Yesterday, I went out to the boatyard to watch the boat go through a mandatory mechanical inspection before splashing. The mechanic and his assistant checked all the engine fluids and hoses, and started the engine, and in general checked all the mechanical systems.
One of the first things they did was to pull the raw water pump to check the condition of the impeller. It’s a good thing they did, because in addition to the expected finding of a tired impeller, they found that the pump itself was seized. Trying to start the engine with a seized pump might only have broken the corrosion inside the pump, but it might instead have broken the pump or its driveshaft. Fortunately, the current owner is a big believer in spares, and we didn’t have much trouble locating a spare impeller, a spare water pump, and a spare gasket in the ship’s stores.
Once that was put right, not too many other problems were found. The alternator seems pretty anemic, and should be replaced or rebuilt. Several hose clamps had corroded to the point of breakage, but that, again, is to be expected. The mixing elbow for the exhaust (where it’s mixed with seawater) seems to be obstructed. And there was an exhaust elbow that had corroded through and was leaking. Everything but the alternator, and possibly that as well, will be fixed before the sea trial. On the whole, the mechanic was well pleased with the engine, a four cylinder Kubota tractor engine that’s also sold as an inboard. After sitting for a couple of years, it fired up on the first crank, ran smoothly, etc. I got a comprehensive tour of the engine compartment and its contents, too.
So, inching toward ownership here. I don’t yet know when the boat will go in the water, and once it does there’s still the sea trial and the second part of the survey. But, no red flags so far.
Now I have to make some decisions about painting the hull. I may do it myself, or I may decide to have it done, since I don’t have that many hours available to work on it. It wouldn’t exactly pay for itself to have it done professionally so I can move aboard sooner (living at anchor would cost $1US a day for anchor fee), but it would offset the cost somewhat. On the other hand, any work I do on it will pay off in increased familiarity. I’m definitely going to replace the rigging myself, because I can do that piecemeal.