Nahani Blog

Cook in heaven

2011-09-11T23:28:00.004+10:00

Stove Project - six weeks on
The smell of kero is becoming a distant memory, as the new Force 10 stove continues to live up to expectations. Not only is the cook doing all the usual Nahani meat and three veg meals using the stove top, griller and oven, but she is branching out, baking bread, biscuits, even making pancakes in Pancake Creek. Everything cooks more quickly than she expects, so the first round of bread and biscuits are slightly overcooked, but not enough to stop the captain enjoying them. Practice is making perfect. Now we just wonder why we didn't make the change sooner.

Cooking with gas!

2011-08-02T22:36:00.001+10:00

Stove Project: New stove "goes live"
Monday 1 August is our last day with our hire car, so we use it to provision the boat. Big supermarket trip, and when we've unloaded and packed the food away, we head down Tedder Avenue for lunch and to the BWS to restock the cellar. Then to Southern Stainless to get a bit of extra welding on the holder for the spare gas bottle, return the hire car, and back to Nahani in time to cook the first proper meal on the new stove. Oh the joy of not having to prime the burners, and no smell of kero. And to the cook's delight, the burners on the Force 10 stove are as fast or faster than the kero burners, and don't go out when turned down low. First meal uses cook top only, using frypan on the large burner and steamer on a small one.
Tuesday, cook uses the griller for the first time. No smoke from burning fat, and four lamb loin chops cook so quickly that she barely has time to get the veg cooked.
Next meal will test out the oven. Can't wait.

Project complete!

2011-08-02T22:23:00.001+10:00

Stove Project: Day 13
Another day beavering away getting the boat back to normal. Engineer spends most of the morning continuing to fit extra polystyrene around the refrigerator. Mate helps with putting fridge in, taking fridge out until all new insulation finally fitted and engineer bolts the fridge back in place, and then we refit the side and front panels. There are fragments of polystyrene everywhere, all over the floor, the walls, the engineer. Mate vacuums. And vacuums. Engineer moves on into the bed area, and slaves away again restoring the cedar panelling that was removed. Since it now has a gasline behind it, this requires a degree of modification and adjustment to allow the extra space for the new pipe. Once that's done, mate puts things away in the under-bed hatches, moves the mattress back out of the front cabin into the guest cabin and makes the bed. More vacuuming, removing ever more polystyrene which has spread through the boat. Finally, we tidy up all the tools, bits and pieces that have been used on the project and get them stowed away in their proper places in the "shed" (aka the aft starboard side cabin). We still haven't had time to shop, so it's back to the club for a carvery tea to get the strength for a last tidy up.

Restoration of order begins...

2011-07-30T21:41:00.000+10:00

Stove Project: Day 12
After rushing about for 3 days to get all the gasfitting and certification done during the working week, we decide it's time to relax a bit - we laze in the early morning, writing emails, phoning friends. Then we start on the restoration of Nahani to her proper shipshape self. Mate puts all the stuff back in the lazarette hatch while engineer finishes off the galley area. Mate then puts all the stuff back in the galley cupboards. Earlier in the week the huge cookware cupboard was emptied in order to run sensor wires through it, but that lot got put back as soon as the wires were in place. Today it's all the plates back into the plate rack and all the myriad bottles, jars, packets, containers of this and that, that live in the pantry cupboard behind the stove. Much of this has been resident in the small fridge so once it's out, the fridge is filled with more appropriate substances (wine, bubbly, beer) and turned on. Meanwhile the engineer is on the subproject of putting more insulation material around the big fridge, shedding small fragments of polystyrene foam everywhere as he works. No doubt they will gradually spread across the boat and we will be finding them for weeks.

In which we are certified

2011-07-30T15:36:00.004+10:00

Stove Project: Day 11
No, not certified insane (although it might happen any time soon). Engineer works all day to complete all the wiring of alarms and sensors. Mate assists as required, but spends most of the time taking advantage of the fact that the mattress is out of the guest cabin to hand sew a large tuck in the cover so that it fits smoothly instead of having to be tucked under by hand during bed-making as has been happening for the last 7 years.
We decide we need to keep the hire car we have for another couple of days so that we can get provisions, but find that the hire people are happy to give us an alternative car, but need ours back. So we have to juggle getting Bryan the gas man back for the final check and certification with doing the car swap. We get the timing all wrong and finish up driving down the coast and back up in Friday night traffic, and poor Bryan has to wait about three quarters of an hour for us to return. But then he gives the whole installation the big tick, and we have the excitement of lighting the stove for the first time (engineer took a break to get the gas bottle filled during his day's work). It looks wonderful. We each make a trip to the ATM to get some cash, pay Bryan and thank him profusely, especially for waiting so long, then return to the chaos. Decide to start on that tomorrow. We have a ceremonial boiling of the kettle as we have nothing else to cook, and after a cup of tea we head to the Yacht Club for fish and chips, then collapse in front of the telly in our jim-jams. Early night.

Flexing

2011-07-30T15:25:00.003+10:00

Stove Project: Day 10
We start the day with one more attempt to force a piece of electrical flex up from inside the lazarette up the inside of the jungle gym post to the small hole already drilled for its exit near the gas bottle. After a while we give up and accept that the jungle gym will have to be dismounted, at least on one side, and raised up. This all takes time to undo all the things that hold up or are held up by the jungle gym, then the topping lift is attached to the cross rail for a careful raising, preferably without damaging the newly installed gas pipe, which has been carefully unbolted and moved out of danger. Even with a gap between the exit from the lazarette and the entry into the jungle gym pole visible, it still isn't an easy job, but eventually we succeed, then lower the jungle gym equally carefully back into place, and redo/mount/tie everything that was undone/dismounted/untied. Once the pole is bolted back in place, and while the engineer does the rest, the mate retires below to feed the other end of the flex back from the lazarette into and through the guest cabin. Engineer then removes the panel above the fridge to get the flex through the last section of the guest cabin, then across the top of the galley cupboard and finally to its target, the gas alarm. He gets started on the wiring, including the underfloor sensors, only to find that the instructions for the alarm have gone missing. We ring the manufacturer, who promises to email them, but doesn't, so engineer has to call him for assistance whenever it isn't obvious what to connect to what. Meanwhile, the mate attacks the bird poo problem - while we were in Melbourne it seems some largeish bird trapped itself under the doghouse, flapped about mightily dropping feathers and excrement everywhere before finding its way out again.
The previous day a big Hanse yacht called Coorain berthed opposite and we were greeted by Peter Watson, whom we met sailing his yacht Ankira four years ago. At about 5 he appears to invite us for drinks at 6, by which time the idea seems most welcome. We clean up and join the Coorain skipper Howard and crew where we play the "who do you know that I know" game as we are all from Melbourne and of an age. After several hours and two bottles of red, we adjourn to an Indian restaurant in Tedder Street for a feed. Mate thinks it is a serendipitously pleasant way to spend her birthday.

