54. The next phase

Fettlin’ seems to be the next phase. After a successful launch I took to old engine out and replaced it with the new block. It fitted well as did the carburettor. The wiring harness that I had bought from America needed some interpretation as it was designed for an installation that had a sterndrive. But hey, life is about learning isn’t it?

I then took time off for a new knee and six weeks later the Grey Falcon was on display at the Thames Traditional Boat show in the CMBA camp (Classic Motor Boat Association) and getting quite a lot of attention. Sadly GF was only on land and not allowed on the water as he did not comply with TTBS rules. Even so they have asked that I return and maybe we can show off the GF in the water.

So it was with great trepidation that I turned the key … but the engine did not start with a great roar, no, the timing needed resetting first. As I am not the best of engineers I found a man who was and after a half an hour of fiddling the new unit burst into life. That, however was not the end of the matter, now I had to fit an engine hours meter, kill switch and gearbox cut out. The gearbox switch ensured that the engine cannot be started unless it is in neutral, and I had to add cables for the kill switch to the drivers area.

Then the certification questions arose when I tried to find the rules for launching on the Thames, or indeed any other waterway. It took six days of speaking to people in the know, from the ‘health and safety’ experts to those that just wanted money. The upshot was that if I want to sell the boat within five years I would need a CE/CA certification which was so convoluted and expensive that I would rather leave the GF in its garage to rot than try to please the bureaucrats! And anyway when does the five years start? So I decided that the best course of action would be to have the boat professionally surveyed enter Mike Andrews of International Boat Surveys in Chichester. He has given the GF a full bill of health with only one compulsory job to do which is an automatic fire extinguisher system to be fitted to the engine bay.

I shall put the survey up here in the next post.

Happy days!! Happy reading.