I'll just reply to my own post to keep the threading simple.
Step 1: Engine is now out.
It took less than three hours to prep the engine for removal, and even at that we labeled every wire and where it went on the engine, and didn't cut wiring at all (The engine was sold rather than junked, so we wanted to be kind to the new owner). Then we got a tow over to the pier and used the crane to lift her out. The actual lifting part took all of about three minutes. I took some photos, and a few videos, of the process. I was planning on adding a dripless seal when I went down to Ventura in a bit to have some bottom work done, which unexpectedly lead to step 2, put the boat in the yard for a bottom job.
Step 2: Put the boat in the yard.
I've put off a needed bottom job for months. As it turns out, the yard in SB had room, and in this economy, was willing to match the bid from Ventura, if we went in the yard pretty much immediately. We called Harbor Patrol for a lift, but they were busy. So, since it's a sailboat and all, I decided we should sail on over to the travel lift. A quick note about the lift in Santa Barbara: it's at the far western end of the harbor, directly upwind with our standard westerly, with a rather narrow approach. That being said, after some early miscommunication about readiness, we finally got underway and started the tacking. and tacking. and more tacking. We were starting to draw a bit of a crowd, as locals and tourists alike came out to see the two crazy guys trying to sail up to the end of the harbor. Even the Harbor Patrol guys came over, because they had a very valuable piece of information I didn't. Which I learned as I got all the way to the lift, and coming in on the last tack. Apparently, you have to back into the travel lift. So much for sailing into it. The Harbor Patrol boat generously came up and gave us a push backwards into the lift.
I think it speaks volumes about converting when the most difficult part of the entire day had nothing to do with the actual conversion. The prep and removal went without a hitch. The two biggest issues (if you can call them that) were the tackathon and having to go get taller cribbing to set the motor in the back of the truck that required buying another 10 minutes of crane time ($2).
So tomorrow afternoon I start on removing the wiring, fuel system, fuel tank, gauges, and throttle/shift cables. Then the joy of degreasing and cleaning the bilge. If I can get that done, I'll be stoked.
JRM
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "jrmdive" <josh@...> wrote:
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> I was planning on waiting until the end of summer to start my electric conversion, but "fortune smiles on the prepared" and now I've started. Tomorrow will be the first major milestone, as I have to get the motor out and on the dock for delivery to the new owner. Nothing like a deadline to guarantee some sort of impending problem.
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> I'm going with a Propulsion Marine 5KW system. After what seems like endless research, I've decided to go with a commercial system rather than roll my own (which is very unlike me, as I almost always can manage to spend twice as much figuring it out myself). I've seen the system in action (James' boat is just across the harbor from mine), and am looking forward to making the switch.
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> I will be doing the majority of my own install, so I will no doubt be able to increase the cost with a few mistakes along the way.
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> I'll be documenting the conversion as I go. Just for info, I have a 1984 Catalina 30, a bit over 10k displacement (she's got a lot of junk in her). The 12v system is already pretty much done (rewired, LED lights, battery monitor system, etc.) The boat is used quite a bit for day sailing, but her real purpose is for multi-day excursions out to the islands.
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> Josh
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