I finally got back to Antalya from the Cannes Boat show on Monday night so only had four days in the Naval Yachts yard and onboard the good ship Möbius but everyone else on Team Möbius put in a very full week though much of their time and attention was diverted to the 27m steel yacht “Legacy” that has been sitting in front of us all this time.  I will show you what this was all about in this week’s Progress Update as well as the new work and new equipment that showed up this past week as well.  Lots to cover so let’s jump right in.

Let’s start with the “Out with the New” part of this week’s title and a question for you; What’s missing from this picture??

Does this view help?

Correct! There used to be a big boat in that big space in front of Möbius and you can see that it has now been moved out onto the road outside the Naval Yachts shipyard ready to make its trip over to the launching ramp and finally into the water where all ships belong.
This is the newly and massively renovated motor vessel Legacy which came into the yard as a 24m/78’ all steel and double ended bare hull and is now leaving as a fully finished 28m yacht ready to take on charter guests throughout the Mediterranean or wherever her owner wants to go.
True to her name, Legacy has a very long story which along with all the work that Naval has done, I can barely summarise here.  She was originally built in the Netherlands back in the 1990’s but only got as far as the steel hull and superstructure when the budget ran out and it sat outside for 20 years until her current owner who runs a shipyard in the Netherlands bought her.
In spite of owning his own shipyard the new owner contracted with Naval to have them do a complete makeover including lengthening the hull by 3 meters and transforming the original canoe stern to a traditional squared off one.  So he had the boat loaded onto a cargo ship and taken as far as Izmir and then she was towed the rest of the way into the Antalya Free Zone and moved over to the old Naval shipyard.

When she arrived, the interior was completely void so an all new interior needed to be designed and installed along with new engines, generators and all systems from electrical to hydraulic, plumbing, navigation, aka EVERYTHING!

Given the enormity of this project and the owner’s wish to have her completed and ready for charter ASAP, he enlisted the help of the design company that did the original design as well as his own team of engineers to create a very large collaborative project involving almost 100 people in total.

Unfortunately for Möbius this often included them borrowing some members of Team Möbius to help out including these three you might recognize from previous postings; Mummy (left), Uğur and Nihat who have been busy all this past week getting Legacy ready for Launch Day.
Once outside, they needed to set her down to reposition all the lift points so she was properly supported for the journey to the launching ramp in the Free Zone’s harbour which is about 10 blocks over.
I was busy working on Möbius and didn’t get down to the launch ramp in time to photograph the transfer from the big yellow wheeled boat mover to this white railway launcher nor the tradition breaking of a bottle of champagne but you can rest assured we will capture ALL of this launching process when it is time for the launching of XPM78-01.

The transfer is quite simple, they set the boat down straddling the rails and supported by the splayed out build stands left welded to the hull same as you can see in some of the photos above when they first moved her out of the shipyard bay. 
Then the yellow mover drives out from underneath and the white mover moves in to take its place.  A large series of hydraulic cylinders lift the hull up off the stands which are then removed and she is ready to head for the sea.
First kiss of sea water on the hull!
Once floating and with plenty of people onboard checking for any leaks or problems inside and a diver below to check that things like the stabiliser fins cleared as she floated up and off the lift, Legacy was finally floating free and spent her first night tied up to the behind and to the left of this picture.

As you can imagine, this all served to heighten our excitement and anticipation of when it is our turn to launch Möbius and this only served to reinvigorate us to get back to work getting our new home ready for this major milestone.

Which brings us back to where we started with this big empty space in front of what appears to be a very tiny Möbius.  The plan as I understand it is to move Möbius into this space with her bow right at the sliding doors so they can put one of the new projects in our space in the back.
Some of you have asked to see some overall shots of the outside and so with Legacy gone I was able to get this nice long shot of the whole Port/Left side. 
You can some of the more recent changes such as the bow thruster tube and fairing with one of the sea chest openings just behind, the pipe “pulpit” railings up at the bow, stanchions running down the side deck and if you look closely and way up high you can see the upper end of the Paravane A-Frame on the far Starboard side.  The large aluminium assembly in the lower right side is the roof over the SkyBridge which should be going in place in the next week of two.

With our Aluminium team MIA working on Legacy the other teams were able to make good progress with cabinetry, finishing, plumbing and wiring so let’s go check that out.

