Meet the new La Rea!

LaRea · March 16

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 · March 16

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 · March 16

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.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020499/uploads/editor/wv/519lp7oodn4r.jpg

captkevin · March 16

How long will entire repair take?

LaRea · March 16

@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 · March 16

thats not to bad

Rich_ · March 16

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

LaRea · March 17

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 · April 4

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.