Our fresh start begins!

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After it spent a few days in the shop, next to the old one, being “outfitted” by Ron the “Engine Guy,” it’s finally in the yard. We could not have been more thrilled to see the new engine draped in plastic, poised for the scheduled early morning arrival of the crane. Yeah! Now to the work!

We were told the crane would be there early, so we arrived even earlier to take the dinghy down and open the bimini (roof), so the “soft patch” section could once again open the boat fully to the sky!

With a push from below,
the soft patch is lifted and moved
out of the way onto the dinghy cradle

With the boat open, cue the flying motor!

Here she comes! Pretty, isn’t she?
STOP. Need a moment for some adjustments below.
Okay. Continue. (Remember that twirly finger from Removal Day?).
Pause to remove the front motor mount backet again. Get ready. It’s heavy.
Even then, it’s still a pretty tight fit
A slight turn to avoid some wiring
Followed by a careful descent through the galley
Another tight fit to pass through the galley floor into the engine room. One might notice how bright the engine room is this time. We installed new lights. Sure is bright and shiny down there!
One final spin a-n-d TOUCHDOWN! Our new engine is IN the engine room! Very exciting, and just the beginning of a lot more work.
For today, it’s time to replace the soft patch, and…

Reverse the process – Captain and First Mate (aka camera person) reinstall the bimini, secure the enclosure panels, bring the dinghy back aboard, cover everything up in preparation for the daily summer showers, and wash all those black footprints off the flybridge level!

All wrapped up in two hours, start to finish. Wow.

Then just like that, it’s “Cheers”!

Time to celebrate with a nice cold… glass of water?? Yep, that’s what’s on board, although a bit of an adventure to get!

Please
watch
your
step, Captain

Amazing that a chubby man can be so agile while dancing over and around the bright engine room! (Did we mention that we like the new lights? Even though the installation of said bright lights kicked off a flurry of scrubbing and cleaning in obscure corners while the engine was out. Ha!) Anyway, while it’s wonderful to have the engine aboard, that’s just the beginning to the end of our fresh start!

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