Category Archives: Installing an Inboard Engine

Big Changes…Part III

06 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by in Installing an Inboard Engine, Modifications

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Building and Installing the 12v panel and Supporting Systems.

Before I started the project I made a sketch of what I envisioned for a new 12v DC

With the engine beds installed it was time to start work on the new larger electrical panel to replace the small one I used for the last five years. I decided to reuse the 8 breaker Blue Seas 12v panel. I only used four of the breakers before: 12v accessory plugs, LED lights (which I added for the second voyage to the West Indies), AIS, and compass light. I also decided to move the panel from its previously hidden location near the inboard side of the quarter berth to under the bridge-deck, where it would be more accessible, and combine it with the Beta Marine engine instrument cluster, battery monitor, and battery switch. The new panel will be hidden by sliding doors.

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Big Changes…Part II

13 Wednesday May 2020

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The aluminum diesel fuel tank is 19.7 gallons. It contains a full vertical baffle in the center and a clean out port on each side of the baffle.

Installing an engine requires a number of supporting projects. In Part I, I described how I modified the rudder, installed a shaft log, and built and installed engine beds. In Part II, I will describe how I designed and installed the fuel tank; designed, fabricated, and installed brackets to secure the Luke 70 pound storm anchor; designed, fabricated, and installed a removable engine drip pan; and installed the engine intake flush through-hull and seacock, as well as a few other ongoing projects.

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Big Changes…. Part I

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Installing an Inboard Engine, Voyaging

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We had the Far Reach hauled out at Jarett Bay Boatyard
near Beaufort NC

I built the Far Reach to be simple—and she has served me very well that way. She has never failed me and in our time together she has safely carried me to a number of magical destinations. With her taller rig, longer bowsprit, and modified underbody she has proven to be surprisingly capable upwind as well as off the wind. She is fast. In fact, I have had to slow her down a number of times, especially singlehanding. She is as reliable as the day is long. She is comfortable. She is beautiful. As John Keats the poet observed, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

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