Blow by blow

Today was a mix of chores , finish servicing the engine, continue fitting the SSB and get to test the wiring for the radar. The SSB was too deep for the navigators cabinet and was going to protrude from the face of the panel by at least a couple of inches and so a frame needed to be made.

Panel

The challenge is compounded by the fact that the ply panel is a very tight fit in the headlining and bulkhead and its removal requires it to be dropped an inch or so before withdrawing. Of course putting a 15kg radio in a slot can have adverse consequences. The next challenge given the lack of depth is how to connect up the cables at the back given the fact that the panel is sealed  it looks like it will be necessary to cut an access hatch in the back of the galley cabinet to connect up the cables. My next job was to fit the diesel filter/separator in the engine bay which is designed to filter the fuel going into the engine and remove any condensing water before it gets to the injectors. This required an early trip to the hydraulic shop for fittings to connect to the fuel pipes, in addition the water filter had to be wriggled a bit to make some space. Thee diesel filter was topped up from a can, the fuel tank then turned on and using the diesel lift pump the fuel was pumped through the system until a little tell tale spurt appeared at the injector! Job done.

Filter

Two other things were urgently required to finish the engine service, emptying the old oil using a pump to extract the 10litres or so of 15W40 oil and to find out why the cooling water was leaking and filling the sump with bright green antifreeze laden water, After much pumping the oil was sucked out into the Pela pump amounting to almost 9 litres, not bad for a beginner! The water leak was traced to the radiator / exchanger where a connector on top was wobbling with an old and dodgy seal. A trip to RK marine and fifteen quid would get me a new seal and what the engineers call a "titty" that covered the access tube for oil extraction and would discourage the oil from slopping out into the bilges. On the way to the Volvo dealer in the car I turned the corner to be confronted with the following sight which took my breath away!

Ouch

Car crusher

Nobody injured

Absolute chaos when a large yacht being brought ashore had decided that it was to slide off the mobile cradle, selecting a couple of cars to rest upon. Luckily the mast missed the offices by a few feet, the hull missed the poor fella who was doing a dent repair on the car next to his, which was crushed (irony) the fella was able to escape injury and the yard hands all rushed to assist. First inspection seems to point to a bolt on the cradle arm shearing under lad, releasing the hull Not a good thing to happen, I am sure a serious review will take place and any consequential lessons will be learned. In the meantime thank heavens that no one was injured. My sympathy and best wishes have to go to the owners though who watched the whole shenanigans, next week this could have been Seascape!!