Cooking
Jane is still busy insulating the aft cabin. Cutting the last piece now. The underside of the side decks (which have various bolts coming through) are very wet where there isn't a wood soffit. We are leaving these for now as we are not sure if it is
Progress
Not a lot happening apart from constant heavy rain. I've boxed up the diesel engine to keep it in beautiful condition until it can be lifted off the boat. Meanwhile Jane has been doing a dead beetle impression while fitting the insulation to the aft cabin.
Electric
Now that our engine compartment is empty we have been able to more accurately work out where everything will go. We can fit the motor batteries (each 300AH) at the side of the motor. By stacking two batteries each side we can have the entire motor and it's
Motor
Today we successfully removed our diesel engine. It is now in our cockpit, under the wheelhouse. All went pretty much as planned. Three of the 4 engine mounts had to be cut off. But the lift went smoothly. Always a bit tense when lifting nearly 200kg over 1.7m. We
Motor
The bit I expected to be tricky has been. The rusty bolts on the coupling between gearbox and propeller shaft wouldn't undo. Angle grinder to the rescue. So far only managed to undo 1 of 4 engine mount bolts as again very rusty. Currently soaking in wd40 but
Progress
The paint has dried in the aft cabin and it is a lot more spacious without the lockers under the side decks (painted white also helps). The black insulation used to reach the bottom of the lockers so you can see how much extra height is above it now. Plus
Cooking
After a long morning working on the aft cabin we started the preparation for removing the engine. It is one of those jobs that takes ages without seeing any progress. However, we have detached all the hoses (fuel, cooling, exhaust, domestic water heating) and electronics. We have also removed the
Progress
We're got all the ply backing to the headlining down also the cupboards as they were blocking access and we couldn't insulate them to stop condensation. Managed to remove the vinyl that was stuck to the sides. Have uncovered all the bolts we need access to.
Environmental
So despite Storm Dennis we have arrived at Vida for a few days work during Jane's half term holiday. The electricity cards had run out after 16 days but clearly the heating has done a great job. Last visit we discovered the leaks from the old dorade ventilation
Progress
So we have gone all fancy with a new basin for our heads compartment. Yes it was on sale, yes it was the cheapest at B&Q. But it doesn't look it 😂
Appliances
The biggest difference is availability. With an electric motor instead of a diesel in your boat you can achieve the same/similar performance in power/speed. At the same time you can get better reliability and lower maintenance. However, the biggest difference is that you have to manage availability. With
Electric
Among sailors, diesel engines have become so ubiquitous that few seem to be able to imagine any alternative. Yet, of course, that hasn't always been the case. However, during my lifetime we have seen them steadily increasing in power and boats becoming more dependent on them, not just