The Master Cabin has been “gutted” as all the cabinetry you’ve been seeing has been moved out and up to the Finishing Department where they are being sprayed with many coats of polyurethane varnish and paint which we will see a bit later.
Back in the aft Guest Cabin, Ömer and his team continue to do the mounting of all the interior walls and furniture.  This is the entrance into the Guest Cabin and the Head/toilet will be on the left and the shower on the right.
Stepping into the Guest Cabin looking back at that entrance they have Christine’s desk and bookshelf fitted and these will soon be headed for the Finishing Department as well.
Turning around to look forward towards the Galley up above, we find some of Hilmi’s handiwork with the installation of this electrical junction box for all the DC lighting in this Guest Cabin as well as lots of Cihan’s work on the many fuel, sanitation and venting hoses in this area.
Cihan was also busy up in the Master Cabin putting in these drain lines from the removable floors in the shower on the left and the Head on the right.
He fabricated this aluminium manifold to connect both of these drains to the pump on the other side of this Forepeak WT Bulkhead that will move this water to either the Gray Water tank of overboard via the exiting Sea Chest.
Immediately above are these two water manifolds, cold water on the left, hot on the right and the drain from the sink in between covered in foil tape to keep the dust out.  These manifolds convert the larger 25mm/1” diameter PPR/PVC supply lines to these ball valves with 15mm PEX push on fittings, one for each of the 4 consumers in the Head; sink, shower, toilet and towel warmer.  All these valves can be easily accessed through the removable backs in the cupboard that mounts to the white grids.
On the diagonally opposite corner of the Master Cabin Hilmi has finished mounting and wiring this junction box for the DC lighting circuits.  This box is located in the back of the large wardrobe on the right as you walk down the steps into the Master Cabin and can be easily accessed by removing the plywood back if you ever want to add or change any of these circuits.
Those of you who have worked on electrical systems on boats or houses will appreciate the value of having EVERY wire and cable clearly labelled like this.  Labels are printed on adhesive lined tubes that are shrink wrapped onto each cable with a heat gun.  Each circuit has both a unique name and number that corresponds to the wiring schematic and will make it SO much nicer to work on over the life of the boat.
With the WT cover removed you can see how the connectors for each circuit are mounted on the metal DIN rail behind which makes for super quick and easy mounting.  Each connector is modular and simply clips in place with two end plates sandwiching them in groups of any size you like.  The junction box is purposely oversized to allow for more circuits to be easily added in the future
Meanwhile, off the boat and up in the Finishing Department, Ömer is showing how the cabinets in the Master Head/Bathroom will work.  He is holding one of the doors on the lower front of the sink cabinet that goes against the Port/Left hull.  The sink will be set atop the counter that now has the upper cabinets and shelves sitting on it.
Stepping back to show the rest of the components of the Head.  A bit confusing as those triangular cupboards are upside down but will be set into the wall with mirrored doors to access the shelves you see laying in front with their fiddles or edging to keep their contents all inside.

For those wondering, all these surfaces will be completely sealed with many coats of white PU paint so Ömer has laminated all the marine plywood surfaces with a special inert composite material that creates the perfect flat, smooth surface for the paint.  Hence this unique colour you see.  This is a time consuming detail but the resultant glass smooth and very tough painted surfaces are worth it.

Off to the far side this is the fully dismantled Master Cabin bed and drawer assembly, now fully finished and bubble wrapped as they await their return trip to the boat for final installation.
Several rooms over these doors from the Master Cabin have received their first of five coats of clear PU and are now off to the sanding room to fully flatten all their surfaces for the next coat.

The lighter wood is a type of Beech which is what we are using for surfaces on the insides of cabinets, drawers, doors, etc.  Very hard, sands and takes finish well and the lighter colour both contrasts well with the dark tones of the Rosewood and provides more light inside closets and drawers.

Neşet is our master of the spray gun and is deservedly smiling as he stands beside this upside down hanging locker from the Master Cabin. 
The bureau of drawers in the Master Cabin, laying on its back here, has 3 of the 5 coats on it and you can see how the multiple sanded surfaces are filling in the grain very nicely to create these flat even surfaces. 
The long narrow Rosewood strip on the right is the toe kick and the dado/groove above it is where the indirect LED lighting strips will go to provide the added safety of well lit floor areas at night as well as what I think is a very lovely look as the soft and dimmable light is reflecting off these Rosewood surfaces throughout the boat.

On the far right you can see that same bureau of drawers standing right way up this time with its upside down neighbours.  In the middle is the wardrobe that goes on the far right of the bureau of drawers and hiding on the floor on the far left is the medicine cabinet that goes above the Vanity sink.
Wondering about the “In with the New” reference in this week’s title? 

Well, this box arrived from Jefa Rudders in Denmark with all the components for the massive self aligning rudder bearings.
A closer look at one of these bearings shows how they work.  If you peer through the plastic (click to enlarge any photo) you can make out the black vertical roller bearings and then by my thumb you can see how the white roller bearing race is convex spherical and fits snugly into the matching concave spherical outer housing. 
The black roller bearings allow the rudder shaft to turn easily and the spherical housings ensure that the rudder shaft is always completely aligned with these bearings.  While not needed under normal circumstances when (never if) we manage to hit something with the bottom of the rudder blade even if the force is enough to momentarily bend the rudder shaft it will not bind and we will maintain full steering. 
This sample photo from the Jefa.com site will help you see how these work.  In our case there is a large 200mm / 7.9” ID aluminium pipe that is welded vertically into the hull and then one of these Jefa roller bearings is installed top and bottom to support the massive 127mm / 5” solid AL rudder shaft.

We have changed the tiller arm details but this rendering will help you see how the two redundant hydraulic steering cylinders mount on the rudder shelf just inside the transom wall there the Swim Platform begins outside. 
Under the rudder shelf you can see the vertical 200mm AL tube with the rudder shaft inside with the top and bottom Jefa Rudder bearings fitted at each end.  The top of this rudder tube is about 525mm / 21” above the loaded WL so no need for any seals. 

