| SSR No: | SSR107819 | Callsign: | MCJS7 | MMSI: | 235015471 |
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| Fuga in the Solent, 2004 |
or the UK Dehler Owners Association
Fuga was bought by John and Mo Walker in September 2003. She was previously owned from new by the Bursens family of Knokke-Heist in Belgium, and was berthed at her home port of Breskens over the border in Holland. She had been relatively lightly used, and was near her original condition.
We particularly liked the boat for its (expected) relative ease of handling, and down below the deck saloon layout provides plenty of room, air and light for what we hope will be a prolonged life aboard. Stowage on the Dehler is extensive, both above and below decks, and at the risk of losing sight of our waterline, we are using it well. John and Mo have fitted her out with a view to providing them with a degree of cruising comfort and safety.
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| The solar panels mounted across the stern, and lightweight davits | The generator is low down, forward of the engine, and is difficult to work on despite dismantling the saloon seating |
We are delighted with the new cushion covers, that were finally completed by Ruth on Saturday before we left Almerimar. There is half a bolt of cloth waiting to be carried back by our next short term visitor! Be warned! We are going to try covering the chart table seat ourselves: we had the cushion re-modelled having removed the wooden side supports. It is now a lot more comfortable.
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- Day tank and additional tankage for fuel
- If we go further afield, we will fit a water maker
Thoughts about the Dehler now:
For:Some problems we have encountered:
- Good living space, in the cockpit and saloon
- Masses of storage, above and below decks
- Ease of handling and excellent sea-keeping: hardly a wave over the bow
- Light, bright and airy - and hasn't been too hot below
- Heads and shower arrangement - largely independent of shore
- Complicated rope runs sometimes snag
- A little too light displacement - waterline down at least 2" with our gear on board!
- Sail plan nbg in really adverse weather (e.g. F9 - when all sails have to be fully furled)
- Poor fuel tank size (160 litre) and limited water tankage
- Lack of a good secure sea berth - adding lee cloths
- Galley area a little cramped (cannot pass easily if 1 person working)
- No calorifier on our boat. The Truma gas heater packed up, and was poorly insulated.
- Very limited access to engine, have modified floor supports
- Lack of hand holds below and secure points in cockpit
- Ingress of water (now resolved, we think) due to run of electric bilge pump into cockpit drain without swan neck.
- Our electric modified toilet, now dumped, and lack of anti-syphon (specifically denied for installation of former) after we regressed to manual. Now the holding tank, having blocked, is leaking and has had to be bypassed. It cannot be removed for servicing.
- The original ground tackle arrangement (light anchor, launched from stem, with too little light chain and over-complicated run)
- The large saloon windows (embedded in sykaflex) have leaked: improved design available on newer boats
- The companionway hatch, that drops down is ingenious, but the original plastic is woefully inadequate. A knee against it secures entry. Now replaced with plywood/epoxy glass composite.
- Try not to run ground on a falling tide! The bulb keel is unforgiving: it grounds effectively and the area in touch with the bottom prevents an easy spin away and out of trouble. One Dehler 41DS sat upright on Hamble spit, then fell over at low tide! See Beaulieu
- No provision for easy escape from the forepeak, for example in the event of a fire in the saloon. We have fitted a strong point for a rope ladder.
One particular bugbear that applies to this boat, as well as many others, is that the designers do not believe that anything ever goes wrong or has to be maintained. Access to the engine, situated under a central seat/floor in the main saloon, is particularly awkward, more so when the boat was new. A fixed plywood screen was across the front of the alternator/pump drive belt, and another down the side in front of the oil filter etc. Access to the alternator was almost impossible! The plywood, which supported the floor, has been replaced by removable support beams, and the whole compartment re-lined with soundproofing, fire extinguisher fitted, etc. When the heads discharge pipe became clogged, it was necessary to make a hole in the forward end of the saloon wall (inside the seating) in order to gain access to the jubilee clip that secured it to the waste holding tank. The tank has now failed and cannot be easily removed. To change the water filler fitting, multiple holes had to be drilled in the back of the heads locker! John can just squeeze through the cockpit hatches into the lazarette, usually with torn trousers to show for it! A little less and it would have been impossible to gain access to reinforce for and fit davits, or to service the autohelm computer or rudder servos. Access to the fuel tank (when we filled it with sea water) required dismantling of the chart table seat and even the chart storage, simply because the fuel tank was positioned slightly aft of where the designer intended, so that the sender and drain tube were under the floor support.
Having said all that, every boat is to some extent a compromise. Fuga has a big rig, so when you do have to handle the main it is hard work. The design of the hull is such that she heels easily to any wind, but then seems to stiffen up. This makes for an interesting ride when tied up across the wind! However, she is meeting our requirements very well indeed, and there is nothing that we have been unable to resolve to date.
We are delighted above all else with the light, bright accomodation, and roominess of the boat, that makes living aboard a pleasure.