I visited the boat this evening with the intention of tightening the forestay and adjusting the rig to actually finally get the boat ready to sail. I found a bunch of guys working feverishly on the dock right in front of the boat to replace the gangway that had toppled into the river (yeah, it's that kind of place). I didn't want any part of that mayhem, and I left my tools for the galley update at home so I was left with no real jobs to do.
I decided to search the engine area with my headlamp for oil or diesel leaks. No major leaks but I found this:
That bolt supposed to be holding the starter to the engine was completely unthreaded and about to drop into the bilge. How lucky that I found it now! I realized it had been 4 years since I had looked closely at the engine beyond oil and transmission fluid changes.
I spent an hour looking the entire engine over. During my inpsection I found three loose hose clamps and all the nuts holding the engine mounts to the hanger bolts in the beds were too loose. So I spent another hour methodically tightening everything I could reach around the engine. There is more to do, including properly tightening the starter motor bolts since I need a long socket extension to reach them. I'll be testing every hose clamp eventually and looking into all the areas of the boat I don't normally check. The steering quadrant for example.
Anyway, just a reminder that Boats Need Maintenance! I guess that applies to marina gangplanks too.
I decided to search the engine area with my headlamp for oil or diesel leaks. No major leaks but I found this:
That bolt supposed to be holding the starter to the engine was completely unthreaded and about to drop into the bilge. How lucky that I found it now! I realized it had been 4 years since I had looked closely at the engine beyond oil and transmission fluid changes.
I spent an hour looking the entire engine over. During my inpsection I found three loose hose clamps and all the nuts holding the engine mounts to the hanger bolts in the beds were too loose. So I spent another hour methodically tightening everything I could reach around the engine. There is more to do, including properly tightening the starter motor bolts since I need a long socket extension to reach them. I'll be testing every hose clamp eventually and looking into all the areas of the boat I don't normally check. The steering quadrant for example.
Anyway, just a reminder that Boats Need Maintenance! I guess that applies to marina gangplanks too.