The Gasman cometh again, and does great work

2011-07-27T19:36:00.007+10:00

Stove Project: Day 9
Returning to Nahani on Tuesday evening, we fall into bed after the flight to Coolangatta, picking up a hire car and driving to Southport Yacht Club, where the boat has been for the last month. Bryan the gasman is due in the morning. He hasn't given us a time, so we set the alarm for 7:30, thinking he might arrive around 8am. We are awoken at 7:15 by a call to say he is at the gate! We fling ourselves out of the bunk and into our clothes and the captain goes to let him in. After a very productive morning of Bryan working with assistance from the crew, we have the regulator mounted on the jungle gym pole at the back, the gas line going down through the deck, through the lazarette, into and through the guest cabin, through the cupboard, behind the fridge, through the bulkhead and along the side of the stove cavity, where it attaches to a tap and the stove hose. It isn't quite as elegant at the stove as we were hoping: we planned to have the tap mounted discreetly at the back, but regulations require it to be at the front. At least it will be obvious if we forget to turn it off. To make room for the tap we have to dismount the stove, change the gimbal mountings and remount (that was the exercise that did the engineer's back last time, but we manage it without further injury).
In the afternoon we go out for an overdue lunch, and buy some polystyrene foam - we are taking the opportunity of increasing the insulation round the fridge while it is demounted. The engineer then spends a rather fruitless afternoon trying to poke the wire for the regulator cut-off switch up from the lazarette through the hollow pole of the jungle gym to the exit hole he has drilled, but with no success. The cook, who is suffering from a badly strained foot, lay down on the job and has an afternoon sleep while he toils. Tomorrow we hope to succeed working on the problem together.

Order out of chaos

2011-07-01T16:53:00.000+10:00

Stove Project: Day 8
Engineer's back is slowly recovering. Through heroic efforts, he manages to tidy up most of the chaos, storing the content of the galley cupboards in various receptacles, re-mounting the cup and plate racks and restoring their contents, doing the washing, even shifting the old stove off the boat and taking it to the rubbish area. He is then ready to catch his taxi to the Gold Coast airport and fly back to Melbourne, where the cook is waiting to collect him and make sympathetic noises about his back.
And so the great Stove Project goes on hold until we return to the Gold Coast on 26 July. Watch this space.

The Gasman cometh

2011-07-01T16:49:00.001+10:00

Stove Project: Day 7
Engineer severely debilitated by back injury from the previous day. But he is up and ready to meet Bryan the gasfitter, who seems to think that the exercise of running the gas line from the rear of the deck down into the lazarette, through the guest cabin and into the galley is all possible. An appointment is made for Bryan to return to do the work on 27 July, by which time the crew will have returned from a spell back in Melbourne.

Engineer does his back

2011-07-01T16:41:00.003+10:00

Stove Project: Day 6
In the cook's absence, the engineer goes on with the Stove Project single-handed. The new stove was left sitting on the floor of the stove area when the mate left the previous evening. At some stage it needs to be mounted on its gimbals, and the engineer decides that this is a job he can get on with while waiting for an appointment with a gasfitter. He does some clever things to adapt the brackets for the old stove to suit the new one, which is a little wider and has its own system of gimbals and brackets. Unfortunately the actual process of mounting the stove in the new arrangement involves some rather awkward manoeuvring, and there is a nasty moment when he feels something give in his lower back. He is immobilised and in considerable pain for the rest of the day.

Big spenders

2011-06-17T23:22:00.004+10:00

Stove Project: Day 5
We begin the day by ringing around to find a gasfitter and after a few tries have an appointment made for lunchtime Wednesday. Then we discuss where to place the gas alarm and solenoid safety switch. The logical place seems to be near the plate rack, to the right of the stove, where the alarm can be set into a panel. Next we decide to unscrew that panel to check that there is room behind it. As it turns out, removal of this panel necessitates removal of the plate rack, the cup rack, the sliding doors on the pantry cupboard. Since we are going to need access to the pantry cupboard anyway as the gas line will come through it, we take everything out including the shelf. We also remove the panel above the stove. All of this uncovers all kinds of grot and sooty surfaces, so there is much cleaning to be done.
About lunchtime we take a break from scrubbing, head down Tedder Street for food and to catch the bus to Bias Boating chandlery. Found a taxi before the bus, so arrive there promptly, buy the gas alarm and find we can get a brand-new-in-box Force 10 stove direct from the agent today if we go and pick it up ourselves.
Walk from the chandlery to Southern Stainless, where we buy two stainless steel gas bottles and another mounting bracket. Book a maxi taxi, load ourselves and the gas bottles into it, and head to Ocean Solutions, the agents for the stove. Collect the stove, heave it into the taxi and head back to the marina. (Very happy taxi driver.) Load our purchases into a trolley and, with great care, shift them aboard Nahani. We then carefully demount the old kero stove, and heave it up the companionway into the cockpit. Very carefully lower the new stove down the companionway and remove it from its box. Clean the stainless steel surrounds of the stove area frantically, then put the new stove in place. We just have time for a calming drink before the mate heads off in a taxi for Coolangatta airport to catch a plane back to Melbourne.

Research

2011-06-17T23:08:00.005+10:00

Stove Project: Days 2-4
The Queen's Birthday long weekend limits our activities on the project to preparation and research. There are two issues to address: where to run the gas line from the gas bottles to the stove, and what size of gas bottle to get.
We begin on the first problem. For the voyage north, we'd stored quite a bit of stuff that normally lives in the dinghy in the guest cabin, because the dinghy had been inverted on the davits, and we didn't have anyone else aboard but captain and mate. So everything comes out of the guest cabin, including the mattress, and is distributed elsewhere: on deck (oars, rudder, Fanno the kayak), upper seaberth (bedding), standing in the front cabin (mattress). We then remove some of the cedar panelling that covers the side of the boat and the underside of the deck. We also take out the panel that surrounds the fridge and includes the doors to the hatches beside and below the fridge. Then we take enough items out of the locker in the lazarette so that we can see where the pipe will go between the back corner of the deck, where it will begin, and the entry point into the guest cabin. We look at a range of options for the line ranging from above deck, under the cockpit coaming, just under the deck, along the chine about midway up the side wall, or underneath the bunk. Option 4, along the chine, seems to be the best option.
We spend time on the internet doing some further research on gas bottles. We find information that suggests that refilling bottles is giving way to the Swap'n'Go regime, and consider using standard galvanised bottles that we can swap, rather than the special stainless bottles designed for marine use. The engineer thinks that he could build a very effective locker using a section of poly pipe, but our internet research indicates that pipe with a diameter big enough for a gas bottle could be hard to get, and can probably only be purchased in 6m lengths - a bit difficult to handle without a car. But we make lists of the pros and cons of standard bottles vs the stainless bottles.
In between ferreting around in the boats innards and staring at computer screens, we go for walks down Tedder Street for food, and feed a large pile of washing through the marina laundry. We also go for walks around the marina, checking out all the older sailing yachts. Modern fibreglass production yachts such as Beneteaus and Jenneaus all have gas, but have lockers built into the boat, as do most power boats. So we need to find older yachts which have had gas added after they were built. We find a number where we can see the actual bottles, or a purpose-built added locker. Bottles are almost always at the back of the boat, often behind the back rails, strapped on with everything from elegant, welded frames that match the stanchions through to bits of rope. The gas connection gear is often open to the elements. Whenever we can we talk to the boat owners to find out what size bottles they use, and how long they last.
We move toward galvanised bottles, but eventually come full circle back to the stainless ones, as locker construction is beginning to look complicated, refilling seems to be what everyone does, and the slimmer stainless bottles will be less obtrusive than the fatter gal bottles, not to mention lighter to carry ashore for refilling. So by Monday evening we are set for a major excursion ashore on Tuesday to buy the stove and bottles.

