Hello Beta

It seems like a cargo cult at present, still waiting for the boatbuilder to finish on his current job and make a start here. To fill in the time I have been shopping, always a little dangerous. Anyway, my first major purchase has arrived, a very shiny new Beta BV3300 75hp engine. I'm impressed!

Goodbye Mr Perkins

Well, finally got a friend to help direct the hiab and we removed the engine. It came out very easily, even with the gearbox still on. I have sold it to a friend who has a Peterson 44 with a dodgy motor.



Below the engine was a foetid mixture that would probably resemble the time long ago when life began. I have bailed out about 20 litres of stinking black stuff. I am looking forward to having this area cleaned out and newly painted.



The saloon floor came out with a little struggle and exposed the 2 "stainless steel" water tanks. It was hardly "stainless" and full of holes, someone had attempted to patch it with fiberglass. It was quite a job to pull these out of the walkway hatch by myself!



So, the next stage is to clean up a little!

Engine room work

Removal of the floor has started. I am leaving the bearers until the boatbuilder advises I can remove them - something has got to hold some shape together!



I have removed the generator and the main engine is now ready to be pulled out this week. I needed to remove the generator before I could access the shaft coupling, which was firmly rusted in after 30 years of neglect. It took a long time to remove two of the bolts, lots of cursing the designers of the thing as there was not enough access for a socket or ring spanner, and the bolts are some weird size so my metric or imperial open-end spanners were not a perfect fit. So after two of the four bolts rounded off I was forced to grind the bolt heads off, finishing that process with my Dremel tool. Engine mounts were next, I managed to unbolt either the main top bolt or the lag screws into the bearers. Thankfully I can say that I don't believe there is too much more serious un-engineering to do!

I have now pulled most of the wiring from the boat, there are only a few wires to the aft cabin still in place. What do you do with old wires, is there any value in the copper?

I am not spending any time with the engine, I have not even removed the new oil hosework which we added in Hawaii (at great expense and trouble!).

My brain hurts

I had what counts as an epiphany for a refit project two days ago, I realised what was wrong with the thought process behind the galley layout. Eureka! My original plan was based around the fact that you went to the bottom of the companionway, turned left and you were into the galley. If that isn't mandatory, the galley entrance could be moved forward and the whole area opens up to provide the space we seemed to be lacking.

I have mocked up the settee berth arrangements and it all seems to fit, I have been hassling the boatbuilder about a start date (not that it makes any difference but it makes you feel like you are doing something...) and obtained a quote for the new Lewmar hatches and portlights. I will probably order them tomorrow as there is a bit of lead time required for delivery.

Other news is that my Beta 75hp engine is approaching the country. This doesn't make any difference to me (apart from having to find more money to pay for it) but apparently it will be on display at the upcoming Auckland Boat Show. Somehow it doesn't feel like 15 minutes of fame...