Out with the old, in with the new

Well almost in with the new.....

the view on the way to Gartside Marine for our engine replacement

Thank you for the tow Last Call!

We are in the middle of the engine exchange, the old engine has been removed and sold and the new engine is almost here....in the time between we have been working in the engine compartment and lazarettes, painting, making more storage spaces and mounting the antenna tuner for our ssb radio.
As the sailmakers are right next door to the mechanics shop we are also having spreader patches put on our sails to help them last longer.

Kialoa looking a little naked and with her butt up in the air.  With the sails off and no engine she is definitely not going anywhere for the moment.

Empty engine compartment

Compartment after painting, fresh and clean ready for the new engine

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Awwwww

Keeping it real

Lots of little jobs, each one that is completed feels like a major accomplishment.  Since we are not sailing Kialoa until she has a functioning engine, we have emptied her out, except for the tools, and are actually getting some projects completed.
Painting inside of all the cabinets, fixing the automatic bilge pump float switch, creating a mount for the watermaker, adding more hand holds, mounting things that need mounting, the list is large and each job leads to another. For instance painting the cabinets led to a haircut.  Apparently I should be tying it up and not just into a ponytail.

                  The inside of all the cabinets are now white.  Drastic improvements in visibility ensued!

Just some of the mess...and the now white anchor locker in the background.

Preparing to reseat and thrubolt the forward hatch.

Gratuitous cuteness.

Getting started

Well the countdown is on....we are planning to move onto our boat and leave BC waters in 3 months time.  It is exciting and scary all at the same time.  Nine years into our five year plan......
When I first thought about writing a blog, I have to admit I imagined my first post would be about some exciting destination we had arrived at.  Not so, its about diesel engines, the old ones and the new ones.  Kialoa has an elderly Perkins engine whose cooling system has recently decided not to cooperate with the program. When we run the engine we get saltwater running into the bilges.  This goes against one of the cardinal rules of boating "keep the water out".  Replacement parts are difficult to come by, very expensive, and the wait time for some is 3-6 months!  So with 3 months left before leaving we are having a new engine installed.  It is a Beta marine 30hp and it is fire engine red!  It is ordered and should be here in mid june and in the meantime we will continue with the myriad of other projects.

Sunrise

We look forward to more moments like this.