Launch & a 7 hour trip.

The boat went in without a hitch yesterday, the guys held it on the trailer while I ran inside to stem the torrent of water from the stern gland after I had repacked it..... NOTHING! Not a drop of water so she came off the trailer & started on the second push of the button. Once the engine was warmed up & everything seemed to be working I pushed off on my 7 hour trip, I held the RPM at a comfortable 1800 & averaged 7.7 knots which is fine as she sips diesel like this....

After about an hour I checked the stern gland & there was a steady stream of water so I spent the rest of the trip tightning & slackening the adjuster bolts to try to get the 2 to 3 drips per minute that appears to be the recommendation, i almost have it now but I think it needs time to bed in.

Last fixing before tomorrows launch.....

Fitted the packing box greaser in place.... Top tip, always check it works before you fit it!! I didn't & it all had to come out again as old grease had hardned in the pipe & was causing a blockage.... Sorted now, no more messy grease gun.

Tidied up the two transducers & cut a hole in the deck at the stern to fit a "U" tube for my downrigger electronics & transducer cables. I should get that screwed to the deck tomorrow so running the cables is next & make the four downrigger supports.

Finishing up after the winter

Boat goes in the day after tomorrow, transducer brackets are welded on & the swim platform is planked with pressure impregnated & riffled wood so everything is ready. Hopefully there is no air left in the fuel lines after fitting the new filter system, that's the only thing that would stop her starting as far as I can see.

Launch date

Got my launch date as 29th April, heading for my new marina on the 30th if there are no leaks & she starts after ripping the fuel system apart & rebuilding it!!!!

Prop polished

Polished the prop today & fitted the new flax packing rings, turns out that the box is designed for four rings of flax packing

 I also got my MMSI number today in the post so happy with that :)

Stuffing box

I opened the stuffing box to check the seal as there appears to have been little maintenance done to the boat prior to me buying her, as soon as I opened the box there was a strong burned smell. I picked out what was left of the old seal & bought a new 1m length, 3 rings of the 9.5mm waxed flax seal will be installed after a good clean of the box internally.....

Generator

Strange things happen, I had an old MIG welder for sale & a friend called to say that he had seen two generators that a company didn't know what to do with.... I headed over to the shop & did a straight swap for a brand new 5000w generator ;-) only problem is that it's a non-runner, it turns over but will not start, fuel is good so I'm wondering if it's a stuck decompressor or something equally simple...

BRAND NEW!!

* Update - it turned out after removing the rocker cover that the exhaust pushrod was disconnected,  I reconnected it and reset the valve clearances.... Purrs like a cat now.