The servicing is progressing well albeit John is as stiff as a board from being upside down in the engine room. The main engine was the centre of attention today with a complete replacement of all the fuel and oil filters. This was done on a major service basis with all the gaskets and O rings being replaced – a tedious and fiddly job in awkward places. The fuel pump was also given an overhaul and new lubricant. A look at the raw water impellor showed some wear so it was decided to replace it. Another very trying location with John upside down under the engine again. Managed to drop the old rotor into the bilge under the engine which is very deep. So had to go fishing and eventually retrieved it which was essential as it could jam the bilge pump floats if left rolling around. As the freezer cooling filter was handy to the upside down position that too was serviced at the same time. Whilst changing the fuel filters and fuel polisher we managed to top up and bleed the system of air first go – an almost unheard of occurrence – the gods must have been keeping an eye on us. A detailed examination of the alternator drive belt revealed some wear so that will have to be changed to though it will probably have to wait until tomorrow as the engine is too hot to work on at present. The drive belt is an interesting arrangement that has not been noticed before as we have not had to change it – the belt runs an interference fit around some cooling pipes so one of the pipes has to be removed to replace the belt – not a common occurrence even though the designers have installed a joint in the pipe for just that purpose. It would be difficult to replace at sea and impossible on a hot engine. Once the engine has cooled we can also change out the pencil zincs in the heat exchangers. The gearbox has been done so apart from a clean up we should be clear of the machinery spaces tomorrow an be able to get into the shaft tunnel.

We have local carpenter called Jay working today. He has removed the forward Dorade housing which had a tendency to leak. The whole unit is being cleaned up and re-bedded in sealant. Although the marina still seems quite crowded the larger boats are all leaving at a high rate and it is just the racing boats here for race week that are using the berths temporarily. They will all disappear at the end of the week and the cat club will look a bit bare. Hound and Melinka plus two others left this morning for Maine with much hooting of horns and cheering. Whilst they do the trip regularly it is a bit of a strain for them – they are very pretty boats but have low freeboards and are better suited as submarines once on the high seas.