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.