Installation Stories

Blue Guitar’s long white hull, round portholes and sheltered aft deck belong to a different era of yachting. The 103-foot Camper & Nicholsons motor yacht was built in 1967. Beneath that classic profile, an Arid installation serves wet areas from the anchor locker to the aft accommodation.

Keeping the yacht’s original character

Blue Guitar’s machinery is part of her story. In its case study of work aboard the yacht, Hickman Engineering identifies twin Gardner 8L3B diesel engines and describes owners committed to retaining original fittings and classic machinery. Its work included gearbox repairs and engine alignment: the kind of specialist attention that keeps an older vessel in service.

Our original Blue Guitar installation post records an Arid Series 9X6 alongside an oil separator and alarm system. The photographs show that equipment among the yacht’s existing pipes, wiring and structural supports.

Pickup locations from bow to stern

The installation account names these pickup locations:

• One in the anchor locker.
• Two in the engine room.
• Two in the aft master cabin.

That spread matters more than the yacht’s overall length alone. It includes machinery spaces and areas well away from them. Each location gives the crew a specific place to inspect when water returns, rather than treating the bilge as one connected space.

Drying and oil management have separate jobs

Arid draws residual fluid through connected pickups into a collection chamber. Oil separation is a separate task, which is why the separator and alarm deserve attention alongside the drying unit. The alarm panel in the original photos carries oil-level and shutdown labels; it is a distinct part of this installation.

Our published account describes more than 17 years of use and replacement of the original solenoid intakes. That is Blue Guitar’s reported service experience. Regular inspection and maintenance still belong in the routine, and conventional bilge pumps remain operational alongside Arid.

Related reading

Follow the route from pickup to discharge or find manuals in Owners’ Central. Planning a new installation? Explore current Arid systems and discuss your boat’s wet areas with Arid.

Seen underway, Reef Chief presents the long profile of a 120-foot motor yacht. Below those decks, our original boat feature records an Arid Series 9 and a Series 4, together with a Deckma Hamburg oil monitoring system. The exterior and installation photographs show two sides of the same yacht: the boat at sea and the installation below deck.

A Lloyds Ships yacht across three decks

Built by Lloyds Ships, Reef Chief arranges living and working spaces across three decks. The pilothouse and sky lounge occupy the upper level; the owner’s stateroom and main living areas sit below. Guest accommodation, crew quarters and the engine room are among the lower-deck spaces described in Denison’s historical profile of Reef Chief.

The layout puts bilge care in context. Alongside the rooms people use are machinery spaces, plumbing and low points that need their own attention. A yacht’s overall length tells only part of that story.

Series 9 and Series 4 aboard Reef Chief

The two Arid units address residual water through connected pickup locations. Instead of carrying a portable vacuum to each wet area, the installation brings tubing back to central collection equipment.

In the installation photograph, the clear-front enclosure reveals a black control panel, a gauge and tubing running along the right-hand side. It is a close view of the installed hardware among the yacht’s other equipment. Controls, hoses and connections are all part of the space that must remain accessible for inspection and service.

Water collection and oil monitoring have different jobs

The Deckma Hamburg monitoring system named in the original feature adds a separate function to the installation. Collecting bilge fluid does not separate oil from water or establish that the fluid is suitable for discharge. The discharge and monitoring arrangements therefore belong in the same planning conversation as the drying equipment.

Conventional bilge pumps remain essential for higher-volume pumping. Arid supplements them by collecting the shallow water that can remain at the connected low points.

What to take from this installation

Reef Chief shows that an installation can include more than one Arid cabinet. The useful question for another owner is which wet areas need collection, where the equipment can fit and how it can be serviced. Two cabinets aboard this yacht do not make two cabinets the right choice for every 120-footer.

See the original Reef Chief feature and photographs, or talk with our team about your boat’s layout.

Cortina makes an impression underway: a white hull, three decks and a broad wake behind her. Below deck, another part of the yacht’s story is easier to overlook. Our original photographs document an Arid Series 9 installation arranged alongside discharge and monitoring equipment in the machinery space.

The yacht behind the installation

Built by Newcastle in 2010, Cortina is a 114-foot custom motor yacht. In its 2013 listing announcement, Worth Avenue Yachts described her tri-deck layout, four guest cabins and custom Hodgdon Yachts interior. Those details give a sense of the spaces and craftsmanship aboard this particular vessel.

The Arid photographs take us into a different part of that setting. They pair the yacht’s exterior with a close view of the installed equipment, offering a look at the machinery behind everyday bilge care.

A closer look at Cortina’s Arid installation

The Series 9 cabinet appears on the left of the installation photograph. Companion equipment occupies the same bulkhead, with controls, hoses and fittings facing into the machinery space. The photograph is useful because it shows the equipment in context: its mounting position, the surrounding pipework and the room available around it.

Our original Cortina feature also identifies a PP-Monitor for fuel and oil leak detection. Residual-water collection and contamination monitoring serve different purposes. Drawing fluid out of a low point does not itself separate oil, establish that discharge is suitable, or repair the source of a leak.

Why residual water deserves its own system

A conventional bilge pump can finish a cycle while leaving a shallow layer of water below its effective pickup level. In separate compartments, that water may gather in more than one low point. Reaching each area with a sponge or wet vacuum becomes a recurring maintenance job.

Arid addresses that remaining water through pickups connected to a central unit. Vacuum draws fluid into a collection chamber; air pressure then moves the collected fluid along the discharge line. The yacht’s conventional bilge pumps remain responsible for higher-volume pumping. See the pickup-to-discharge process for a closer explanation.

Cortina illustrates why the equipment arrangement matters as much as the yacht’s length. A useful installation plan starts with the separate wet areas, then follows the tubing route back to the unit and through the discharge arrangement. Controls and service points need to remain accessible. The photographed layout is one vessel’s solution, rather than a size-based prescription for every 114-foot yacht.

Explore the systems and the next boat story

Planning an installation aboard your own yacht? Browse the current Arid product range or talk with our team about the layout. Current specifications should be checked for your vessel; the equipment in an earlier installation may differ from today’s options.

• Current Series 9 HD product information
• Understand Arid’s companion devices
• Aboard Reef Chief: a Series 9 and Series 4 installation

View the original Cortina feature and photographs.