Installation Time
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Sat 8 Oct 2011 15:35
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Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 October
2011
Wednesday was just a wash and tidy up the boat day
and we stayed on Sopromar's pontoon. Lin cleaned the upholstery and we
generally reclaimed the boat from the work site it had been - in readiness to
start the next installations. On Thursday we motored out to sea for an
hour or so to test the generator and engine and then returned to check into
Lagos Marina. The gen and engine water pumps don't leak any longer so
that's a result. The engine isn't running excessively hot either - we
no longer have white exhaust smoke. Another result.
But the cooling water level seems to be dropping a
bit so that will need further monitoring. One explanation is that the
heat exchanger gasket is not seated correctly which could allow fresh water
to escape through to the sea water side.
When we were in the yard I was concerned that
the new sleeve on the rudder bearing was too tight on the rudder stock.
The material used (a form of 'Delrin') is one that absorbs much less water than,
say, nylon, but still absorbs some. This causes the bearing to swell and
on some Bavarias they then bind to the rudder stock. For this reason there
has to be a tiny tolerance around the stock. Sopromar were convinced it
was fine and I have decided to go with their experience. Nevertheless
it's another area I want to test before we set off for the Canaries and on this
initial run the steering was too tight. We will see how it evolves
with water lubrication and some use.
We finally fitted the Scanstrut to the stern of the
boat on Saturday. This will support the antennas dome for our satellite
phone. We have seen many which are not quite vertical, either in the fore
and aft plane or from side to side. This is difficult to achieve because a
floating boat constantly moves and the trim changes as you fill up with water
and diesel but we certainly didn't want it to look obviously out. We are
pleased with the end result even if the constant measuring and resetting over
two days was somewhat trying for Lin. (This will be no surprise to those
who know her well!).
We fitted the deck gland to take the antenna
cable and ran the cable as far as we could in readiness for John Holloway on
Monday.
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