more birthday courtesy flags

Another year, supposedly a little wiser...

This years marker of the drift towards senility sees me getting a further three courtesy flags...

Add Jamaica, St Lucia and Galapagos to the list.... the collection grows!

plotter and radar

I've spent a long time contemplating what to do in terms of a plotter and radar... and tonight i've made my decision. I've chewed it over on here before, but have now reached an answer.

I don't want a huge plotter at the helm, although I do want the plotter at the helm!. I do however, also want one that can support a second station at the chart table.

So, a smallish plotter, for pilotage, and with a radar overlay, and networking for a second station.

This left several options, with the lead two being the Lowrance HDS7m Gen 2 and the Raymarine e7

The radar is a bit better on the Lowrance, but the Raymarine a bit cheaper... both of which support a second station on an iPad... an iPad upon which I am typing this blog entry!

However, the decision has been made by three factors... the first two technical.... the Raymarine has the correct networking ports, so wouldn't require an additional mux, and secondly, the Raymarine iPad app supports touchscreen and controls the device remotely, whereas the Lowrance one is a read only repeater...  and the third factor, Raymarine appear to have a special offer on, and the entire package issuddenly  a few hundred quid cheaper than I thought.... bargain... will order via the phone tomorrow.

I have also discovered that the Raymarine will control my iPhone as a music source via bluetooth... so can control any music being played from the helm!

oily hands

Well the engine is pretty much ready to come out...

I have spent the morning getting thoroughly oily.... firstly by attempting to separate the shaft from the gearbox... lots of tight bolts. I started by undoing the only bolts that I could move, those of the shaft clamp. These could be undone because they don't turn around the shaft, but instead along it, so force could be exerted.

With the clamp undone and bolts removed, I gave the shaft clamp a tap with a hammer to try and shock the shaft free, but no movement. I then realised that the shaft seal might be holding everything in place, so spent an hour or so removing that. Its not a seal that I've ever seen before. It seems well engineered, but I'll replace it anyway as part of the refit. It did mean however, that the process of removal was a bit of a voyage of discovery (for non sailing readers, the shaft seal is the fitting that makes the hole that the propellor shaft passes through to the outside of the boat watertight). It was an oil filled seal, so more oil, to go with the various grimy, oily fluids spilt yesterday while stripping the engine apart. The bottom of the engine compartment is going to be a horrible job to clean up!

However, the shaft seal, now loose and slid up the shaft, still didn't see the prop shaft free, dite a robust tap or two on the propellor boss,  so it is obvious that I will need to spilt the shaft flanges.... easier said than done with a hydraulic gearbox, which can't be locked off, so the shaft continues to rotate when you try and undo the bolts.

It didn't help that I didn't have the right spanner.... the bolts are 11/16th, and while I had an 11/16th spanner, it was a short stubby one, and with the coupling being in an awkward place that is a stretch to reach, I couldn't get a decent clout with a hammer.... so it was put aside as a task for the next visit, where I will turn up with a nice long spanner, and a long bar to try and lock/wedge the shaft in place using the bolt heads on the other part of the coupling...

Instead, I took the engine mount bolts off. I was expecting this to be a bit of a nightmare, as they are awkward to get at, and looked quite corroded.... but obviously, years of oil leaks had helped, as the supposed rust was actually just grime, so a decent wipe down, and a good long socket on a ratchet, and they came off quite easily... I have left the bolts dropped in their slots so that there is no chance of the engine vibrating off the bearers, but its a 30 second job now to reach down and pull the bolts out when she's ready to lift.

So, besides the shaft coupling, I only have two more jobs to do before the engine can be lifted... Firstly I need to disconnect the gearbox cable... won't be an issue, as if the fixings are seized, I'll just cut through the cable with a hacksaw, and secondly I need to detatch the remote oil filter... I haven't done that yet, as I need to drain the oil from the engine first, and ran out of time, but again, not a big job, and doubt the single bolt fixing will be troublesome, and if it is, i'll just cut the pipes once the oil is drained.

So, next visit, will see me ready for a lift out, and i'll use the same weekend to get the mast finished off...

I'll need to take a day off work for the engine removal, as the crane work is a LOT cheaper during midweek!

I'm really looking forward to a nice clean, painted engine compartment.

Holes and heights

I turned up at Shotley friday evening, so see with frustration, that my mast had been moved to the top of the rack, so there was no way I was going to be able to do any work on it... a quick check with the office confirmed that it couldn't be moved until monday... darn.

So instead, I have set too with taking bits off the engine to make it removable.... off has come the water tank header, the main water reservoir that houses the thermostat, the starter motor, the alternator, the various water and fuel pipes, the engine control cable, and the stop cable, the fuel filters and the air intake headers... its looking a lot smaller!

I then set too with removing the access panel in the cockpit sole, so that the engine can be pulled out... it has been in place a lot of years, and was firmly attached. The bolts that should hold it in place were either missing or rotted away, and it wasn't well sealed, the source of the leak into the engine compartment...

several hours of digging away with an old screwdriver and a chisel for several hours saw enough sealant removed that finally it let go of its 38 year old hold, and voila.... a hole in the cockpit floor big enough to remove an engine!

A little repair work to ensure that it is watertight and can be bolted down properly, and we'll have a nice watertight  engine room.

Tomorrow, i'll attempt to seperate the shaft coupling, and loosen the engine mount bolts... the engien will then be ready to remove, so that I can get on with tidying up the compartment before a new lump goes in... looking forward to that... a clean engine room is always a nice sight!

The final task of the day was to fit a tarpaulin over the cockpit, with lines tied under the boat to keep it secure... an important task, as now the cockpit hatch isn't watertight, so needs a little extra protection.

time to get on with it

OK.... time for a short update.

The short term employment issue has been resolved! (hooray!!!!!!)

So, now its time to get on with the engine.... prices have been gathered, and i'm pretty sure which way I am going now.... I just need to bite my tongue, and place the order.

The other challenge is time to fit it. While I could definitely save a few quid by doing it myself, I am seriously considering asking the yard to do it, as I am time poor.... It just depends upon how much, and whether I can still work it to get into the empty engine compartment to get it cleaned and painted between removal and refit.

Next however on my list, is finishing the mast work, so that it can be restepped.

More soon.