Engine Work Continues

Yesterday, Sunday, I visited the boat to do some painting.  I removed the fiberglass instrument holder that had one coat of primer on it and put on the first coat of 2-part gloss white paint.  I also repaired a gash through the top of the piece that was small but nevertheless pierced the material. 

I had a look at the chisel work that I had briefly seen Joel doing from the companionway and it had involved only a small section of bare wood beside the port engine mount, meaning that the fiberglass covering of the engine mount had not been compromised after all.

Back at the apartment building I stationed myself on the street just before noon and soon saw Bob Carroll walking up with books in one hand and a pack of beers in the other.  I took him up to the apartment where Brenda greeted him for his lunch visit.  After a brief tour of our modest "penthouse" we sat down to a splendid lunch of chicken, eggs, cheese, salad, fresh bread, etc prepared by Brenda.  We followed this up with desert of cold yoghurt with pieces of fresh mango.

I returned to the boat at 4.30 PM and put on the second coat of paint on the instrument panel.

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When I arrived at the boat this morning Joel had the engine suspended by the hoist.  He had noted that the feet had not been painted and he was taking them to the shop to put a coat of black enamel paint on them.  I took advantage of his absence to re-fit the instrument holder.

I saw Neil who had the bill for the fiberglass work.  I was charged for 50 hours work which seemed a bit high.  Having said that, the fabrication of the instrument holder was a finicky job that took a few hours of work.  The hourly rate was $18 USD per hour, yielding a total of $900 USD, but that was for two men (i.e. $9 USD per man).  I have a policy of not quibbling about money.  Even if for argument's sake the hours had been padded twice over, the result was a lot cheaper than what I would have paid in the US or Australia.  

Neil confirmed that I would not be charged for the fabrication of the crane used to lower the engine into Pachuca.  As I expected, he sees it as an investment which will be very useful in the future for lifting all sorts of things into and out of boats.

Neil had already seen that the plastic lid protecting the instruments would need some sort of handle and I went back to the boat and produced a small stainless steel saddle that we thought would do the job.  He will have one of his people put the handle on.

Before going home for lunch I visited the boat to find the engine back in position with its fresh painted feet.  Joel said that he was finished with the chain hoist and I had arrived just in time to help him put the hoist on the cockpit.  He said that the engine was mounted but he next had to do the fine work of lining it up.

At 5 PM when I returned to lock up the boat I had a close look at the engine compartment and found that somehow Joel had fitted all ten half-inch horizontal thru bolts as well as the four vertical lag bolts and the 8 engine mount bolts.  I wasn't sure if he had finished the final alignment which would involve the exploitation of the flexibility allowed by the feet (i.e. jack nuts and slotted bolt holes).

I visited the cockpit instrument panel to see where I would position the light and buzzer alarm and with the slightest pressure the top of it came loose and folded back into the quarter berth area.  The fiberglass people had used screws which were totally inappropriate for such thin material.  In order to avoid the protrusion of sharp screws into the quarter berth area they had used screws so short that only the tips were biting into the instrument panel flange.  I visited Neil and explained the situation and added that I could not afford to be in a rough seaway in the middle of nowhere, push too hard on the panel, and lose my instruments into the cavity of the quarter berth.  He was shocked that thru bolts had not been used.  The men have already been paid but Neil said that he would attend to it.

Brenda's footpath challenge of the day is holes. This is a large one where a tree had been - a little of it remains - but they come in many shapes and depths.