Always something to do……

Recent fine weather has been ideal for further engine bay work. A floor surround around the engine beds now provides a flat floor and directs any water to the sump under the engine sump where a bilge pump will soon be fitted. We have opted for cable steering and have fitted both rudder quadrants and tangential boxes. The pulleys have also being located so the conduits and cable are not far away. It would be great to have all this done before the motors are fitted. There also remains the rather tricky job, a bit like a “wheel alignment”, where the cables are adjusted to ensure the two rudders are aligned with each other.

Tomorrow being Sunday, it’s clean-up day … we will vacuum, clean and tidy, which always sets us up for the week ahead.

How time flies when you’re having fun! … I wrote the above a few weeks back, but didn’t post it, so now there is a little more to report:

I have glassed supports for and fitted the steering pulleys, and installed all the conduits. all I have to do is thread the stainless cable through and we should be able to steer the boat! The fridge cabinet has been glassed in and we are back to making furniture pieces to complete the lounge/dining seat. Melbournes’ cold weather is proving a challenge, so we have been using a heater in a container to provide a warm environment. (The ideal temperature for glass work is 20 degrees). We have also fitted three of the four port lights to the starboard hull – these are the most difficult hatches to fit as they are such an unusual shape and require a fair bit of jigsaw work whereas the square hatches only need a hole saw for the corners and some straight diamond wheel cutting – we have fitted the small OO hatch to the rear sleeping cabin and it went in quite quickly (I love fitting the “shiney” bits). Meanwhile the ordering has to keep ahead of the work. The motors (29hp Yanmars) are due later this month and the stove has just arrived. I am also about to order some more Lewmar gear including an electric sheet winch which will be easier to fit before the shower area is completed.

This whole job needs to be “project managed”, keeping decisions and supplies ahead of the work – Amanda is very good at that side of the equation. Hence our visit to the Sydney Boat Show recently. Boat Shows are ideal for checking out lots of things in one spot. We had a list of everything we wanted to look at, right down to door hinges and shelf heights, through to stoves and toilets … didn’t appreciate the deposit in one toilet we looked at when we lifted the lid … fortunately it was plastic! Strange sense of humour but I suppose boat shows are a ‘boy’ thing!. We got on all sorts of boats to check out our list items. At the end of the day, all boats regardless whether power and sail, make decisions on the same items. You do get a few bargains at boat shows too (so Neville tells me). Some items we need soon, others later, so they are only bargains if the timing is right. We got a good deal on our stove (need it to design the galley which we are up to) and an instrument (which we didn’t need now but too good to refuse Neville tells me!).

I have also spent a fair bit of time on the drains around the engine bay hatches. This is very important as the system needs to be virtually “block proof”. Eventually I opted for an ‘L’ shaped section of 50mm poly pipe with 40 mm cut out of it so it could be glassed up under the existing gutters. This pipe leads to a 25mm skin fitting which also takes the bilge pump outlet from under the engine. Once in place, I was then able to drill five 25mm holes int the moulded gutter so that if any one or two should block the others would still work. This sounds like a lot of work but it is much better than ‘drowning’ an alternator if your system doesn’t work well! We have fitted a holding tank under the helm and a pipe has been fitted through the port engine bay to allow extraction via a deck fitting . You can see that we are trying to complete most of the engine bay work in preparation for the engine and gearbox installation. Fitting ‘shiney bits’ is fun but the engine installation will be a really special moment!

PS. A Neville post … but Amanda squeezed in the Boat Show snippet.