Natives prove friendly

2011-06-11T00:42:00.003+10:00

Stove Project: Day 1
Bright sunny morning, no wind, so we move promptly to bring the boat from where we were anchored in Marine Stadium to Southport Yacht Club. But by the time we've put her in the allocated pen, tied her up snugly, joined the Yacht Club and paid all our dues, we are hungry and eat lunch in the club.
We get advice from the friendly bloke in the chandlery about where to find stainless steel gas bottles, and the Yacht Club reception gets us a taxi. We head first to Bias Boating in Biggera Waters, because we have already confirmed that they have a Force 10 stove on the floor that we can look at. The cook has seen these stoves at Boat Shows in Sydney and Melbourne, and has been hankering after one since then, but needs to look more critically now that there is a real prospect of purchase.
The helpful people at Bias Boating lug the stove off the shelf so that we can measure everything, see where the gas connects, even try out the cook's favourite twin roasting dishes (carried there for the purpose) to see if they fit side by side in the oven, which they do. Engineer is happy with the general quality, and the bloke in Bias Boating says it will be no issue to drop the stove off at the Yacht Club Marina if we decide to buy. We have a look at gas alarms while we are there, another expensive item required as part of the project. Bias Boating recommend the same firm as did the Yacht Club chandlery, and as they are not too far up the road, we walk to Southern Stainless who have stainless gas bottles in all sizes, together with elegant stainless holders to clamp on to your rail. Engineer has the bright idea of buying a holder, on the basis of being able to return it if it doesn't fit, so that we can see just where it might be simply fitted to Nahani's rails. We take the bus back to the Yacht Club and the boat, where we are delighted to find that we can fit a holder on the rail just behind the side poles of the "jungle gym" that supports the radar, arials and wind generator. The Danbuoy will have to be relocated on one side, but that isn't a serious problem. So now we have both ends of the project sorted, apart from the actual purchase. Now for the really tricky bit - working out where and how to put a gas line from bottle to stove. We also have to find a spot for the gas alarm, but there are plenty of options.
The prospective hole in our finances is deepening all the time. We thought the stove itself was expensive, but two gas bottles, two holders and a gas alarm will cost nearly as much again. And then there's the cost of the bit in between, and a gas-fitter to do the connecting up. Once again BOAT = Bring Out Another Thousand. But we don't have much choice - can't keep going with an ageing stove that has continence problems.
Everyone was most helpful today, including the bus driver and a fellow passenger who saw us trying to memorise bus stops for future reference. We think we made a good choice in deciding to do the changeover here in the Gold Coast.

Stove Project - Introduction

2011-06-09T16:21:00.002+10:00

Those of you who have been on Nahani will know that we refer to the kerosene cooker in the galley as Stove, because it has a defnite personality. It is temperamental, can be seriously difficult, and typically chooses to have an Issue when it causes maximum inconvenience. Stove has its own dedicated box of repair parts, and the engineer has spent countless hours coaxing it back into operation. Hundreds of dollars have been spent on new burners in the six plus years we have owned the boat. From time to time, Stove fills the boat with smoke and coats the walls and roof in the galley with a fine film of soot. Stove smells, both in operation and at rest. Lighting it is an art, requiring priming with metho followed by patient watching, of which only the cook and engineer are masters, and even they have the odd failure. Lighting it in a heaving sea is well-nigh impossible. The oven has a thermometer but no thermostat, so cooking anything that requires accurate temperature control is chancy, unless the cook is prepared to sit by the stove doing constant adjustment to the burner to maintain tbe desired temperature.
In Stove's defence, once the burners are alight they are hot and will heat food or boil water faster than any gas stove. And over the years, hundreds of nutritious and delicious meals have been concocted thereon or therein.
Now Stove appears to be terminally ill. What was a three burner stove with oven is now a 1 to 2 burner stove, no oven. No oven because one of the kerosene tanks under the oven has a very small leak, which becomes larger under pressure as the oven gets hot, and then catches fire, burning with a smelly yellow flame which deposits soot all over the inside of the oven. 1 to 2 burners because one of the three burners is permanently decomissioned because of a stripped thread in the burner mounting, and the pricker has packed up on one of the two remaining burners, so when it clogs up, intervention is required by the engineer before it will burn properly again.
We've decided that we've had enough of spending time and money trying to keep Stove alive, and that it is past its use-by date. A replacement will be bought and hopefully fitted while we are in Queensland. The distributors for the new Force 10 stove the cook wants to buy are based in the Gold Coast, so this seems like a good place to do the changeover.

Repowering: Post-implementation review

2009-02-11T22:09:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: one month later

Some of the little jobs mentioned in the last post are still on the To Do list, but basically the project is finished and we are delighted with the performance of the new Yanmar, coupled with the change to bigger blade on our Autostream prop, which is now well-matched to the engine.

Here, in no particular order, are the benefits of the changeover:

We can cruise along at 5kt doing 1800 revs, and 2000 revs gives us a cruising speed of 6kt. This extends our range when we are making short trips with deadlines at the end of them - we can start from Dover or Cygnet down the Channel and know that we can still get back to Hobart in a short day even if we have to motor into a headwind the whole way.
We feel we have the power to make headway even in tough conditions, although we haven't had to prove that yet.
The boat is much more manoeuvrable, particularly in reverse.
Conveniently, the changeover has reversed our prop walk, making it much easier to get out of our current berth.
Now that we've fixed a leak and got all the air out of the system, the engine is heating the hot water as effectively as the old engine did. We feared this might not be the case as with the Yanmar only part of the total coolant flow goes through the heat exchanger for the hot water service, and we thought we might need a header tank to avoid problems with airlocks.
With the new splitter installed, the alternator is delivering good charge to all batteries.
Fuel consumption is 2.5l per hour. Taking into account the increased cruising speed, this probably doubles our range.
Not a drop of oil has appeared on our newly painted engine compartment floor.
With the soundproofing and lower cruising revs, we can have a conversation when the engine is running without having to shout at one another.

We visited the Yanmar stand at the Wooden Boat Festival to report in as satisfied customers, and went off clutching Yanmar caps, stubby holders and a rather nice mat, which Peter is thinking of putting under the engine to see if it further reduces the noise level. Suspect the Yanmar agent was hoping that we'd put it somewhere a bit more public, so it's on deck for the time being.

