E-day at last
The Repowering Project: Day 32 (Saturday)
The observant reader will notice that there has been a gap of some days between posts. We really thought on Monday that the engine mght be started up on Tuesday. It was duly moved into place that day, bolted down and connected up to the propshaft and the throttle control, but then Keith and the engineer found that the exhaust exit on the engine couldn't quite be lined up with the entry to the new water trap. Jason took away his adapted fitting at about 1630 Tuesday afternoon and returned with it fixed early Wednesday morning. The rest of the week seemed to consist of daily trips to Brierley Hoses to get yet another bit of hose or yet another fitting as the engineer connected up the exhaust, the salt water system, the fuel lines, the freshwater cooling system, and all the electrical systems. The mate helped by driving on the trips for more bits, writing lists, tidying up, sorting things. She repacked all the storage hatches in the lazarette which had been emptied during the project, and put the Danbuoy back in its place.
Murphy gave a hand at this point: our new magazine rack chose a moment when everyone had their heads in the engine compartment to fall gently off the wall, and just as the mate was about to head off to the airport to return to Melbourne for a couple of days, the galley pump died. In her absence the engineer fixed it, as well as working away on the connecting exercise and rationalising a lot of plumbing and wiring in the process. By the time she returned late Friday evening, there were only a few connections left, and he finished these around midnight.
On Saturday morning we were just finishing off the mounting of the instrument panel when Keith rang to ask whether we would be ready for the final test later in the morning. The panel was mounted, the salt water cooling system primed and the seacock turned on. Keith arrived, did a final check of oil and water and that everything was on that should be on, and then the Moment had Arrived.
Captain and mate went on deck to turn the key. From Stop, to On, to Start and ... nothing! There seems to be a minor issue with the above-earth starter solenoid, which makes the start up a bit temperamental, but after a couple of goes we got the long anticipated rumble of a big diesel. Keith and the engineer checked everything was going according to plan, we turned her on and off a few times and tested the revs, and then it was time to shake Keith's hand and thank him for a brilliant job.
Captain and mate repaired for a celebratory coffee, then realised that it was almost dead calm and conditions were perfect for getting the boat back in the berth. So we skipped lunch, cleared the cockpit for action, slipped our lines, pushed her off the Slipping Berth and purred out in reverse. No drama.
Once out in the Derwent we headed down past the Garrow towards Taroona, then across to Ralph's Bay trying out the engine's paces. Nahani did 8kt at 2600 revs, gets to hull speed of around 8.5 kt before you get to max engine revs (3250 revs). We did wheelies in the water and found her turning circle considerably reduced. We headed back at a steady 6.5 kt, 2000 revs. She'll achieve a comfortable 5 kt cruising pace at around 1800 revs. It isn't exactly whisper-quiet at 2000 revs, but we're hoping to further reduce the noise when we complete the soundproofing (still need to do the inside of the inspection hatches, the back of the steps, and the roof above the day tank).
Berthing is always tricky, especially when you're getting used to an engine with very different characteristics, and the prop walk is the opposite of what you're used to. We had a moment when we were diagonally across the mouth of the berth, having a close encounter with a pile, but the captain backed her slowly, repositioned her a bit, and glided in, only needing to manage a bit of fending off of someone's dinghy as he lined her up. A couple of people assisted by passing us lines and we were securely berthed after the maiden voyage of the new engine, which has been nicknamed Roger after the character in Arthur Ransome's books.
Just as we were thinking about overdue lunch, Rolf and Deborah arrived with home-baked bagels and home-cured gravlax. We opened a bottle of bubbly and had a splendid celebratory lunch.
Now all we have to do is clean up...
The observant reader will notice that there has been a gap of some days between posts. We really thought on Monday that the engine mght be started up on Tuesday. It was duly moved into place that day, bolted down and connected up to the propshaft and the throttle control, but then Keith and the engineer found that the exhaust exit on the engine couldn't quite be lined up with the entry to the new water trap. Jason took away his adapted fitting at about 1630 Tuesday afternoon and returned with it fixed early Wednesday morning. The rest of the week seemed to consist of daily trips to Brierley Hoses to get yet another bit of hose or yet another fitting as the engineer connected up the exhaust, the salt water system, the fuel lines, the freshwater cooling system, and all the electrical systems. The mate helped by driving on the trips for more bits, writing lists, tidying up, sorting things. She repacked all the storage hatches in the lazarette which had been emptied during the project, and put the Danbuoy back in its place.
Murphy gave a hand at this point: our new magazine rack chose a moment when everyone had their heads in the engine compartment to fall gently off the wall, and just as the mate was about to head off to the airport to return to Melbourne for a couple of days, the galley pump died. In her absence the engineer fixed it, as well as working away on the connecting exercise and rationalising a lot of plumbing and wiring in the process. By the time she returned late Friday evening, there were only a few connections left, and he finished these around midnight.
On Saturday morning we were just finishing off the mounting of the instrument panel when Keith rang to ask whether we would be ready for the final test later in the morning. The panel was mounted, the salt water cooling system primed and the seacock turned on. Keith arrived, did a final check of oil and water and that everything was on that should be on, and then the Moment had Arrived.
Captain and mate went on deck to turn the key. From Stop, to On, to Start and ... nothing! There seems to be a minor issue with the above-earth starter solenoid, which makes the start up a bit temperamental, but after a couple of goes we got the long anticipated rumble of a big diesel. Keith and the engineer checked everything was going according to plan, we turned her on and off a few times and tested the revs, and then it was time to shake Keith's hand and thank him for a brilliant job.
Captain and mate repaired for a celebratory coffee, then realised that it was almost dead calm and conditions were perfect for getting the boat back in the berth. So we skipped lunch, cleared the cockpit for action, slipped our lines, pushed her off the Slipping Berth and purred out in reverse. No drama.
Once out in the Derwent we headed down past the Garrow towards Taroona, then across to Ralph's Bay trying out the engine's paces. Nahani did 8kt at 2600 revs, gets to hull speed of around 8.5 kt before you get to max engine revs (3250 revs). We did wheelies in the water and found her turning circle considerably reduced. We headed back at a steady 6.5 kt, 2000 revs. She'll achieve a comfortable 5 kt cruising pace at around 1800 revs. It isn't exactly whisper-quiet at 2000 revs, but we're hoping to further reduce the noise when we complete the soundproofing (still need to do the inside of the inspection hatches, the back of the steps, and the roof above the day tank).
Berthing is always tricky, especially when you're getting used to an engine with very different characteristics, and the prop walk is the opposite of what you're used to. We had a moment when we were diagonally across the mouth of the berth, having a close encounter with a pile, but the captain backed her slowly, repositioned her a bit, and glided in, only needing to manage a bit of fending off of someone's dinghy as he lined her up. A couple of people assisted by passing us lines and we were securely berthed after the maiden voyage of the new engine, which has been nicknamed Roger after the character in Arthur Ransome's books.
Just as we were thinking about overdue lunch, Rolf and Deborah arrived with home-baked bagels and home-cured gravlax. We opened a bottle of bubbly and had a splendid celebratory lunch.
Now all we have to do is clean up...
Labels: engine
posted by Nahani-mate at
4:37 pm
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