April 10, 2023 - Monday

It has been a busy and productive day today.  Things have quieted down after the somewhat raucous weekend.  In fact, I don't hear any music at all tonight!

I started the day servicing the engine.  My auxiliary engine is a Yanmar 30 hp diesel.  So far, it has been very reliable.  I checked/changed oil, coolant, etc., then fired it up.  It started with no problem at all and I ran it for about 20 minutes to get it up to temp and see that is stayed in the normal range.  To do this I put in gear so there was a load on the engine.  Everything worked just fine, so that was good.  I'm ready for Wednesday's haulout!

Today I realized today that my refrigerator won't work when the boat is out of the water.  My unit has a keel cooler affixed to the hull that works as a heat exchanger in the water.  Once out of the water, I have to shut it down.  Consequently, I am eating as much of my perishables as I can manage.  This is the first boat I have owned that had refrigeration.  It is quite the luxury!  I will probably buy a bag of ice and just deal with the inconvenience for a few days.


My fridge.  Yes, the local brand of bread is "Bimbo"...

I also worked on the base of my engine cover.  It has several problems...  The cover sits in a recessed area with surrounding trim  boards.  There are two latches, one on each side that keep it secured when underway.  Most of the trim board screws were loose/stripped and the screws that secured the latches were stripped, so it is not possible to secure the cover. I removed the trim and latches.  I found one side of the trim was undercut by about half an inch, limiting the "bite" screws can get on the wood below.  My plan was to create a dam with masking tape and pour epoxy into this void to fill it in.  I would also fill in the stripped screw holes with epoxy and wood (toothpicks).


Engine cover and trim area.
The epoxy work went well.  I got it mostly level and cut off the toothpicks.  Tomorrow I'll drill new holes and reassemble everything.  Hopefully it will be good for another 50 years!


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