"Bart" wrote
|I now have four new thru-hulls in ECHO, my Ericson
| 46. Fortunately three are above the waterline!
| My new Yanmar engine is completely installed, but
| not yet tested or run in.
| I now have two high volume bilge pumps, one above
| the other, on brackets that I can pull up to service.
| Formerly, I could not service my electric bilge pump
| without removing the engine.
| My old electric pump was T'd into a cockpit drain
| --not the best set up. Each of the new pumps has
| its own through hull with a substantial anti-siphon
| loop, run with smooth hose for low friction.
| I have a new larger raw water inlet to service the new
| engine, and a much larger exhaust with two anti-siphon
| loops and a flapper valve thru-hull. That is like wearing
| a belt, suspenders, and tie wraps to hold your pants up.
| That is confidence in a rough following sea.
| The flapper valve was not planned but it was the only
| through-hull available for that size exhaust hose.
| I have a new SS strut, new cutlass bearing, new 20" Flexifold
| prop, new SS shaft, dripless packing gland, a gorgeous new
| engine bed made out of solid glass that adds to the structure
| of the hull. It is holding a spotless new Yanmar 75 HP engine.
| This is hooked up to a newly mounted engine panel that is
| protected by a waterproof hatch at an easy to observe location
| adjacent to the binacle. I have a second set of guages I plan
| to hook up at the companionway adjacent to the engine.
| I will have to cut part of my ignition key handle off if I want
| to close the hatch covering the gauges in the cockpit--I can live
| with that. I have some sort of engine alarm I need to mount that
| --I'm thinking about using the hole for the old engine shut off--the
| new engine has an electric fuel cutoff--very nice--no more
| sticking plunger engine shut-offs. The throttle and transmission
| cables are both new heavy duty cable.
| Everything in the auxiliary propulsion system has been replaced
| except the fuel tanks--that will happen in the next few months.
| I'm replacing my two old 50 gallon tanks with new ones and
| perhaps adding a third. I'll decide about that after I make the
| bulkhead forward of the rudderpost into a watertight to a level
| above the waterline. That is going to be difficult and means
| hanging upside down to tab that in. And it means two more
| bilge pumps.
| Also removed were two not used for many years, capped fuel
| tanks--the originals. These made space for a huge muffler
| about five times bigger than the old one. And gave room for the
| many runs of bilge pump hose.
| I still have to figure out how I'm going to run 4" air hose for
| engine space ventilation, and exactly how I'll configure the
| sound insulation for the engine space. I'm debating ripping the
| salon apart and reconfiguring the middle of the boat.
| I still have a little work on my manual bilge pump. ECHO
| originally had the manual pump near the helm and it was
| later moved next to the shore power--bad idea. I plan to
| move it back where it was before, using a better hand pump
| with a removable handle. Everyone knows why it is better
| to pump your bilge by hand when sailing on the ocean--right?
| All this sounds like overkill I'm sure. But consider this,
| a 46' sloop with a 3/4 keel and a "too-small" rudder, is not
| an easy thing to dock under sail--I've done it in light winds
| and would not want to do it in adverse conditions. ECHO
| is a good performing boat, but I'll admit it is a dog in a
| combination of light winds and big waves. A motor is not just
| a nice thing to have in a boat this size--it is a necessity. If I
| ever find myself short handed and want to get somewhere on
| a schedule, it will be very nice to have a reliable motor.


Ever go sailing? Ever think of getting a sailboat instead of a hull full
of stuff that has nothing to do with sailing and takes all your time away
from sailing? Lord a Goshen!

Cheers,
Ellen