This week has been focused on stopping the leaks. I mentioned earlier that I had started reconditioning the deck hatches, well it has taken all bloody week to get through all seven of them. Finally they're all done and what do I decide to do next, cut a bloody big hole in the roof!
Yup, that's a 3' by 4' hole you're seeing there. There's an old saying in woodworking "measure twice - cut once", well I must have measured a zillion times before I cut this hole. I only had one shot at it, it had to be perfectly square and in just the right place. the crow bar and the 2x4 are the precision tools required in this type of work, kidding, just props really.
The hole was required in order to get the new engine into the boat, next Monday a crane will be on hand to lower the trusty John Deere into it's new home in the belly of the ship. I'm going to be pulsating a little, you know where, when that takes place. The idea of 1500 lbs dangling through this hole, and then another in the floor of the main cabin, before it finally comes to rest, hopefully where it's supposed to, is a major milestone in the refit. I'll breath a big sigh of relief when it's over.
When I decided that installing the engine in this manner was going to be the best method, I also considered installing an additional hatch rather than closing the hole back up. Now that I've seen the way that the extra light effects the interior of the main saloon, I've decided to go ahead with the hatch treatment. It will mean a lot more work and metal fabricating, but the side benefit of having a removable hatch means that should the engine ever have to come out, "god forbid knock on wood" it will come out the way it went in. Additionally, Brenda and I intend to have regular furniture pieces in the main saloon as apposed to built in seating, this will give us more options as to what furniture we can get into the boat, given that the main hatch is only 21" wide, we would have been narrowly limited in our selection. Try getting a couch up a set of stairs, let alone down a hatch, know what I mean?
Only one more delicate procedure to go through, that will be cutting the hole in the hull for the bow thruster. Will need to change my underwear after that one. But that's still to come.
