Nimrod Oceanlord

We have managed to complete our first ten hours motoring so from now on we should be able to use the new engine as normal.

We went through the Raz de Sein at slack as planned with very little wind.

We are now in a bay called Ste Evette, just outside Audierne. The wind generator and solar panels are charging the batteries nicely so maybe I will get to watch some of the footy later although it is a glorious evening.

The photo also shows White Angel, another S&CA boat that is travelling part of the way south with us. Tomorrow we are hoping to go to the Iles des Glenan, an amazing archipelago of islands where the world famous French sailing school was set up after WWII.

We decided that the best sea trial was to motor over to Camaret, just outside the Rade de Brest and a good stopping point en route to the Raz de Sein.

The engine is completely different from the old one so we don’t know whether the noises we are hearing are the right ones but different or the wrong ones! We need to run it in for 10 hours and vary the revs during this time. The propeller also sounds different so you can imagine how paranoid we are getting! The wind was on the nose so it was a good opportunity to use the 14 mile journey as a sea trial. It pretty much rained the whole 3 hours so not fun at all. Still we are safely here and sitting down to watch Euro2012 with a roast dinner.

Tomorrow we may stay here as the wind is supposed to be SW (on the nose again) and we don’t want to go through the Raz with the wind in one direction and the tide going the other as it would make for a lumpy sea. If the wind drops, we will probably go.

All of the snagging list has been completed today so we are now ready to take her out on a proper sea trial. Shame that it is gusting over 30 knots in the marina and lashing it down with rain. Still, the throttle now works in the right way – you push it forward to go forward and backwards to go astern. Novel, but useful! The small fuel leak where they had to move the pre-filters to get the engine in has been sorted and the slight vibration we could feel from the engine was due to the mounting feet not being quite as tight as it should have been. All in all, we have no reason not to pay the balance of the invoice and that is akin to the national debt of Greece.

However, as we haven’t had a proper sea trial yet we are loathe to part with all of it and it will probably not be until Sunday before we can venture out. Between now and then, we have several partitions to put back as well as put everything back where it should be so that we can leave when the weather does improve which will hopefully be on Monday. Our plan then is to go through the Raz de Sein to continue on our way south. Happy days – almost!

As posted yesterday, we thought that we would go onto the slipway to replace the propeller blades but Bruno Launay – the main man at Brest Marine Services – had other ideas. He wanted us to be hoisted up and held in the sling whilst he fitted the new blades. It would be much quicker but would cost more money. He was worried that something might happen whilst the boat was leaning against the wall and he was working underneath it so we agreed to the lift by the hoist. This was initially scheduled for 2pm but by 3 we hadn’t heard anything so, after a call to Brest Marine it was rescheduled for 4.30pm. At 4.15pm we get another call to say that we need to drive the boat slowly round to the hoist. Really? With the wrong blades on and a brand new engine but with no fan attached at the moment…..

Suffice to say we arrived at the hoist to be lifted. We stayed on the boat until the slings were safely in place and then exited via the bow. She was then lifted in all her glory.

It took about an hour to replace the blades so we checked the anodes whilst she was out. These are sacrificial lumps of metal that prevent corrosion of more important bits of metal like our propeller shaft! They all looked in good condition so we didin’t need to worry about changing them. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to take the grease gun for the propeller blades off the boat which was now suspended in mid air! The marina staff offered to hoist one of us up on the forks of their fork lift truck. We thought they were joking but no. Liz was duly balancing on the forks 5m in the air with the marina staff thinking that this was perfectly normal. Can you imagine this happening in the UK????

We then motored back to our berth trying to remember that as the blades had been switched it meant that the throttle was the wrong way round – i.e. pushing it forward meant you went backwards and pushing it back sent you forwards – very bizarre!

The mechanic is due tomorrow to do the final bits and bobs so we can do a sea trial. The weather is against us again as there is a front coming through with high winds Thurs pm to Sat  so it may be Sunday before we can actually check that everything works. However, it does look like we have a working engine at last!

The new engine has been running today and is almost ready for sea trials. There is still a bit of tidying up to do and checking that all is aligned correctly but it seems that we are definitely making progress.

This means that we should be able to change the propeller blades tomorrow or Thursday by drying out on the slip way. As it is Neaps at the moment, the rise of tide is relatively small (2.8m) so we have a limited amount of time to dry out sufficiently to get the propeller off and then back on again. As Low Water is at 7.30pm tomorrow we may have to dry out against the slipway wall overnight as the best time to do the work will be when the workmen have gone home but at least it doesn’t cost us anything! The alternative is a lift out that doesn’t come cheap. Oh well, c’est la vie.

So, at 1100 today we were moved by the friendly marina staff to the slipway so that the new engine could be lifted into the boat. Before this could happen we had to move a boat that had rafted up against us on Saturday. When I explained to the skipper that we would need to move on Monday morning, I was greeted with a Gallic shrug. Luckily the marina staff moved the boat for us as the skipper had left Sat eve.

Once the engine was on board, the mechanic, Jean Claude, promised to return at 1400 as it was now approaching midday and of course nothing comes between the French and their lunch! However, at 1430 he arrived back and with lots of huffing and puffing mixed with the occasional ‘merde’ the engine was in the bay. Now the only problem was that the engine wasn’t tall enough to match up with the propeller shaft. At that point we thought that all work would stop but we were wrong. He got his colleague to make some blocks to put under the feet and continued. He worked through to 1830 and is coming back tomorrow. It should all be completed in the next day or so and then we will be able to change the blades on the propeller and also check the rope cutter. The cutter cuts through anything that might get wrapped around the shaft which is essential in coastal waters with fishing nets and lobster pots lurking just under the surface.

Currently, looking good for us to do a test sail before the end of the week and to get away over the weekend but we will see.

The new motor has duly arrived and we are hoping that it can be lifted onto the boat tomorrow afternoon. They need to check that it is running properly on the bench first before installation We are also restricted by the time of high water as we need to get alongside the jetty for them to crane it onto the boat. High water is at 2000 tomorrow but the mechanics finish at 1730 and we need a certain height of tide to float! Consequently, it may be Friday morning instead.

We have used the time to do various jobs around the boat. The fridge needed re-gassing so a very helpful plumber turned up today. He was early, very good and not extortionate. We have also realised that our cool box (not the fridge) is not insulated so Liz is currently squirting foam around it as we speak! Liz also painted the engine bay so that it is all nice and clean for the new engine.