Yesterday, I helped Kjartan in the final test-run of the engine before we took away the big tank of water off the deck (needed for running the engine). Kjartan wanted to see if all looks and sounds fine. Of course, we won't be 100% sure until we actually run it in the water. So far though, he said all looks and sounds good.

If you must know, Kjartan is not one to just accept things as they are. He has to re-do everything himself to make peace in his mind. As soon as the 3 mechanics left, he spent the next days re-doing everything they did. We did a trial run first before calling them back and found that the engine runs (thank goodness) but they forgot to connect the gears. So he decided to leave all the blocks and pulleys in place just in case we have to take the gearbox out again. This time, only the head mechanic came to do the test run.

Not even 5 minutes into the run, he said "All fine". Kjartan said "Do you think so?". He said "Yes Sir!!". Haha. Kjartan then directed him to the gearbox problem and he didn't even see anything wrong at all. Anyway, upon Kjartan's insistence, the gearbox was taken and lifted out to the deck. Then he saw it, and together, they fixed the problem. Back down it went and was re-installed.

Now, the engine room is almost back to normal, with a few more improvements. It is now painted white (done while the engine was out) and is brighter. Since we are a cement boat, we used a 2 part epoxy paint for cement from Pioneer. We first saw it in Ace Hardware and bought one to try out. We could have hired someone for Php250 per day to do the work, but the problem is that if you are not watching, almost always there will be a lot of short-cuts done. Kjartan took a lot of time degreasing the whole area before priming and painting. If done correctly, he does not have to do the work all over again for several several years. The paint dried quickly (in this high humidity) and Kjartan liked it. The problem is we cannot find another white in the store. He wanted to use the same paint for the whole bilge. In checking around, nobody else carried this same product. Oh well, so now we have some multicolored bilge walls.

On deck, we cleaned up and took away all the blocks of wood lying around. It is so amazing how quickly tools, parts and supplies gather and fill up any clear space when doing a project. Once cleared, we brought up the garden hose and started cleaning and scrubbing. Wiskun is right beside the ferry terminal. It is very dusty. A good scrubbing is a good idea, at least once a month. The water pressure was weak and I think the sweat pouring out of my head was stronger. But I loved it. I felt I was back in the old days, carefree, no stress! Just minor irritations on seeing bird droppings splattered on deck. Afterwards, I sat on my favorite spot, looking around and with a smile on my face - just like this picture taken several years ago ....