Good News and Bad News.

Yesterday we had a visit from the engineer to sort out our engine. We had discovered when we went to fill up with diesel that the water pump was leaking. We had been waiting for the engineer to come and fix this, but Monday Keith took the pump off and Roger stripped it down to discover a worn nylon seal. Roger turned 2 new ones out of PTFE so that we have a spare. Keith and Roger refitted the pump and tried running the engine to test it to then find that the governor was jammed solid, hence the visit from Paul Redshaw yesterday.

Upon opening up the engine casing we soon discovered a further problem, emulsified oil. Then having taken the governor casing off and stripped it down it would seem that water had got to the spindle and jammed it. The route cause of this, a suspected head gasket leak, which would also tie into the water and oil we had noticed bubbling from around the head when we went for diesel. The spindle was cleaned up and refitted, moving quite freely now, and the governor assembly was refitted to the engine. Then we had to drain all the oil out and fill it up with new, before running the engine again. No leaks from the water pump and the governor was once again working properly.
The bad news is that we have to have a new head gasket made, they are not available off the shelf, and it will take 4-6 weeks to get one made. So we will be spending a few more weeks here in Stone. Keith has asked for 2 gaskets to be made so that we have a spare for the future.

Tina has been busy working out the lettering for our sheeting, have drawn it all out a couple of times and put it onto sheets of grease proof paper, she then laid it out on the sheeting to make sure it was the correct size lettering and the curve on the letting was correct. Having got an agreement from us and Roger that it looks right, she can now make cardboard templates ready for a good day to do the lettering, we need a dry calm day for this job.
The timber has arrived for the flooring in the hold, so that is a job Roger will be getting on with, as well as finishing off the final touches to the boat, which we wrote down for him. The funny thing has been that no sooner he has crossed a couple of things off the to do list we add a couple more things. Still the list is now down to 4 things and then that is that she is done yayyyyyyyyy.
We now look forward to a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, so no matter where you are, or what you are doing have a lovely time.