Really final touches

2009-01-11T15:41:00.004+11:00

The Repowering Project: Days 34-38 (Monday 5 to Friday 9 January 2009)

The astute reader will note a gap in proceedings between this post and the last. Engineer and mate returned to Melbourne for Christmas, came back with a friend and went sailing, enjoying all that new power. Friend returned to Melbourne on 4 January, and the engine project resumed to do those last few jobs which didn't actually stop us sailing but which need to be finished off.
We'd survived a few days away without having the hot water connected to the engine, using our small petrol generator to drive the electric hotwater system a couple of times. But getting it connected was a priority. The engineer was putting it off because he feared it was going to be complicated - according to the Yanmar manual, if your tank was higher than your engine, you needed another small header tank to trap any air bubbles, something we hadn't had with the Perkins. After thought and study of the diagrams from Yanmar, and the diagram of the internal workings of the hot water tank, the engineer decided that the actual heat exchanger was only marginally higher than the engine, if at all, and that he could just connect up without any additional installation. It was a two person effort to lead the pipes round the tank for connection, but otherwise a straightforward job.

While the engineer was considering the hot water problem, he and the mate had measured and cut the soundproofing to go on the back of the companionway steps. With this and the cutouts on the back of the hatch covers glued and fastened into position, the engine was noticeably quieter. Moving the companionway steps, always a heavy lifting job, now requires even more effort as it has several extra kilos attached.

The engineer feared that the old splitter system (the thing that delivers power to both banks of batteries and also ensures that the batteries are not over-charged) would not work properly with the Yanmar alternator, and on our trip down the Channel his fears were confirmed. He invested in a Piranha power management system designed for 4WD, and once fitted, this solved the problem and also made all the battery wiring simpler.

Another job deemed not essential for the first trip was the fitting of the safety switch to prevent the engine from being started in gear, but this finally got done (had to wait until it stopped raining so that the engineer could work in the lazarette to finish it off).

So, much has been done, but there are still a few small jobs left...

Having simplified the wiring considerably, the engineer is planning to make it even better by getting a terminal post which can be used to connect in the anchor winch motor more elegantly.
Engineer and mate measured and cut the last two soundproofing panels to go above the day-tank under the cockpit floor. The engineer managed to fit one before the glue fumes got to him - the other is still to be fitted.
In the old Perkins days, there were two pushbutton switches located near the throttle which allowed the anchor winch to be operated from the cockpit. These had to be removed to make way for the Yanmar panel, which has all the instruments together. We planned to fit something new where the old tacho was, as there is currently just a hole there, and found an appropriate sized switch panel which almost completely covers the hole. We still need to get a suitable switch as we want a sprung switch, rather than an on-off switch, fit it to the panel, fit the panel to the hole and connect it up.
And there is still some work to be done to fasten cables and pipes to make them more secure and avoid chafing.

But of course there are still things left to do. It's a boat, isn't it?

Final touches

2008-12-27T23:26:00.002+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 33, last day (Sunday)

The engineer investigated the problem with the starter solenoid, and found that the modification to the electrics to make the engine "above earth" had a minor logic error. The solenoid was earthed to the engine rather than the negative pole of the battery. Since the engine is only earthed when the starter solenoid is operating, this created a Catch-22 where the solenoid was only earthed if it had already connected, which it couldn't until it was earthed. What remains unexplained is how it worked even occasionally - the engineer thinks it is some capacitance effect.

That was the good news. Later in the day when the engineer was finishing off the job of securing all the new cables and pipes to make sure they stay where they should, he noticed to his horror that there was water dripping slowly but steadily from the platform on which the new water trap is mounted. His first thought was that the hose clamps on the exhaust needed tightening, but as the mate was assisting with this operation, she pointed out that there couldn't be that much water remaining in the exhaust line hours after the engine had last run. The water had to be coming from the water trap itself. Could it be leaking at the bottom, she asked, thinking that this was a horrible prospect. However this reminded the engineer that, right where the water was appearing, the water trap has a small tap which allows it to be drained. The manual helpfully tells you that you should use the tap to drain the tank when you "lay up for the winter", assuming that you are sailing in waters that freeze over. What it fails to say is "ensure that the tap is firmly off before installing the trap, especially if it is going to be almost inaccessible after installation". The engineer had to do very clever things with socket wrench extensions to get to the tap, but he finally succeeded in turning it off hard, and to our relief, the dripping duly stopped.

By late evening we had the boat in reasonable order again, ready for our return to Melbourne for Christmas. There are of course still things to be done, but she is sufficiently ship-shape to sail.

E-day at last

2008-12-20T16:37:00.004+11:00

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...

Pre E-day

2008-12-16T09:13:00.002+11:00

The Repowering Project, Day 27 (Monday)

As if I didn't have enough to do eating, sleeping and washing, now they want me to blog as well. Seems they're too stuffed or something. I have to say that things improved significantly today. For a start it was a nice sunny day for me to enjoy a snooze on deck. He re-assembled and re-erected the wind generator, which got the side deck clear for the first time in weeks. That seemed to take him a long time and a lot of muttering to get it fixed in place. Meanwhile she was footling about in the guest cabin. Then they got that big box out of the cockpit and back into the lazarette, and this huge black curly hose thing stuffed down beside it. Seemed to be a lot of noise and sawdust everywhere - must have been cutting holes in things to get that hose in. And they cut another bit of board, and chopped a bit off the mattress with a knife. At the end of the day they had mattress back and the guest cabin back in shape, so I can get back in there for a snooze, and all the seaberths are finally free for a cat to sit or lie on. And they've turned the hot water back on, so I can retreat to a warm spot in the cupboard beside it. I've got pretty used to going up on deck via the engine - sometimes it seems easier than scrambling up the companionway steps. Life is definitely improving (Sake)

Exhausted! Well, almost...

2008-12-14T09:36:00.006+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 25&26 (Weekend)

Weather miserable, raining nearly all day. Engineer spent the morning in the back of the guest cabin and leaning over the day tank re-routing the port side rear cockpit drain. Then he began work on the platform to support the water trap. Gods on our side again - he found two nice heavy stainless steel brackets almost the perfect size and shape in the bosuns scrap bin. Slight setback when he realised that the web on to which they are to be mounted is not vertical, so they need to be bent, no simple matter. Rain finally stopped in the evening, allowing us to open the lazarette to mount the skin fitting for the exhaust hose. Captain on the outside, mate on the inside tightening up the bolts when another rain squall came through, leaving the captain distinctly damp and adding wet clothes to the chaos below decks.

Early Sunday prepared to go back in the water. Fitted one end of the exhaust hose to the skin fitting, leaving the rest looped around in the lazarette. Engineer found that he could bend the brackets in the bosuns' workshop using a large spanner and a vice (well he is a vice-president). Back to platform construction.

Mate meanwhile has measured and cut a few more bits of soundproofing to be put in place once the motor is permanently in place, passed bits and pieces to the engineer as requested and tried to keep the ship in some sort of order.

