Slowly sailing to wherever our fancy takes us

Boatyard 2022-23

We just had some Coppercoat repairs to complete before choosing a date to launch Emerald. We were feeling a swirling mix of emotions - excitement to be afloat again tempered with the fear of something going wrong. And there were many things that could go wrong!

Emerald’s Launch From the Boatyard: The Moment of Truth

1 December 2023 by Nichola

We had one big boat job left to do to be able to escape the boatyard, but the weather had other ideas. It was another lesson in how patience is a good trait to have to make the sailing life go smoothly...

Sailing Life: All you Need is Just a Little Patience

24 October 2023 by Nichola

A Volvo Penta D2-75 in a boat engine room — Perhaps you were wondering where we were at with our boat engine rebuild? And why did we think we had a dose of the commentator's curse? Click the link to find out.

What Happened Next in Our Boat Engine Rebuild

13 October 2023 by Nichola

Our hydraulic autopilot developed an oil leak. As it's an old model, servicing support was no longer available, so we took on the task ourselves. Here we share our experiences and tips for servicing a hydraulic autopilot

Advice for Servicing a Hydraulic Autopilot

15 September 2023 by Nichola

With our rebuilt engine back in the boat, the next big step was to test it. But before we could do that, we needed to reconnect the ancillary systems. And of course there was an expected issue...

Our DIY Boat Engine Rebuild: The First Test Run

9 August 2023 by Nichola

looking down into a boat's engine room onto the engine — Gaskets have been one of our biggest issues during the engine rebuild. First there was the tear in the timing case gasket, then having remedied that, the oil sump leaked oil from all around its new gasket.

Boat Engine Rebuild – The Gasket Debacle

22 July 2023 by Nichola

With the cleaning complete, we were ready to begin the next step in our engine rebuild adventures. We had an overhaul kit for our water damaged Volvo Penta D2-75 engine that contained new gaskets, bearings and pistons. Some things went well, others, not well at all.

Rebuilding a Boat Engine – Our Continued Adventures

23 June 2023 by Nichola

a dismantled Volvo D2-75 engine — We decided to attempt to repair our water damaged boat engine. With the engine out of the boat, we could begin dismantling to uncover the extent of the damage. After than it was cleaning, replace and repair.

Repairing A Water Damaged Boat Engine

2 June 2023 by Nichola