Meet the new La Rea!

LaRea

The yard at Riviera Beach had a 2-week wait, but Fort Pierce was able to take us right away.  Customers can use any contractors they want, and the yard provides a list of vetted contractors for out-of-towners like me.  Prices are reasonable ... accounting for contractor work, we'll pay a bit less than we'd pay at a yard where they only allow in-house labor.  I think the forklift was $75 for 30 minutes.  Every spot has power and water, but no overnighting so we're at a Hamptons Inn.  

It's interesting ... the longer you stay, the rate actually goes up instead of down.  They want people to come in, do their work, and get out.  Boat storage is not allowed.  

And oddly, this forum bleeps me for trying to use the word Cr@cker!  

Ian

LaRea said:

@TonyG13 -- Four nuts that came off easily, and the yard forklift!  The whole thing took about 15 minutes.  Honestly, I budgeted two full days to get those lock mechanisms out.  It took about three hours.  

Only 4 nuts? I think you missed one…. 

LaRea

My other project for this week:  replaced the four air conditioners up in the flybridge under the helm.  Two of them serve the bridge, and two are for the salon.  Actually I installed two a couple weeks ago, and then decided to do the other two.  They were all acting like 14-year-old air conditioners, and two of them would not produce heat no matter how I tried.  Also I upsized the bridge units from 12k to 16k.  

captkevin

How long will entire repair take?

LaRea

@captkevin - I hope just a few more days.  He started working on the locks Friday, and he has a guy with a CNC mill if custom parts are needed.  I might need to bust out a second credit card if we start getting into expedited build fees!  

captkevin

thats not to bad

Rich_

The ole iron triangle-
Fast, cheap, good- pick two

LaRea

I spoke too soon.  The machine shop best qualified for the job needs 2-3 weeks.  No worries, after two years I can live another 2-3 weeks without swim platform locks.  We'll splash Friday and have them ship the repaired parts to us.

In the meantime, we've had an army of guys compounding, polishing, waxing, and prepping for bottom paint.  Also doing some minor gelcoat repairs (due to a previous owner, not me ).  I finished the air conditioners, and today I changed oil/filters in five engines/transmissions.  Diane has been detailing the interior since Friday.  When this boat goes back in the water Friday, other than the locks, she will be PROPER.  #MakingGoodUseOfDownTime

LaRea

The swim platform is fixed!  It was a happy, happy day when I put the system back together and everything worked perfectly!  

It won't interest most Rinker owners, but I'm loading this post with Google search keywords in case a future Maritimo owner needs help.

Keywords:  2011 Maritimo A50, swim platform, dive platform, Fleet-Hydrol, Stella Marine, broken, will not hold position, locks not operating, locks damaged

Why the swim platform failed:  A previous owner overloaded the swim platform with a heavy tender, and went out in rough seas.  Wave impacts bent the lock mechanisms and destroyed the teeth on the locking pawls, so the locks could not engage.  

How I fixed it:  I used a forklift to remove the platform from the lift.  Then I disassembled the lift, removed the locks, and had them rebuilt by a machine shop.  I also had all four hydraulic cylinders rebuilt, and replaced all eight exterior hydraulic hoses.  

If you need this repair, contact me for advice.  You won't get useful help from Maritimo or Stella Marine (company that acquired Fleet-Hydrol).  

Here's one of the rebuilt lift mechanisms prior to installation.

I also made a video showing how the locks work.  The lock is just sitting on top of the partially disassembled lift.

https://youtu.be/uRzGfbrF3-I

captkevin

Very nice. Glad to see it worked out to your satisfaction

aero3113

Awesome @LaRea !!⚓️

Lake_Bum

Months of anticipation!  And SUCCESS!  Enjoy the use of it 

LaRea

So far we've cruised 16 states plus Canada and the Bahamas.  Currently in Hilton Head SC ... yes there's a huge pro golf tournament starting today, and no we aren't golf fans!  We only have one more state to go (NC) and a mere 600 miles before we'll cross our wake in late May.

I can't recall if we have any forum members in the Carolinas.  Too bad @rowboat212 and @Dude_Himself aren't still around.  @PickleRick aren't you down here somewhere?  

captkevin

Hilton Head is a great place

oscar1

LaRea said:

So far we've cruised 16 states plus Canada and the Bahamas.  Currently in Hilton Head SC ... yes there's a huge pro golf tournament starting today, and no we aren't golf fans!  We only have one more state to go (NC) and a mere 600 miles before we'll cross our wake in late May.

I can't recall if we have any forum members in the Carolinas.  Too bad @rowboat212 and @Dude_Himself aren't still around.  @PickleRick aren't you down here somewhere?  

I was in Hilton head motorcoach resort last week, I notice a very small marina with a lot of tourist walking by the marine. you are almost done with a trip of life time. 

rasbury

@oscar1- what do you mean by aren't around?

oscar1

La Rea, for any chances this is your boat at hilton head marina. I was looking to my pics during our trip and i notices a boat like your in the background. 

LaRea

@oscar1 - I think that might be "Frankie Mo."  We had dinner with them last night.  It's a brand new M55 and it is absolutely beautiful.

oscar1

We spent two week in Hilton head prior to return to fl with the land Yatch, so far I only put 10 hour to the boat this season.... it look like after 18 years of boating, I may need a break.

LaRea

Much to my chagrin, I recently found a SECOND way to break my swim platform.  

Before lowering the platform, you have to raise it slightly to disengage the locks.  It's all done automatically by the pump controller, so it's IMPOSSIBLE to lower the platform without raising it first.  FOOLPROOF ... except my 14-year-old controller failed.  The platform went directly down, breaking one of my freshly repaired locks. 

So this week I rebuilt the controller.  Here's the "before" pic.  This was some seriously convoluted wiring ... a real hack-job, like maybe the first one they ever built.  Took me a while to figure out the circuit logic of diodes and a delay module.  As I've learned the hard way, delay modules have a service life of only 5-7 years.  

Here's my rebuild in a watertight enclosure with proper cable glands for the wiring.  Only $150 in parts and about 60 hours in DIY labor.  

It works great.  Now I just have to haul the boat (yet again) to re-repair the locks.  Guessing I'll have somebody rebuild the pump too, as I'm sure it will die sooner or later.  

Aqua_Aura

It looks like your flux capacitor may have had too many jigawatts. 😂