Pressing On

We managed to cross quite a few jobs off the to do list over the weekend, the list is now very much reduced from when we were first hauled ashore way back in November. Pretty much all that we have left to do barring a few minor odds and sods is polishing and applying some fresh antifoul paint.

My main task for the weekend was cleaning the engine and engine bay, but I couldn't set about this task until Liam had refitted a few bits to the engine, namely the refurbished raw water pump and the modified turbo boost pressure gauge piping. Then with the engine safe to get wet I set about scrubbing it up and getting it looking as good as new again. It was long over due a good scrub and hose down and it does now look much better. It just needs a very quick once over with a smaller brush next weekend but this shouldn't take more than a half an hour or so. The engine bay also looks much cleaner now that all of the salt spray from the leaky raw water pump and belt dust are cleaned up.

With the engine and bay cleaned up Liam could then install the new uprated alternator, which in turn led to replacing the belts. A job we didn't expect to be doing with the boat ashore but we would rather find the belt fault now then in the middle of the Wash. And with this little lot sorted he then put the cleaned K&N air filter back in the air box. With the exception of an oil and filter change, some fresh super charger oil, crankcase filter and fresh fuel filters the engine is pretty much ready to go for the season ahead.

With work in the engine bay finished we set about a few other jobs. The faulty LED bulb in the cabin was replaced with a new one, we had bought ten as it was cheaper to buy in bulk and we didn't expect the colour to match the existing bulbs so expected to be changing them all. In fact the colour did match so we now have nine spare bulbs. They should last us a while!

We also cleaned up the inside of the cockpit canopies. These tend to get very dusty and get seeds from trees and plants attached. If left unchecked they lead to the growth of mould spots which are a pain to clean off again, so we gave the hoods a good vacuum and then applied some foam cleaner to any dark spots to stave off any mould growth, they do now look much cleaner, on the inside at least.

One of the jobs Liam was looking forward too was fitting the new props to the drive which he did on Sunday morning. This signified the end of the work on the drive that is also now ready for the season ahead with fresh oil and oil seals, cleaned up anodes and fresh props.

We are now in the hands of the weather gods. With just three weekends left until we are due for relaunch we need one dry and reasonably warm weekend so that we can crack on with the polishing and waxing and get some paint on the hull. 

Will we get it?