Update:   I wanted to update my original post with Maggi’s response to my public complaints about the chain we purchased from them. Shortly after the posting, we received a response from the company seeking to expedite assistance to us. It turns out that they do not produce very much Aqua7 chain in 5/16” – most of their production is in metric sizes. This accounted for the delay. Bad communication accounted for the lack of explanation to us.  As to the rusting issue, the CEO of the company tells us they do on rare occasion suffer loss of galvanizing, but no more on the Aqua7 than on Aqua4. This is hopeful as there has been some speculation that the higher strength chain does not take galvanizing as well as lower strength chains. In any event, they offered to ship to us immediately a replacement chain in Aqua4 and then when a new batch of Aqua7 is produced to ship a length of that to us as well, since the Aqua4 in 5/16” is not an appropriate strength for our boat. We have now received and installed the Aqua4 and are awaiting final production of the Aqua7 replacement. This has been a more than sufficient response for us so far, and we look forward to final receipt of the Aqua7 chain. To reiterate, we had been happy with a length of Aqua4 for 6 years (which had been on the boat for 10 years). We hope that the new chain they send us will perform as well and that the rusty batch was just an outlier.

Original Post:  Our boat had a load of Maggi Aqua4 chain (or whatever they called their G4 back then) that was original to its build in 2004. It was superior chain that we changed out in 2015. It was really only showing a bit of rust where the links connected, but I had the opportunity to replace it and wanted to lighten my ground tackle load. I purchased Maggi Aqua7 chain in a size smaller – 5/16”. It is essentially equivalent in strength to 3/8” G4 chain, and it saved me well over 100lbs on the foredeck.

However, after about a year on the boat the chain started showing alarming amounts of rust and corrosion. Now, after a year and a half, I need to replace it ASAP. This is far to soon for this chain to rust away. The galvanizing on the Aqua7 is not the smooth, hard finish I had on the Aqua4. It is lumpier and seemingly softer. In any event, it is all gone and the bare surface of the chain is rusting. I have heard other reports that Maggi Aqua7 galvanizing does not stand up, and now I have first hand experience.

The most concerning part of this whole episode has been the response of the Maggi company to our issues. The premature corrosion issue was quickly acknowledged and a new chain promised… and promised and promised. But never delivered. Despite what I deem to be the best intentions of Maggi’s US supplier, I have to conclude that I have been given the runaround, perhaps in an attempt to wear us down so we let it go and buy some competitor’s chain. If you want a sense of the degree of runaround we have been given, read the correspondence in the attached file, which begins in April 2016 and ends in December 2016 with me basically saying “Bueller, Bueller?”

This is a major chain manufacturer and supplier to the marine industry. I think the boating public needs to know about the quality of the chain they are selling and the customer service that backs it up. I warned them I would write posts such as this and take other steps. This is one way in which the individual customer has some power in this internet age. So why not exercise it? Buy Maggi chain at your risk.

maggi-chain-correspondence

A photo taken in April 2016:

Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad.  May your new year be filled with adventure, love and smooth sailing!

Neko’s crew has been immortalized

Montezuma’s Revenge. Yes, you know what it is and you know what the main symptom is. I can confidently let you know that it also comes with nausea, headache and overall malaise. They say its e coli. Amazing how in the US they recall tons of stuff and maybe even have deaths from it, and here they just shrug it off. Anyway, its no fun that’s for sure. No pics needed for this post.

Wow, blogging is harder than I thought.  Not coming up with what to say, but navigating the cruel waters of formatting the damn thing and getting sucked down the wormhole of design layout and photos.   Peter has done the hard part of getting this up and running, and I am finally coming to the party.

Happy 50th mom & dad

We are in San Diego where we’ve had Neko hauled out for bottom paint and a few other odds and ends. Like always, an estimated 5 days turned into 3 weeks of work & waiting for rudder bearings that had to be shipped from France (only the finest for us 😉 ) So we’ve enjoyed exploring San Diego and taking the time for travels, including a surprise dinner celebration for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.   We had a bittersweet trip back East to see family and friends, and take Mr Kitty to my parent’s house.  We love him and miss him dearly, but a sea sick cat is not a happy cat, so like all senior citizens he has decided to retire to the Sunshine State.     Even Lucy misses him.