Sake says:
Not trying nearly hard enough if you ask me. Can't jump on the starboard seaberth any more because it's occupied by tools, boxes, wet clothes, dirty washing. And no sensible cat would go on deck as the wind would blow your whiskers off. I did go for a walk late last night when they went for a shower - wasn't wet but very cold - had some trouble relocating Nahani as all the boats look much the same to me from underneath.

Later Nahani was relaunched without real drama, although gusty winds made pulling her out of the cradle on the slip and round the corner to the slipping berth fairly hard work for us, Danny and two helpers. Work continued without much change, except that it was very nice being able to step from boat to the jetty, instead of climbing up and down the ladder.

Of flying pigs and cats on mats

2008-12-13T11:00:00.003+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 24 (Friday)

While the engineer was in Melbourne being re-elected as Vice President of the Royal Society of Victoria, the mate did the anti-fouling and put another coat on the newly cut surfaces. Part way through the new exhaust hose was delivered by Nick from the RYCT office - ordered on Monday it arrived on Friday. The mate had told the bosuns that we might get it on Friday, but probability was low - flying pigs were mentioned. One must have flown past (or the kindly gods are still living in Tasmania).

On the engineer's return, we went in search of hose fittings for the relocation of the cockpit hose and started that project. As rain was forecast for Saturday, the mate put the last coats of paint on the wind generator and the repaired front of the lazarette.

And now, Sake the cat would like a word.

Meeeoww! When are they going to get this #*@! boat back in order? The only bits that are as usual are their bed and my bed, and they had better not mess with that. To get to my food dish I have to crawl past the engine, my alternate resting place in the guest cabin is unavailable because the mattress and bedding are all in the saloon, my sand tray is almost inaccessible behind the companionway steps which are in the forward cabin, I'm missing my evenings sitting at the dining table with them as the table seems to have been turned into a workbench and meals are off, except for breakfast which is not very interesting (no meat, no wine). Then he went off and she spent half the evening sitting in the engine compartment cleaning and sticking up tape - what kind of night is that? I sat on the mat on the engine to inspect her work, but you couldn't call it comfortable. I have enjoyed a couple of mornings in the sun in the cockpit, but there's a huge box out of the lazarette in the middle of that and people keep putting tools and other bits and pieces on my sheepskin rug. If I want a walk, she has to carry me down the ladder and although I can climb back up by myself, it isn't easy for a cat of my advanced years. Sometimes, when they're doing work on deck, they seem to turn off all the electricity, including my heater pad. It just isn't up to my expectations and they'd better get things back to normal Real Soon Now.

Paint jobs

2008-12-11T22:34:00.002+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 23 (Thursday)

Removed some of our newly mounted soundproofing to squeeze in our huge new water trap. The engineer did some planning for the mounting of the trap, and cut out the platform for it before flying off to Melbourne for a meeting. The mate cleaned the engine compartment (again - Perkins oil is persistent), painted the cut edges of the cut down web in the engine compartment and the enlarged hole for the exhaust, painted the wind generator and the patched instrument panel, painted the water trap platform, and finished the day by cleaning the last bits of slime off the hull ready for patching of the anti-fouling. The prop has been anti-fouled with PropSpeed - another paint job but this one done by the Bilge Rats.

Nahani puts on weight (engine mounts in place)

2008-12-10T22:32:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 22 (Wednesday)

Day started well - up early, Keith & Jason arrived with the engine mounts beautifully painted and ready for installation (see picture). With the mounts in place, bolted to the old mounts and with the engine sitting on top, the engine lined up well, not only the drive from the gearbox with the prop shaft, but also the exhaust outlet and water trap. Keith and Jason suitably surprised and pleased. We worked out appropriate solutions for supporting the water trap, and re-routing the cockpit drains in the guest cabin in order to make room for the exhaust. The engine came out again to give us room to work on implementing these.

Next step was to get the hole drilled in the transom for the exhaust. Jason started with a hole saw, but it wasn't coping so he had to drill all the way round the new 100mm diameter hole, which took ages. We had planned to put something below the hole to catch the metal fragments as the hole was cut, but failed to remember at the critical moment, so much of the afternoon was spent extracting teeny bits of metal from the bottom of the lazarette using magnet and vacuum cleaner. With the final lining up of the engine now checked, the prop could be fitted and the engineer had major problems getting it all lined up, snapping a spanner in the process. But it did finally get done. When not assisting with something else, the mate got some cleaning and sanding work done, ready for a whole lot of painting jobs, now scheduled for Thursday.

Lows and highs

2008-12-09T21:24:00.003+11:00

The Repowering Project: Days 20&21 (Monday/Tuesday)

Monday not a good day, so no blog. With the engine pretty much in place, we'd spent time over the weekend with the catalogs trying to work out what size and shape of water trap would fit. Final check with Keith when he came to shift the engine out again, and we were ready to order on Monday at about lunchtime. When we rang, the helpful people at Vetus queried our choice of hose size - didn't we need 90mm rather than 75mm they asked? The engineer decided to check with Yanmar, who said they actually recommended 100mm! By then we'd ordered a 75mm hull fitting, and had the 75mm hose cut. Rapid reverse - we ordered a 100mm hull fitting, hose and water trap with 100mm inlet/outlet. Rather subdued, we spent the evening doing a final check fit and trim of the soundproofing panels. At least the weather was warm and sunny, and the mate finally got the wind generator painted, primed all the newly cut wood in the lazarette and bogged up the hole left by the removal of the old engine cut-off cable.

To our surprise and relief, the water trap and hull fitting arrived by air freight first thing Tuesday. We got started on the soundproofing early, taking breaks regularly so that we didn't get too high on contact adhesive. By tea time we had all the panels glued and screwed in place, and some of the various pipes and cables back in place on the walls. In one of the breaks from gluing, the engineer, ,using a saw kindly lent by Keith cut out part of the web which used to hold the Scatra coupling to make more room for the new water trap. Pictures of water trap and soundproofing are in the web album.

Ready for a big week

2008-12-07T11:57:00.007+11:00

The Repowering Project: Days 18 & 19 (weekend)

Saturday morning brought Jason & Keith. Mounts were inspected, engine raised, mounts removed to Jason's truck, re-sculpted, brought back up, put in place, and then Keith and Jason began the delicate business of lining up everything, with the ship's engineer below adjusting the prop. Once everything was aligned to their satisfaction and the mounts marked for the bolt holes, the engine was raised again, mounts removed, replaced on wooden blocks, and Keith & Jason left. Jason will now bore all the necessary holes and then have them painted, ready for final refit.

In the afternoon the captain and mate shared the laborious task of cleaning the prop hub, ready for a coat of PropSpeed. We've seen enough props out of the water on boats in the yard that have had this treatment and are completely pristine - no plant or animal life at all - to decide it's worth the investment.

Sunday we had the luxury of a later start. We spent most of the day emptying the lazarette ready for adaptation for the new exhaust system. We also made a cardboard cut-out version of the water trap most likely to fit, and are now sufficiently confident to order it and the exhaust hose.

