rudders to the 1st 154 boats. They paid my cost of rebuilding.)

The List of some of the work done

1. Solar Frame built in Stainless Steel (inox) and installed.

2. 5 of 400W Maxeon PV solar panels installed to new frame

3. 1 of 150/100 Victron MPPT solar controller installed and connected (more to come).

4. Warranty work removing and replacing ceiling panels to relieve deck bulges on port and starboard side decks.

5. Rudders both removed, redesigned and rebuilt and reinstalled.

6. Gas oven and hob removed and capped.

7. Samsung 4 burner induction hob installed ( rewired with 3 phase heavy guage)

8. Whirlpool Combination oven installed

9. 12V relays installed to isolate oven and stove as well as hot water heater at the 12V panel.

10. New cabinet above the oven

11. Outdoor security camera installed

12. Starlink mount fabricated, mounted and antenna rewired in.

13. Passaerelle hinge remanufactured better and installed

14. Steering arm joints removed and replaced with better and stronger versions

15. Extension constructed for emergency steering tiller

16. Outdoor GPO installed

17. Rear deck sunshade fabricated and installed

18. Rear deck support removed and hole size substantially increased with new welded closure

19. Upper deck stairs removed and rain water drains expanded.

20. New Isotherm freezer installed

21. Freezer vent intalled

22. Engines & watermaker serviced

23. Mast head nav lights connected and activated.

24. Water filters (20 micron and particulate) fitted in line with shore and tank water

25. Istec parasailor fitted with control lines and padeyes added.

26. Coach house polished

27. Teak restore to teak areas

28. Black waste guage fitted port side tank

29. Inside removable table fitted

30. Water heater element replaced

Winterising work done

1. Lubrication hatches, hinges and doors

2. Stainless fittings rust removed and then protected

3. Heads cleared and seals lubed

4. Fridges emptied

5. Genset, engines, aircons and watermaker run weekly.

6. Dehumidifier run daily

7. Sails removed and stowed below

8. Exterior cushions removed and stowed

9. Diver hull cleaned