With just over a week to go before we set sail on the Baja Haha and the start of our big adventure, we are excited and somewhat in a panic that we have everything done.   But I think we could putz around forever and we just need to cast off the lines and go.   That is the main reason for joining the Haha.  For those of you who don’t know about the Haha, it is a boat rally that sails down the Baja peninsula (San Diego to Cabo)  http://www.baja-haha.com/index.html
It is the official start of the west cruising season, a way to meet other boaters, but mainly a kick in the ass to get us started on this radical sabbatical.

Holy Cow, I’ve been ignoring this blog.  Well, its alright since we haven’t done much traveling and no one can access the blog yet anyway.  But in a nutshell, here is what we’ve done since the last post:

Peter installing new sink

–  installed new galley counter and sink

–  installed several shelves in cabins

–  removed locked-up rudder, sanded bearings and reinstalled rudder a la Peter Verrals

–  designed and begin install of 720W solar system

– designed and begin install of permanent wifi antenna (as you might imagine, all these unfinished projects are partly why there havebeen no posts)

The Malloy family grows larger

–  attended my brother’s wedding in NC, where I was pushed out of the raft 🙂 by my brother-in-law Eric in the middle of a class 4 rapid.

–  removed old washer and install new combo washer/dryer

–  replaced most running rigging

–  got totally bummed out by surprise LA county $8000 tax bill for the privilege of parking our boat here for 8 months (see California’s Burning by Dave Alvin)

– designed and begin install of all new electronics

Electric avenue

–  got new master mattress made and installed

–  two trips to Catalina for a vacation from our permanent vacation

–  designed and had fabricated steel work for rails, bbq, solar, and various other

The glamorous life

–  replaced sump pumps in both heads (relatively easy but nasty job)

–  had all 4 forward lockers prepped and painted (no more paint chips on everything)

–  caulked the toe rail and rebedded various hatch hinges

Notice the complete absence of kitesurfing sessions.  The kitebeach is 45 minutes away and 1.5 hours return due to rush hour traffic.  Plus its so light here that often I go and get skunked and just drive back anyway.  So kitesurfing looks like it is on the back burner until we get out of here.  Speaking of which, I am getting a little antsy to get moving.  We’ll head down to San Diego in August after Mark and I finish the electronics install.

I flew to Oakland to grab the bike the other day.  I had always wanted to ride down the coast highway (Route 1 or PCH or whatever you want to call it).  I had done this trip north to near the Oregon border, but hadn’t gone farther south than Half Moon Bay or so.  So I decided to make the most of this delivery trip.  Sunshine Travel booked a room for me in San Simeon and after thanking Anne for storing the bike I took off.  It took about 6 hours to get to San Simeon – a lot longer than I expected and I was exhausted.  The next morning I took a quick tour of Hearst Castle and was off again.  I am not quite sure what to make of Hearst Castle.  He built something truly extraordinary and preserved some fantastic European art there.  But at the same time there is something ersatz about his castle since most of it was created in the early 20th century to look 500 years old.  And thinking of him wining and dining pampered Hollywood celebrities there while pissing away the great wealth his father built up in mining and other hard pursuits makes you lose a little respect for the man.  I am sure I am missing something redeeming, but despite the tour speaking of him in only glowing terms, this is the impression I came away with.  Pondering that I jumped on the bike for the remaining 5 hour ride to LA.  The coast here is absolutely gobsmacking spectacular all the way (except when you get close to LA).  Big Sur reminded me very much of Northern California with fog, big redwoods and woods dwellers – those particular kind of people I had thought indigenous only to Mendocino and its environs, many of whom dabble in a certain kind of farming.  This ride was a prelude for the big Arctic to Tierra del Fuego ride that Mal and I are going to do in a few years.  It is certain we are going to do it.  Mal has staked his manhood on it. He could never back out now.  Anyway, it showed that a lot of practice is needed, or at least a much more comfortable seat.  This ride was very tiring since it consisted about 75% of twisty mountain roads.  You’re sometimes cold in the fog, hot in traffic, wrists sore from holding yourself up, torso tired from the constant flapping of whatever you are wearing, ears ringing from the wind roar, knees aching from being bent up for hours on end and worst of all your butt is aching from that hard motorcycle seat.  And to top it all off, just when I could barely stand it anymore, I arrived in LA and smack into, what else, bumper to bumper traffic.  Well, the bike’s now here and for sale and I’ve got some things to think about for the big bike trip.

We went for a little daysail up to Santa Monica bay and back.  It was good to get out after all the unexpected hard work being done.  The sail was great and it was gratifying to pass all the mono’s out on the bay, other than a very big Deerfoot.  I think it was because Mr. Kitty was driving.