Relentlessly optimistic.
It’s Sunday.
The good news is Ruru has its new* motor.
As in, there’s now a motor in the engine bay.
David the mecano got that done on Thursday.
He seemed to indicate he would have everything connected up on Friday.
Hahahahaha.
He did turn up Friday morning.
Did a bit of work tightening down the engine mounts & hooking up a couple of hydraulic hoses.
Then he buggered off.
No-show yesterday.
Expecting the same today.
Public holidays, weekends etc…It’s not all his fault.
But is IS very frustrating.
There’s a day of rain forecast for tomorrow, so it’s doubtful I’ll see him around.
We’re heading toward the end of my second week here.
Boat still out of the water.
Progress happening at a snail’s pace. At best.
Grrrrr.
On a positive note I used Friday & Saturday to repair a couple of annoying leaks on the port and starboard corners of the stern.
Ruru’s an ex-hire boat.
Boats steer from the back — like forklifts — & inexperienced boaties have a habit of swiping the stern against things like lock walls and quay sides when driving.
Ruru’s reinforced polyester hull is bloody strong, but constant dings create cracks and fissures, weakening the structure and allowing water in. Worse, hire companies are notorious for their hasty cosmetic repairs, covering up the damage but leaving the underlying problem.
I was aware of Ruru’s stern damage but wasn’t too concerned, consigning the problem to a more general repair & paint project some time in the future.
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Until Thursday, when a sudden downpour demonstrated how those cracks were actually funnelling loads of water into the engine bay whenever it rained.
You ask, “how did you not know this already?”
Simple. Until the old motor was removed, there were too many other factors at play.
You see, there’s always been a big pool of water at bottom of Ruru’s engine bay.
The old motor had a leaky water pump and it drank plenty of water while running.
I assumed this was the cause of the pool. But with the motor removed, and a new pool of water appearing after a rainstorm…well… it was obvious there was a deckside leak somewhere.
OK then. Let’s get started.
First, the black straking line had to come off. This is the ‘bumper’ that runs around the perimeter of the boat to protect against nudges against immovable objects.
It’s made from 50mm plastic water pipe, is rigid and unwieldy.
Then an inspection of the corners. The port side was way worse than starboard. The location of the damage meant water was pooling in the gutter formed by a lip on the hull. This explained why so much water was getting in.
Out with the handy finger-sander (not my fingers!) and lots of grinding with a 40 grit belt until the cracks were exposed and there was a decent hole to patch.
Four coats of polyester filler & mesh & chopped strand got everything built nice and strong. Then a bit of sanding and primer.
Done.
Frankly, the end repairs looked rough as guts.
But. They’re strong, waterproof and durable.
They’re also mostly hidden by the straking line.
The stern of the boat looks pretty rough overall, so it’s a good match.
And at some point down the track Ruru will no doubt get a full body makeover, and the repairs can be improved cosmetically.
In no hurry for that.
a bientôt
Jeff
PS. Hopefully the next post will describe David’s rapid progress on connecting everything up. Maybe Ruru will even be back in the water?