A few more pieces in place...

2008-12-06T09:07:00.004+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 17 (Friday)

Woke to steady rain, found that we'd been visited early by Jason who'd left the engine mount brackets and a fibreglass water trap at the foot of the ladder. The brackets are made of 10mm steel and look like they could hold up the Sydney Harbour bridge - seriously heavy. Keith appeared not long after, we hauled the new mounts up the ladder, lifted the engine and tried it in place on the mounts. Found that the mounts would need some minor adjustment to clear the bell housing. Left them in place under the engine so that Jason could come Saturday to measure up for the change. With the engine back in the compartment we had companionway steps again, which made the rest of the day much more comfortable and allowed us to clean up a bit.

The second hand water trap turned out to be a bit too large, so that problem remained unsolved. On our daily lunch/shopping trip we bought screws and adhesive to attach the soundproofing, and on return the mate cut the the pieces of soundproofing to fit the roof while the engineer did the cut-out in the front of the lazarette to take the instrument panel, and cut out the panel in the lazarette to provide access to cut the bigger hole for the new exhaust.

Graham, a boatie who passed by to talk to Keith, turned out to have a brand-new Vetus water trap that was surplus to his requirements, so he brought it down for us to try. This one turned out to be too small. We thought of putting two in series, but that won't work either, so we are still considering out options.

Weather cleared to a warm afternoon and an evening so balmy that the cat insisted on going for an evening stroll around the dinghy sheds. He's proved that at 18 he can still climb up the ladder to get back aboard.

Shhhh! Soundproofing

2008-12-04T23:02:00.007+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 16 (Thursday)

Fine weather at last, but where were we? Stuck inside fitting the soundproofing. So far we've cut all the pieces to do the sides of the engine compartment. Sound simple? Wrong. For a start there are cross-braces, so each side has an upper and lower piece. Then there are all kinds of intrusions - webs coming up from the floor, the shelf for the batteries coming in from the aft end of the compartment, and one side and the floor are angled rather than straight. Much careful measuring, measuring, measuring, crouched in awkward positions in the engine compartment. Then measuring up the soundproofing material, marking, measuring again, then cutting with a Stanley knife, which is hard work - the Vybar we are using is tough stuff. We swapped crouching and cutting roles, so as not to get too much cramp or RSI.

Then you have to wrestle the cut sheet into position behind all the pipes and cables, and correctly positioning the cutouts. For the upper pieces this proved so difficult that we had to cut each one into two. Finally, we had to cut holes in the lower pieces for the access hatches on either side, retaining the cut out bit to stick on the back of the hatch cover. It took us most of the day, with a short break for lunch.

In the process of crawling around and moving pipes and cables, the engineer realised that some more bits of electrical cabling would need to be moved, and that the new exhaust will require a bit of carpentry in the floor of the lazarette to allow it to pass under the cockpit drains. His evening was spent relocating the splitter (a device which allow the alternator to charge two sets of batteries independently).

Keith came by early this morning and attached the adjusted cotton reel to the back of the engine - one more piece in place. We also ordered the through hull fitting for the exhaust pipe - another piece on its way.

Fine weather not entirely wasted - another coat of paint on the Danbuoy.

Of couplings and "cotton reels"

2008-12-03T21:41:00.006+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 15 (Wednesday)

No blogs for the last two days because the mate has been attending a radio operators course, so spent the time usually allocated to blogging studying, attending lectures or sitting the exam. Hopefully she has succeeded in obtaining her Marine Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency.

Weather continues wet, windy and freezing. However the project inched forward. Keith and Jason arrived at around 0830 this morning. Keith had the "cotton reel" made up by Scotty, which goes between the prop shaft and the engine. Keith, Jason and Peter shifted the engine around so that they could check that all the bits would fit together as planned, and so that Jason could get precise measurements for the wedge-shaped struts that will sit on the old engine beds. In the process they discovered that the flexible coupling they were planning to use couldn't be placed where they wanted it, and so it will be exchanged for a different one which will fit between cotton reel and shaft, instead of between engine and cotton reel. At the end of these proceedings the engine was left in the cabin at the bottom of the companionway, so that we can start lining the engine compartment with soundproofing material.

Meanwhile, in the area of general maintenance the mate managed to get one coat of paint on the Danbuoy in a break between rain squalls. Mate and captain went out for some lunch, and to look for the key parts of the exhaust system: a water trap (aka muffler or pongbox), exhaust hose and a stainless steel through hull fitting for the hose to go through to the open air. We have just about decided what to use and where to get it, but flinching at the costs. (We are reminded that BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand.)

Earlier this week, on Monday, Keith provided a "puller" to get the prop off the shaft, and we packed it and sent it Express Post to Autostream in Melbourne. They received it Tuesday, swapped the blades for bigger ones, and it came back via Express Post this morning. We've fitted it back on to the shaft and to our relief our calculations were all OK - the blades clear the skeg comfortably in all positions. This upgrades the prop size from 18" to 20".

In the last couple of days we've also cleared out one side of the lazarette where the exhaust pipe goes from engine compartment through the lazarette and out through a hole in the transom. The engineer pulled out the old exhaust pipe, and with considerable effort removed a large John valve which allowed the exhaust to be shut off, but which we've been advised is unnecessary. This is all part of clearing the way for installation of a larger diameter exhaust hose and the cutting of an appropriately larger hole in the transom.

Circumnavigation without power

2008-12-01T10:43:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Days 11&12 (weekend)

We were only circumnavigating the marina, not the world, but it was still a challenge, made much easier because we had three real circumnavigators assisting: Rolf and Deborah from Northern Light, Horacio and Lisa from Nada and Dave Cerutty, a local who made his round trip some years back. The decision to swap the engines over with the boat in the water meant that we had to get it out of the pen, right round the marina and into the cradle for the slip without power. Typically, everyone came to help. Danny the bosun, Danny's dad Ridley and a couple of others were in the workboat. Rolf and Horacio (whom Rolf and Deborah already knew from sailing in South America) were in a big inflatable with 40hp. Deborah, Horacio's wife Lisa, friend Brian and son Didi were aboard Nahani with the captain and mate, and Dave, Bill and John were at the wharf by the slip to help us pull in to the wharf, and then manoevre her round the corner and into the slip cradle.

Getting her out of the pen was tricky as the wind was blowing her in and Danny had to wait for a lull to get the workboat into the appropriate position. Another helpful couple of passers-by thoughtfully unhooked the bridle from the anchor as we came out. The hardest part was getting her turned around and out past the rocks, and we had one anxious moment when she drifted sideways back toward the stern of an elegant little fibreglass number called Wombat, but Deborah was there with a big ball fender to hold us off while Rolf pushed in the inflatable and the workboat slowly pulled us round. The captain did a first class job of steering, the mate had almost nothing to do but to throw lines to tow boats and helpers on the wharf at critical moments. What was particularly notable was that despite the fact that we had over a dozen helpers, all of them were so experienced that there was hardly any problem with who was giving orders to whom - everyone just did what needed doing.

