Tradewinds Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

S/Y Legend , Engineer
Very happy
I joined this course in order to improve my knowledge in the HVAC area with a competent technician that can face any HVAC challenges. This course is a must for any yacht engineer. I am very happy that my expectations for this course have been hugely surpassed. Also a very environmentally conscious course that makes us think about the importance of dealing with problems and consequences of faulty equipment onboard. Truly very happy with the content and Stuart, great teacher!

MY Gattopardo VI , 39.2m
Will definitely be using them again
During our maintenance checks we found a refrigerant leak on the solenoid valve of our Chilled Water Air Conditioning system. Stuart at Tradewinds Refrigeration, provided immediate support with sourcing the required materials, recovering the remaining refrigerant, replacing the valve, pressure testing to confirm the entire system was leak free and then evacuating the air and moisture, before recharging the system. At the same time he noticed that the pressure relief valves were nearing their 5 yearly replacement date so these were changed at the same time. Given his efficiency and professionalism we decided to do the same on the second refrigerant circuit. We are now ready for the summer season and know that the air conditioning system is one less thing to worry about. We highly recommend Tradewinds for any refrigeration or air conditioning on yachts and will definitely be using them again in the future.

Yacht Che , 34.75m , Captain
Excellent work
Excellent Work. Professional Outfit. Fair Pricing. Tradewinds resolved our AirCon issues professionally, with minimal disruption to the boat, and for a fair price. It's obvious they know what they're doing, and are very experienced. I wouldn't hesitate to have these guys back on the yacht.

Marine Refrigeration Course (5 Days)
Good course if you want to learn more about refrigeration. It’s good to learn how to recover fix and fill a system up with refrigerant and actually doing it as well. (practical)

Marine Refrigeration Course (5 Days)
Stuart has great knowledge and experience in HVAC and he passes this on in the classroom. You will finish the course with a good understanding of the various refrigeration systems we come across and practical skills that you can use on the job.

Marine Refrigeration Course (5 Days) and Refrigeration Masterclass
I found the course very informative and tailored to study required, the pre course training i did was definitely worth the study time and cost when it came to the practical work.

M/Y Luna
Highly recommend efficiency survey
We requested Stuart from trade winds to attend our vessel after seeing his work on LinkedIn. At the time we had no support company for our refrigeration/AC equipment and it was something I wanted to set up. Stuart attended for a week to carry out an overall efficiency survey of our equipment, studying the original designs, navigating the un-documented modifications, fully familiarizing himself with the systems and carrying out the efficiency survey. Stuart found a number of deficiencies and found the cause of an ongoing issue that had one of our chiller compressors tripping un expectantly. We currently operate in an environment beyond the design limitations of our system (35 degree C seawater) really testing our plant, failures is not an option over the summer so it is vital the system is running well. Stuart looked into improvements on our request finding that modifications in the past re-gassing from R404a to R134a was a mistake, reducing our overall capacity to 67% of the original, changing to R407C can bring this back to 90% of original, the savings in fuel would be significant in only a short space of time. After this survey Stuart and Tradewinds Engineering are now in a position to assist us remotely and will be my first point of call for future works and refits. I was surprised at the issues we had been running with unknowingly and after correcting these issues how improved our plant is. I would highly recommend this survey for anyone operating AC and refrigeration plants, Stuart is a natural teacher, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him on the systems.

MY Gattapardo IV , Marine Engineer Student (Refrigeration masterclass & brazing and pipework
Easy to follow
I completed the 6 week online marine Refrigeration Masterclass and then took the practical assessment. The online course was very easy to follow and had helpful videos, lectures and course notes. Plus scenarios and Quizzes to test the knowledge of each section. Stuart was always available to call to clarify any issues with patience. The practical was good with one test rig to myself to work on and helpful instruction from Stuart. Great lunches too!

Private Yacht Company , 60+ , Marine Engineer Student (MORC)
Very good hands on experience
I have been working as a marine engineer on yachts from 43m through to 96m for the last 7 years and have found this course one of the better courses that I have taken in my time in the industry. This course has a good balance between theory and practical. It gives a great base knowledge with the latest standards and regulations and the direction the refrigeration industry is going in regards to climate change and global warming. As well as very good hands on experience, covering repairs to pipe work as well as leak detection, vacuuming and charging a system and trouble shooting, hands on experience with seeing what effects an undercharged system has. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who would like a better understanding of air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

Marine Engineer Student (MORC)
Well organised course
Well organised course, and worth the money. I learned more in this course then I did in the two week course I took last month for my licence.