Engine Room lights

When it comes to equipment spaces on a boat, bright is better.

The lights are  TACO, LED Tube Light,  WM Model # 11047008

Also available cheaper on the interweb from other suppliers, but without WM's fairy-dust, my wonderful customer service or the ability to return it when you stupidly connect it to a 120V supply and melt it.

The switch is a "Triple Rocker Switch Panel with Aluminum Bracket" bought on eBay.

There is no rational for the Red lights in the ER except that the tubes came with them.  I will make up some story to justify them later.

Engine running.....

Fuel is flowing.....

Something that has not happened on-board TIH for over 17 years.

Engine installation almost completed.....

Dry riser solution, finally.



Water lift.



Shooting aft from the engine room door.




Exhaust hose.



Anti syphon.



Transmission access, not too horrible.



Hose run down port side of hull, to exit at stern. I will secure it in place to give a gentle downward slope.

Engine installation moving along....

Jim E's handiwork again. Everything fits so its off to the welder to be fabricated tomorrow.

Engine lift....

One thing I discovered while cruising the Caribbean and Central America is that you can always get stuff fixed in the most unlikely places. However, you need the ability to work on the items in question and sometimes remove them from the vessel using your own resources. I will carry onboard an aluminum "I" beam, a 1 ton chain hoist and a beam trolley to permit to access the transmission and other parts of the engine as necessary. I won't be one bit upset if I never get to use them.

Engine in....

This is what happens when you leave Jim E. unsupervised.
Things get done.



Final position will be raised approx. 5 ins. Everything else seems to fit.



Front view. H-Beam and chain lift will be setup (put not permanently installed) to allow the engine to be lifted off the mounts and moved aft to permit removal of transmission.

Engine exhaust.......

Jim, the guru is trapped in Urop by the evil Icelandic dust so I have time to try and plan the engine exhaust system. From the measurements, I will need a 20"dry insulated riser, with the cooling water injected on the down side.

These are the measurements on TIH.



These are the recommendations from the Vernalift website;




(diagram courtesy of Centek Ind.)

Obviously I have to watch out for excessive back pressure. Any advice welcome.

Engine bed pan is glassed in

While I was goofing off at the Boat Show, Jim E was busy. He was also responsible for Casper's new coat of paint. The conversation went as follows;

Jim E.: What color do you plan to paint your engine?
Me: I hadn't given in much thought but I was considering white Awlgrip.
Jim E.: Good because that's the color I've painted it.
Me: What would you have done if I had said red.
Jim E.: I'd have told you that you made a bad decision.
Me: OK.

How much Horse Power do you need in a sailboat?

In the case of a 32ft WLL, 26,000 lbs. sailboat the short answer is 36HP for a nice cruise on Biscayne Bay and 100HP when trying to claw off a lee shore at 3am after you have screwed up your navigation.

Good old Nigel Calder has an excellent table on page 226 of his Marine Diesel Engines (3rd ed). He uses the example of a 32ft WLL, 26,000lb auxiliary sailboat, which is close enough to a fully loaded Whitby 42 to make no difference. Please refer to Calders book for details, but the basic figures are;

Hull speed = 7.58 Kts.
Shaft HP to reach hull speed allowing for 40% prop efficiency = 36.25HP.
Add 33% for power train loss = this gives a BHP of 48HP.

This ties in with all other tables I have seen. Obviously add a few HP for alternators and other bolt on's.

So why can't I install TWO engines.....

in a Whitby 42. I mean if its good enough for Bob Bitchin on his new Shannon 52 RDP?




OK, OK before anyone has a stroke only one of those engines in mine. I hadn't planned on making the engine decision for another year and in the interim I was busy torturing myself with questions about HP, turbo/no turbo, brand etc.

While on a visit to our friends in St. John, Pat and Bev, the Perkins Sabre M65 was mentioned. It pretty well fitted the HP slot between the 80HP recommended by the Whitby purists and the 50/55 HP non-turbo engines that were generally available (see next post on HP requirements). But the engine was out of production.

A few weeks later, when Jim E (previous mentioned boat guru etc.) said that he had a lead on two used Perkins Sabre M65 "at the right price", and would I be interested in one? I was. Pretty much anything that Jim mentions "at the right price', I am interested in, which may result in him being cited in my eventual divorce.

I am now the proud owner on a Perkins Sabre M65 with about 1,800 hrs in need of some cosmetic work, but otherwise in perfect working order.

Should I install a diving board?

Probably not, the water in the bilge looks a bit shallow. Still its nice to have access like this to a "real" engine room.

BTW you are looking down through the cockpit sole.

Engine Room insulation.....

Foam Barrier coat (Ultra Barrier, WM Brand etc.) looks great, goes on reasonably easy (most have an adhesive back) and work well to deaden engine noise. So whats not to like? Well anyone who has worked on older boats with original foam will have noticed that it tends to crumble with age. You are left with the backing still stuck in place and black foam crumbs all over the ER which are a pain to remove. The consensus appears that the life of this foam is between 5 and 10 years.

My plan is to construct panels of plywood about 24ins X 32ins and stick the foam to these. I will then cover the foam with SOUNDOWN Perforated Aluminum with QuieTech. These panels will be screwed to the bulkhead and can be removed when the time comes to replace the foam.

Credit for the idea has to go to DonParker s/v SILKIE, Allied 42 Annapolis MD. I found his post on cs-bb.com. Click here


Watch this space.

Slowly, slowly catchee monkey.....

Before:





After:



Small improvements in the Engine room. Paint is Interlux Bilge coat, which now comes in dark gray and white. This color is achieved by mixing both.

I painted the wooden panels with "Silent Running SR1000" paint which I have discussed in a previous post.

I know that once I start filling the Engine Room with the usual junk I will not have this much access ever again. Next step is the bulkhead insulation.

Possible ER paint

Has anyone used Silent Running marine paint?

"Silent Running SR1000 is a sound and vibration dampening paint specifically designed for marine applications. This unique marine coating absorbs noise and vibration, and converts it into low-grade heat which is dissipated throughout the surface its applied on. Apply SR1000 to replace conventional sound dampening materials, like heavy mats and wraps. "


This looks like a candidate for the ER project. At the very least it will provide a nice contrast to the antifouling that I'm still peeling off my skin.

The Engine Room (ER) project...

I have never liked engine rooms. I like engines even less. So ideally I like a large, well lit ER (which TIH has), clean and with easy access for repair and routine maintenance. My best chance of achieving a clean painted and insulated ER will be before I fill it with all the usual engine junk.



The first project now that TIH is floating is to clean and paint the ER.