So by midday Sunday Nahani was safely up on the hard stand in her cradle. On Saturday the engineer had found someone to make up starter cables, and on Sunday afternoon our priority was to get the prop off the shaft ready to send back to Melbourne to have larger blades fitted. We got all but the base off, which meant we could work on getting the old blades nice and clean. We'll borrow a "puller" from Keith to get the base off the prop and can then send it all on Monday.

A lay day

2008-11-28T21:28:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 10 (Friday)

No engine action on the boat, though we know that somewhere Jason and Scotty are at work on their pieces of the project.

This morning we lined up our car fleet in the carpark: Maisie the amazing Mazda, Dodo the venerable Volvo, and the new green machine, the Renault, which has been nicknamed Gigi. We cleaned out the Volvo, which we will now advertise for sale, moved the soundproofing into the Mazda for temporary storage until we are ready to fit it in the engine compartment. We were then able to reinstate the back seats in the Renault, which had been made into a truck for the transport of the 1.2m long soundproofing sheets. Next we spent a happy hour or so reading the handbook and trying all the knobs and buttons, before taking Gigi for a spin up to North Hobart via Repco for starter cable, having lunch, then returning via Lower Sandy Bay shops. Weather still too wet and cold for outdoor maintenance tasks, so we are trying to straighten up the mess below decks.

Progressive problem-solving

2008-11-28T21:13:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 9 (Thursday)

With the new lugs fitted, Keith and Jason lifted the engine and established the correct position using blocks of wood from the hard stand area. Jason measured these temporary wedges, and will now make up wedge shaped metal frames that will bolt on top of the existing engine beds, and on which the new engine will be mounted.

The next key player to arrive was Scotty Seabrook, who makes up the "cotton reel": a piece of steel shaped like a bobbin which bolts on to the engine on one side, and the prop shaft on the other. The mate arrived back at the boat in time to meet Scotty as he completed his measuring tasks.

While in Melbourne on Tuesday the mate had picked up her newly-purchased car : a 2002 Renault Scénic. On Wednesday she collected and cut up 4 sheets of Acoustica Vybar soundproofing, and returned via the Spirit of Tasmania with it and the cat packed into the new car, driving down from Devonport on Thursday morning.

Now for the real work

2008-11-28T20:54:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 8 (Wednesday)

Although it is the most dramatic part and visible part of the project, getting the old engine out and the new one in the boat is only the beginning. After that come the skilled exercises of lining up engine and prop shaft, then refitting all the pipes: fuel lines, cooling system, exhaust; the electrical wiring to and from batteries and to the instruments; connection of control cables for the throttle; and so on.

The existing engine beds slope down toward the stern, as the Perkins was lined up directly with the prop shaft, attached with a scatra coupling. The new Yanmar engine has an 8 degree down angle in the gearbox, so that the engine has to be level rather than sloping backward. Keith and Jason returned today to work out how to fix the engine in place at the right angle. They discovered that they couldn't lift the back of the engine up as required using slings, so Jason went off to make up lifting lugs to go on the back of the engine.

Successful swap: one out, one in

2008-11-28T20:22:00.009+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 7 (Tuesday)

Tuesday was fine, not too windy, and we prepared ourselves for the interesting task of getting Nahani across to the dinghy wharf without power. The captain and mate had devised various ways of doing it with ropes, but the bosuns brought the work boat round to tow us over. This proved no easy task, and without the help of Rolf and Deborah aboard Nahani, the mate in the dinghy to take a rope ashore at the critical moment, and a kind passer-by to take it and pull her in, we would never have got there. But finally we were securely tied up, ready for Keith to come and manage the engine exchange.

Vic Belbin, the Perkins' new owner arrived with ute and trailer, ready to collect his purchase. Keith arrived at about midday, bosun Ron drove the crane on the wharf, and the Perkins was hoisted up, swung out past the backstays and the new radar antenna, and out on to Vic's trailer. We added all the spares collected first by Steve, then by the captain over the years since the engine went into Nahani, and finally Vic had the Perkins secure and ready to go.

Meanwhile, Keith had uncrated the Yanmar, which he had picked up for us and brought on his trailer. He moved his ute and trailer where Vic's had been, fitted slings around the new engine and we reversed the process with the crane, this time putting the new engine on to a plank in the cockpit, ready to move it in under the doghouse and lower it down into the boat. At this point, the mate had to leave to catch a flight to Melbourne, so the rest of this blog is based on the captain's recollections, as told to the mate on her return.

Using the same techniques that were used to get the Perkins out, the Yanmar was slid inwards on the plank, suspended from the hatch above the companionway, lowered to the cabin sole, then slid backwards on to the engine beds, temporarily in position.

The captain thought he might have to wait until the next morning to take the boat back to the berth, but later in the afternoon Rolf and Deborah returned with a 150m length of Spectra rope that they used to tie up to the shore in Patagonia, and used the dinghy to take the rope from Nahani back to the berth. The boat was then pulled gently over and into the berth, using the anchor winch. Easy, when you have expert assistance!

Captain right, mate wrong

2008-11-25T00:46:00.003+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 6 (Monday)

The captain was right, the mate wrong. Too wet this morning, too windy this afternoon. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Getting ready...

2008-11-22T21:41:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Days 4&5 (Weekend)

Weather on Saturday not as wet as Friday, but still inclement, so after a shopping trip for supplies and an early lunch, we spent the afternoon below decks. The engine compartment is now clean enough to eat off, and the Aquadrive, the last piece of our old power system, has been removed. We've begun packing it and all the engine bits ready for despatch to their new owners. We measured up the now empty engine compartment and emailed an order for Vybar soundproofing material from Australian company Acoustica.

Sunday was almost rain-free, so the mate could get on with sanding the wind generator, which is being refurbished. The engineer meanwhile did more work on tidying up the old wiring and plumbing around the engine, and repainted the engine compartment floor. At the end of the day we ran out of things to do and went to the pictures.

Meanwhile we're anxiously watching the weather forecasts. The mate, who is an optimist, thinks the engine swap will happen Monday, but the captain thinks it will be too windy and we'll have to wait until Tuesday. Watch this blog to find out who's right.

Success squared! (The gods still live in Tasmania)

2008-11-21T19:39:00.006+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 3 (Friday)

Awoke to bright sunshine, up early and ready for Keith by 8:30am. Keith tied rope slings round the engine, which were then attached to three chain blocks (really "come-alongs") rigged from the hatch over the companionway, and we slowly started to lift the Perkins from its bed. The engineer supplied most of the muscle (so he can now say he personally lifted the engine out of his boat) while Keith gave directions and adjusted the lifting tackle from time to time. First the engine came up, then forward out of the engine compartment, then up again until it was clear of the board at the top of the companionway. Keith then inserted a plank under it, sloping back into the cockpit, moved some of the lifting tackle back to the back of the doghouse roof, and gradually edged the motor back until it was over the cockpit. Remove the plank, lower slowly and hey presto! the motor is sitting comfortably on a board on the cockpit floor, ready for final removal. All by 11am. The engineer was delighted, as he has been anxious about the removal for weeks. But we shifted all 300kg out without any damage to the boat - just some minor disturbance of the non-skid stuck along the edge of the doghouse roof. We are very impressed with Keith's skill and patient work.

