Sunday 6th July We didn’t go to church this morning because Helen is not feeling well. That meant I got the opportunity to go to the boat and work on the engines. The outboard motor took quite a bit of priming before it would start. That was not really all that surprising as the fuel… Continue reading July 2025 Engine test run inside the harbour and two days racing at the club regatta.
Category: engine
June 2025 Work on the outboard engine, VHF radio training and a club rally to Christchurch.
4th June Today I intended to fit the new fuel pump on the outboard. It was rather a windy row out to the boat with a significant cross wind component as I went along the channel but otherwise not a difficult trip out. The stern mooring strop was wrapped round the rudder again so my… Continue reading June 2025 Work on the outboard engine, VHF radio training and a club rally to Christchurch.
April and May Two trips to France and some sailing in between.
For most of April we are going to the camp site in France again as part of the team which sets everything up for their season. We actually leave early on Friday morning so there will potentially be a 3 week long gap in the boat related posts during April and another week at the… Continue reading April and May Two trips to France and some sailing in between.
February 2023 – Change of plans for the launch.
February started off fairly well with acquiring a 5 Hp 2 stroke outboard motor second hand. Although the outboard is known to run (Matt saw it running when he picked it up from Manchester for me), there were a couple of potential problems with it which might be significant once I have a tender that… Continue reading February 2023 – Change of plans for the launch.
Engine – Part 6 Drive shaft, propeller and shaft seals. Followed by installing the engine!
Ok so this blog section is more about boat building rather than engines. Some of this I now about in theory from reading all those boat magazines and build your own boat books when I was younger. So here’s how this part is meant to look in a traditional wooden boat or a plywood speedboat.… Continue reading Engine – Part 6 Drive shaft, propeller and shaft seals. Followed by installing the engine!
Engine part 5 – Not about the engine but needed doing before it goes back in. – Galvanic protection and lightning safety.
Lots of people have written about whether or not you need galvanic protection for metalwork in contact with water. There are plenty of boat books which try to describe the corrosion problem and university level chemistry education does not give me any particularly different slant on that. What I do have though is some electrical… Continue reading Engine part 5 – Not about the engine but needed doing before it goes back in. – Galvanic protection and lightning safety.
Engine – Part 4. Gas to the galley, Fuel plumbing, Cooling water (through holes) and exhaust systems.
So, what do all of these have in common other than involving various diameters of pipes? In my case those pipes are all entirely or partially located inside the engine compartment and will be impossible or extremely difficult to work on after the engine has been re-installed. As the boat was received all three systems… Continue reading Engine – Part 4. Gas to the galley, Fuel plumbing, Cooling water (through holes) and exhaust systems.
Engine – Part 3 Engine electrical system – Starting, Battery charging, Choke, Ignition cut-off and fuel cut-off solenoid valve.
This blog post may be a little too technical if you are not into electrical engineering so please feel free to skip this and the later one about the boat electrical system. This post is mainly about the move from the original system that came with the boat to a slightly upgraded one to match… Continue reading Engine – Part 3 Engine electrical system – Starting, Battery charging, Choke, Ignition cut-off and fuel cut-off solenoid valve.
Engine – Part 2 Engine cooling system assembly, Zinc pencil, Engine mounts & adding the controls.
Tuesday 19/9/2017 – Temporarily put the exhaust “Resonator” back on the engine so I can measure control cable movements. Assembled the new control lever box with the cables in the right places for the movements required. With the gear mounting adapter in it’s current position it needs around 3cm to move from neutral to… Continue reading Engine – Part 2 Engine cooling system assembly, Zinc pencil, Engine mounts & adding the controls.
Engine – Part 1 Dismantling and Initial rebuild.
Wednesday 22/2/2017 Step one of the engine work was lifting it out of it’s space under the cabin access step and taking it home to the garage workbench where it stayed for 18 months as it gradually transformed and the boat systems were readied for it’s return. On inspection and dismantling of the peripheral parts… Continue reading Engine – Part 1 Dismantling and Initial rebuild.