19/2/2023 0 Comments Engine Mounts (getting there)Ha! Last trip failed again and had a hell of a week with medical appointments but finally got back to Seren this morning and MANAGED TO GET THE SCREW FITTED!!! Then fitted the starboard mount (easier to see and reach). Next up, aligning and leveling the engine so the flexible coupling fits nicely without distortion.
Interestingly, before I start tweaking anything it's almost in line sitting as low as it will go on the mounts and the new mounts are lower than the ones I took off. Hard to tell though because the shaft tends to droop when disconnected.
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6/2/2023 0 Comments SourdoughWith hospital visits, physio on the sore knee and cold weather work on Seren has stopped for now. This week I have two medical/physio appts each day Tue - Wed and today when the sun was out and I could have gone to the yard we had both daughters and all four grandchildren visiting. So I made a soughdough loaf. When I'm on the boat I make sourdough 3 or 4 times a week and bake it in a cast-iron saucepan on the hob. I kept the starter alive for about three years keeping it in the fridge at home and making a pretty poor loaf about once a week. When we went on holiday last year I knew it'd perish so I binned it. I started a new one about a month ago, but once again the results were disappointing, until today. I started the dough off early in the morning before the kids arrived then got the youngest (nearly 7) to knead it. She is stubborn and determined and wouldn't stop until it was really smooth and stretchy. Then we left it to rise. While the kids and Nannie were at the park I knocked it back and shaped it and put it in a cast-iron Dutch Oven and left it while I went to hospital (again). Then baked it this evening. And here we are. I don't know if it was G's kneading or my subtle changes to the recipe and timings but it's the best so far. Now I need to aim for repeatability and hope it works as well on the boat in the summer... So trip number three to try to fit a single screw, failed. The photo shows the problem. In the centre is the hole in the engine mount where the screw has to go, directly beneath the engine mounting bracket, so it can only be seen from this angle, and there is very little room to get a hand to it. Below and right there is a larger hole in the side of the engine bearer where a steel cylinder is fitted, it has a drilled and tapped hole to accept the screw. That's under the the flywheel housing so almost impossible to see or get to. The normal way to deal with these things is to slide and rotate the cylinder whilst jiggling the screw until you feel the hole. Can't do that here as there's only room for one hand. The previous attempt at fettling the end of the screw and opening up the hole a bit didn't work so this time I've been a bit more radical. Maybe I'll get it fitted this week. Then do the other side. Then fit the jacking nuts and get the engine aligned. |
AuthorPhil, owner, captain, chief engineer, electrician, carpenter, cook and comms manager of Seren Archives
April 2024
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