After a celebratory coffee at the yacht club, the engineer spent a couple of hours cleaning the engine compartment and starting preparations for the new engine. We stopped for lunch at 1:30pm, enjoyed a meal in the sun, and just as we decided to make a quick trip into town the heavens opened and from then on it poured all afternoon. We felt so relieved that the engine was already out.

Just to round off a perfect day, we had a call from Vic Belbin later in the afternoon to say that he wanted to buy the old motor and gearbox. We had a beer with Rolf and Deborah from Northern Light to celebrate.

So faithful Kieren (as Steve and Chrisy nicknamed the Perkins) is off to a new home on Monday. Weather permitting, we will tow Nahani across to the wharfside crane, lift Keiren out, put the Yanmar in, then return to the pen under tow (which will be challenging). The forecast is for showers clearing Monday morning, so we may have to defer that operation until Tuesday. Meanwhile there is plenty to do: measuring up for the sound-deadening that we are going to install, more cleaning, relocating some items while the engineer has free access to the inside of the engine compartment, all of which can be done even if the present soggy weather continues all weekend.

Rain stopped play

2008-11-20T20:48:00.005+11:00

The Repowering Project: Day 2 (Thursday)

We awoke to steady rain which continued all day. Bother! Keith contacted us to say he didn't work in the wet and to ring him if it let up, but it didn't.

The rain finally paused at about 5:30 and we managed to get the old instruments (tachometer, oil pressure and temperature gauges) disconnected and demounted before it started up again. The engineer is pleased to find that the new instrument panel will probably fit neatly over all the holes left after removal of the old instruments. We'll find out tomorrow or Saturday if he is right.

More showers forecast for tomorrow, but hopefully they'll hold off for long enough for us to make some real progress on engine removal.

The Repowering Project begins...

2008-11-19T20:36:00.007+11:00

Day 1 (Wednesday)

We sat in the RYCT for 3 weeks waiting patiently for someone to come and look at the Perkins (see the previous post), but it wasn't until we returned to Melbourne that we received a call from someone who was interested enough to want to do so. After a very hectic week in Melbourne and a late flight to Hobart, we were still in our PJs this morning when first Keith Smith, who is going to do the changeover, then Vic Belbin, hopefully a prospective buyer, came knocking at Nahani.

Keith and colleague Jason spent some time looking over the engine compartment and discussing how best to manage the changeover while the captain talked to Vic about Perkins engines. Vic has one of his own, and is principally interested because he would like to swap our gearbox for his current one, as it rotates the drive shaft the other way. He may also consider taking the engine as well, as it gives him a complete collection of spare parts, or even a complete spare engine, should his fail or need a major rework. We're hopeful.

Vic and Peter then talked about Perkins engines and boats in general over coffee until it was close to lunchtime. The cook went ashore for provisions, the engineer started on the interesting, and at times challenging, task of disconnecting everything attached to the engine. On a marine engine, this is no simple task. Not only are there obvious things like exhaust systems and cooling systems, but there are heat exchangers to heat the hot water, connections to and from the battery banks that provide the boat with power when not on 240v, etc. The cooling system itself is more complex than a non-marine engine as the salt water used to cool the engine doesn't actually circulate through it, but cools a sealed freshwater system via a heat exchanger. So there are many, many pipes, wires, pumps and fittings to be unscrewed and unbolted and cleared out of the way. The mate had the less glamorous jobs of cleaning up the residual oil in the drip tray, emptying buckets of water drained from the cooling systems, etc.

By 7pm the companionway steps which sit in front of the engine compartment were back in place, and the cook was able to get the dinner. Somehow the engineer has found some more things to undo since then, and is back in the shed with spanners and screwdrivers. But we've already contacted Keith to tell him all is going well with the first phase, and so tomorrow morning the delicate exercise of hoisting the Perkins out will begin. Watch this blog to find out how it goes!

Messing about in boats

2008-11-06T13:03:00.002+11:00

We've been back on board Nahani for 2 weeks, and it's been bliss. Hobart weather is mild, mostly lovely sunny days with just the occasional grey and showery one. We've been doing long overdue boat maintenance, and installing some of our most recently purchased toys.

The new Seiwa radar antenna is now adorning the jungle gym, and after hours of fiddling with the wiring, the engineer has finally got the radar operating properly with our Seiwa Explorer3 chartplotter - we can now overlay the radar picture on the chart, which makes it much easier to interpret the radar plot. The more we use the Seiwa gear, the happier we are with it.

As part of that process, we have taken the jungle gym and back rails down so that the maintenance chief could deal with some minor rust spots where the stainless steel rails are bolted to the mild steel plates in the scuppers. He is using plastic grommets in the holes the bolts fit into to stop the problem recurring.

When not holding up bits of the jungle gym in the dismantling or re-erection process, the mate has been sanding some more of the teak, as we are progressively changing from treating the teak with a oil/stain combination, to using straight oil.

When the weather has been murky, we've spent time emptying lockers, re-organising the contents, removing things which don't get used, and generally cleaning and tidying.

Since our arrival in Hobart we've been actively advertising the Perkins engine and the Aquadrive. The latter is sold, and we've had 3 enquiries about the engine. It appears in the paper version of the Trading Post today, so we may get more enquiries over the weekend.

The only thing that we're not so happy about down here is that our aged Volvo, having served us as a boat car all the way to Queensland and back, and then taken us from Melbourne to Hobart via the Spirit of Tasmania and a leisurely drive, is finally suffering from what we fear is a terminal illness. Peter is planning to get a second opinion from a mechanic today, but unless it turns out to be something simple and cheap, we may have to take her to a final resting place somewhere. In the meantime, we've borrowed the old faithful Maisie Mazda from cousing Claire.

Back on the upside, we watched the US elections with great interest and are much relieved by the result. We celebrated with Rolf Bjelke and Deborah Shapiro on their famous boat Northern Light (see http://www.amazon.ca/Time-Ice-Winter-Voyage-Antarctica/dp/product-description/0071353224), which is currently berthed just across the jetty from us.

Yes, we are still alive

2008-09-05T18:39:00.003+10:00

We've had our longest ever time away from Nahani since we bought her in 2004. We returned to Melbourne in early May after our Port Davey trip. The mate's mother had a stroke in mid-June and died 30 June, just after her 95th birthday. Organising cremation, wake, and acting as an executor for the estate took up much of the mate's time for the next three months, and we were unable to return until September. Here we are on a flying visit just to check that all is well, and to start putting pieces in place for repowering Nahani (ie putting in a bigger engine) later this year.

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2008-05-18T19:25:00.002+10:00

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