Engine Installation and Gelwashing Video clips

Progress to mid December

Aft to mid ship laminated 1st and 2nd bulkheads engine room bulkheads and fuel tank bulheads,

Aft to mid ship laminated 1st and 2nd bulkheads engine room bulkheads and fuel tank bulheads,

Engine room laminated

Starboard Stowage

Fuel tank enclosure

Flow Coating compartments

Flow Coating

Bulkhead Midship

Resin curing 

Bravo 3 from inside boat

Stainless Bollards

Stainless Bollards Bow

Engine room flow coated

Engine room and side compartments flow coated

Engine beds flow coated

Transom bracket fitted

Stainless blank  for  exhaust

Mercruiser D 4. 2 L Installed

Engine overhead view

3rd bulkhead  laminated

3rd bulkhead

Mercruiser D 4.2 L fitted

Mercruiser D 4.2 L Engine & Bravo 3 Outdrive installation

16th of December and we are right on track, The lads got so much done over the last 10 days,
1st 3 bulkheads are in and the engine room and tank enclosure are built,
Everything is glassed in and flow coated with two coats of  light grey Gel coat,
The hatches to access the back compartments are cut out and two grey 380mm x 380mm hatches arrived from CH Marine on Friday for fitting this week,
So week 5 and  we are mid ship at the moment and everything is flow coated and looking great,
The stainless mooring bollards arrived from Gary Ghio in Antrim this week also and they are so impressive
(see photos above) they certainly exceeded my expectations,
Gary you are a genius!!
The fuel tank equipment also came in this week with a Durite marine fuel sender and gauge,
The main achievement this week was fitting the Mercruiser D 4.2 litre diesel and Bravo 3 once again and this time it is in to stay,
It looks real good in the engine room sitting square on the newly manufactured engine beds,
This week we will be aligning the engine with the help of the Mercruiser tool from Squires UK,
There is plenty of room around the engine as we left the measurement at 1100mm to match up with the engine box that will be up on deck,
This will make work easy if removing the starter motor is required and when replacing belts and filters,
I had Galway Stainless fabricate a blank plate (see photo above)
to fit inside the out drive housing blanking off the out drive exhaust as I plan to go throught the hull with a custom made 4 inch exhaust, We also glassed on some light ply to the bulkheads to enable fixing of the fuel filter, water intake filter, battery cables and bilge pump hoses,
It was all hands on deck when we installed the out drive and engine on Friday evening at 6.00pm
Boris, Pavol, Sylwester and Myself with  Patricks was on video duty,
Both out drive and engine went in with ease and we checked the travel of the steering arm before bolting up the out drive,
Then we fitted the stainless blank plate and lifted in the engine, Excitement was in the air,
As you will see from the video below the engine went in nice and smoothly and sat real nice on the bearers,
Thanks to Pavol and Boris for the micro precision measurement,

This week coming the plan is 4th bulkhead to be fitted, Flow coating the 3rd and 4th bulkheads and the compartments in between and starting on the chain locker and bunks up ahead,
If we are making ground we may also cut out the aft deck around the engine to get a real impression of progress,

All in all I am pleased with the progress, 6th week into the build and we are in to the wheel house fit out,

A big Thanks to everyone for all the help,

Much appreciated

3rd stage of the build

So 5th of December and the engine room bulkheads are in, The engine bearers are glassed in and ready for gel washing,
This week the 350 liter fuel tank is being installed so Boris is fitting the 2nd bulkhead and longitude bulkheads each side of the fuel tank,
Once completed everything from the stern to mid ship under deck will be gel washed in light grey flow coat,
The Mercruiser alignment tool also arrived from Peter Squire in the UK to insure micro precision installation of the engine and out drive,
So far we have avoided fitting much timber in the boat apart from the transom engine bearers and a few pads for water intakes and bilge pumps.
The bulkheads are all made from super light Nidaplas and the stringers all from foam,
This will keep the weight down and help with fuel consumption,
We installed the engine and out drive to measure for the engine bearers but  both of them were later removed in order to complete the glassing and gel washing in the engine room,
Next week they are being put back in and will be covered with polythene sheets until completion of the build,
I spoke with Paul in Ballymoney Northern Ireland about sending down the wiring loom and engine dials, trim pump and power steering ram, he said he should have them within the week,
And lastly Alan from Procharter is sending over a stainless steel bathing step this week and this will allow us to calculate
fitting location for the 30"x 9" Trim tabs that I will need to order from the U.S before Christmas,