In discussion with Thor, the extremely helpful and expert rudder design engineer at Jefa Rudders, we added this white PETP thrust ball bearing and the black aluminium lock ring to the setup.  This will sit on top of the upper rudder bearing and deal with any vertical thrust that might occur in a grounding or just the natural flotation of the rudder which can put a bit of upward thrust on the rudder shaft.  Simple and effective solution that will ensure a lifetime of very smooth steering.

Why go to all this trouble some might ask?  Well, if you’ll allow me a small technical diversion, there are several reasons and I’ll highlight just a few.  (Feel free to skip down to the next photo if this doesn’t interest you)

These Jefa self aligning roller bearings are made of PETP (also known as Arnite, Ertalyte, Sustodur & Ultradur), so it doesn’t consist of any metals and has zero absorption.  In addition to providing excellent bearing surfaces this also keeps our all aluminium rudder completely electrically isolated from the rest of the hull and also no possibility of any corrosion due to dissimilar metal contacts.

Given such a massively oversized rudder shaft it would probably have worked fine to do what most boats do which is to make the rudder bearing a simple solid bushing made of Delrin or nylon or another type of plastic impregnated with self lubricating material, which is then press fit into the rudder tube and bored out to slightly oversize for the rudder shaft to slide smoothly inside and usually with some grooves cut inside to allow a grease to be inserted using a zerk fitting and grease gun.  I had this type of setup on my previous all steel sailboat and due to having never been greased in the 12 years before I bought it, this seized up as I was making my way down the west coast of Mexico.  Made for some interesting manoeuvrings as you can imagine but once I was able to make it to a marina and get hauled out it was a VERY long and arduous job to press out the seized rudder shaft, then press out the bushing, get a new one machined and installing the new setup.  I added two additional grease fittings to this new setup and must say it worked very well for the next 10 years as I sailed her long and hard throughout the Pacific and is still working well for the new owners, who I encouraged to be very religious about greasing at least once a year. 

However with this being a skeg hung rudder, meaning only supported above the rudder not below, and being the second lowest underwater part of the boat, there is always the danger of hitting something with the bottom of the rudder that we thought long and hard about as we designed the whole rudder and steering system.  And of course with Murphy’s Law ensuring that such an event would most likely happen at high speed contacting something very solid at O’dark Thirty some stormy night, there is the possibility, however unlikely, that the rudder shaft could bend or arc, even if for just a short time of the impact.  With a solid bushing or even fixed bearings this would cause the rudder shaft to bind against the bushing and if severe enough to seize and thus cause loss of steering.  Even more so on a power boat than a sailboat where you can use your sails to help steer, this is a scenario we want to reduce to as close to zero as possible and so we have done everything we can to design and now build a rudder and overall steering system which is as bullet proof as possible.

As you might guess, this is not cheap, easy or fast but this is yet another example of how we design in a large SWAN or Sleep Well At Night factor into these XPM boats.  After much discussion with the super helpful people and expert engineers at Jefa Rudder Systems, thanks Thor!, we were able to design what I think is one of the most robust and trouble free rudder systems in any boat I know of.  Now that I have all these parts in my hands I could not be happier and I will show you the whole installation process as that happens in the coming weeks.

OK, sorry for that technical diversion but there are not too many other systems more critical than our steering system so I thought some of you would appreciate some of these details.  Now back to our regular programming ……………..

There was one more VERY large, very heavy and very exciting shipment that arrived at Naval Yachts while we were away at the Cannes Boat show last week.

Some of you may be able to guess what is in this crate but I have blanked out the give away label in the center here to keep the rest of you guessing just a wee bit longer until I have time to complete the full Tech Talk article on what this is.  So stay tuned for that and I hope to have that article up within the next week.

Oh, one more thing …………………….

They often don’t get the attention and thanks they deserve so I snuck in this photo of some of the people on Team Möbius who spend most of their time hard at work and hidden away in the main Engineering Office.

Apologies for the poor photo quality as I shot this through the glass window in the hallway so as not to disturb them but if  you look closely (click to enlarge) you can make out Yusuf the head electrician in the red shirt at the desk on the far left, Enver the Chief Engineer and Shipyard Manager standing in the far middle and the top of Yiğit’s very smart head sitting behind the monitor.

Seated in the left foreground is my Beautiful Bride and Captain Christine working closely on Galley layout details with Yeşim our incredible interior designer and unfortunately just out of site on the far right sits Buse who looks after purchasing and scheduling for Project Goldilocks.

Sadly for me, Christine flies off to Florida on Monday morning and will be gone for over six weeks looking after everything from a big author’s conference, updating her 100 Ton Captain’s license, fixing up the condo in Ft. Lauderdale and most of all getting in some serious Gramma time with our grandson Liam.  I will join her and them at the end of October and in the meantime I’ll be holding down the fort here in Antalya and will do my best to keep you fully updated each week as Möbius gets closer and closer to hear launch date.

Thanks for joining us and please add any and all comments, questions, ideas and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.

-Wayne