Martinique is also home to Le Marin Marina on the southeast coast, home of a world class service marina. One of only a few Amel direct service facilities is located there. I purchased Galini, a 2008 Amel 54 in Martinique, from the previous owners who had completed a circumnavigation in her prior to the Covid-19 epidemic. They had been forced to lay her up in Cape Verde for 18 months during the covid periods as travel to/from many destinations was closed. Finally, in December of 2021, Galini was delivered to Martinique, where I was able to inspect her and have a survey performed in February 2022.
Most of the equipment on Galini was original vintage. That said, she was in remarkable condition. Her previous owners had taken loving car of her and it showed. Her interior was impeccable: beautiful mahogany and upholstery that appeared new. There were many extras included such as a dive compressor and dive gear, 720W solar array, hydro-generator, Simpson SS davits, a wonderful spliced anchor bridle, and much more. Still, as with any vessel, some of her original equipment needed replacement. So, the refit began with bottom paint. Next, was replacement of the standing rigging by Caraibe Marine, where I also elected to replace the foresail and staysail motorized electric furlers. After a fair amount of research into options, advice from other sailors, and the riggers at Caraibe Marine, I chose ProFurl equipment. The specific models are NDE2 420 (800W) for the staysail and the NDE2 480 (1200W) for the headsail. These choices involved some innovative solutions by the rigging engineers at Caraibe Marine, as I learned that it was the first time these electric furlers had been used on an Amel 54. There are a number of pieces that comprise the upper/lower extrusions that interface with the furling motor, and these needed to be customized to fit the Amel foils for both stays. In fact, whole new interfaces needed to be designed and machined from scratch. That effort took a while, with some back/forth in design implementation. The ProFurl assemblies are longer than the original BanMar furlers that Amel installed originally. Thus, the foils needed to be adjusted (cut). In fact, the staysail foil needed to be replaced altogether, but the Amel head sail foil has a unique three track arrangement to accommodate simultaneous deployment of the genoa and ballooner sails. Amel is the only manufacturer I have ever seen that supplies these twin headsail systems that can both be flown wing-on-wind, then furled simultaneously around the same foil if needed. Philippe LeConte (the owner of Caraibe Marine) and Gaetan Rivet (chief rigger) were exceptional in their innovative solutions and work ethic. Philippe personally machined the needed interface and Gaetan modified the many pieces from standing rigging to electrical control. The process took awhile, but patience is often rewarded. All in all, their professionalism was refreshing and although the final product remains to be tested at sea, the installation appears to be rig that will be extremely strong and last a decade or more (we hope!).
In addition to the rigging, there was a lot of engine work to be done. I hired IDS, a marine engine service company where I met Ludovic. I sure learned a great deal from Ludovic. I always appreciate a high work ethic of detailed completeness for a task done correctly. Ludovic is the epitome of the Zen in that philosophy. Maticulous. Careful. The stated needs of repair identified by the survey were all performed, and as likely to occur with an engine of 4000 hr vintage, more repairs were identified in the process. The list included: timing belt, accessory belt, engine mounts, heat exchanger, transmission-C drive coupling, intake impellar, fuel filters, turbo boost sensor, turbo blanket, engine-transmission-C-drive alignment, shaft brake, and some other minor items. Then, Ludovic came for a motor sea trial, followed by further refined adjustments to get the engine in cruising confidence.
Additional jobs by Amel service, Caraibe Marine Electronics, and refrigeration specialists here in Marin were also performed. Each of these groups were great. For example, I replaced the water heater, the air conditioning sea water pump, the 24/220v inverter, rebuilt a broken wind instrument, and recharged the HVAC and the fridge/freezer units. There was some needed service on the electric passerelle, which turned out to be a minor fix, but the Amel technician educated me into how to utilize the manual overide pump in the aft lazzerette in case the electric motor failed. I secured a number of Amel specific parts as spares here also, from the Amel service center. These included bilge pump kit, toilet fill sensor/valves, hatch screens, main mast foil repair kit, and other items commonly needed and specific to the boat.