So that's all for now have another check in over the next couple of weeks,

Boris

Outdrive opening

Outdrive  from inside

Engine bearers

Stringers glassed

Bravo 3 duoprop fitted

Engine bearers

1st bulkhead and engine room

Engine room

Fuel tank and Racor Filter

Measuring the engine room

Measuring engine bearers

Measuring the engine room

Shaft Alignment

Engine and outdrive coupler

Engine Box

Laminating the stringers bearers and bulkheads

Here are some videos of Boris and Pavol laminating the boats stringers and bulkheads and constructing the engine bearers from treated wood and high density foam,

2nd stage of the build,

So November began with Pavol and Boris cutting out the stringers from foam and laminating them to the hull with 3 layers of chopped strand matting,

This took one week to complete, sanding and filling more sanding and preparation for the flow coat which will be going on next week,

We also cut out the transom bulkhead from the marine ply and bonded that to the hull,
51-54 mm thickness was required for the Mercruiser Bravo 3 out drive,

See photos in the last post of how this was achieved without any gaps in between sheets,
We propped the bulkhead off the stringers and let the resin go off, the marine ply bulkhead was laminated to the hull 2 layers of glass matting and 3 on the corners,

The complete bulkhead was then sanded and prepared for flow coating also next week,

Next the out drive  opening needed to be cut out and the Bravo 3  fitted so we made up a template out of ply wood and bolted that on to the transom and got the cut out really exact,
Thanks to Sylvester's keen eye, note that  he also made the template for this job,
He is a man of many hidden talents,

So far we joined up all the stringers from the stern of the boat to the first bulkhead fitted transverse stringer for the fuel tank to be fitted on and fitted the transom bulkhead,
With everything laminated and sanded prepared for gel washing with flow coat,
Boris is certainly an expert in this field and that really shows in his workmanship,

Next we bolted the out drive to the back of the boat and carefully placed in the Mercruiser 4,2 litre
engine in order to take measurements for the engine bearers.

The forklift came in very handy for this procedure where millimetre precision was required,
This called for professional forklift driving and a cool head from our man Pavol Cerva,
Pavol manoeuvred the engine and myself and Boris guided the engine in,
I don't know why but the moment the engine is in the boat is always a special occasion
where a milestone has been reached and the excitement between the three of us really showed that too,
We then further constructed the gantry to hold the block and tackle to allow easy raising and lowering of the engine to take measurements etc,

I also met with a David Campbell last week in Mayo, David has a Procharter P3 too she is  10.5 meters and holds a P5 certificate which allows carriage of 12 paying passengers 30 miles off shore,
I went to visit him after Alan from procharter recommended I do,
Alan said you may see some thing on his boat you would like to do or some things he did you wouldn't like or may leave out,
He certainly has a fine boat with everything where it should be,
Including internal seating and an outdoor toilet which is a great idea,
He had Procharter build his boat in 2007 I remember reading about it with envy in a fishing magazine back then,
We discussed boats for a couple of hours and he gave me a lot of information and some useful tips,
He recommended that I apply for the P3 certificate for my boat and printed me off the application form,

I have filled out the form and ready to send off this week to the department of transport,
Most of the things recommended to do I was going to do anyway but some of the fire safety equipment and general safety will be extra to what I had planned but will be well worth it,

I had planned to fit the 350 litre tank I got from Arthur Hailday but the department recommend stainless steel only so that is what I'm gonna fit in the boat,
So next  I called to Galway stainless and asked them to quote me for a 1 meter x 1 meter x 520mm 316 stainless fuel tank with sipper tube, return tube,  air vent and screw on filling cap,
Brona from Galway stainless called me back yesterday and recommended I have a brandy before she told me the price,
Brona was not wrong the stainless steel tank will cost 4 times as much as the plastic one but will be a lifelong investment,
This tank will hold 520 Liters which may also be of benefit should I ever want to got to Crookhaven in West Cork,

So next job is aligning the engine with the out drive and I have ordered the Mercruiser alignment tool from the UK and that should be here in the next couple of days too,
This is needed to achieve exact alignment between the engine and out drive,

I also ordered the Stainless bollards for the stern and the bow from Gary Ghio in Northern Ireland
It seem this is becoming a cross border project as I am buying half the stuff up north,
Engine from Paul, tank from Arthur and the bollards from Gary all from Northern Ireland
I suppose their economy can do with the cash and they are offering real value at the moment,
The stern bollards are 3mm stainless 76mm wide and the bow bollard is 105mm wide,
They are currently being manufactured and should be arriving any day now,

We achieved a lot in November and I am very happy with the progress so far,

Well done lads,

So that's it  for now keep posted for more details,

Laminating the stringers and fitting the transom bulkhead