Emergency Engine Hatch Opening - Sea Ray Sundancer

  A number of years ago, a friend/fellow boater had to do some quick repairs in his boat's engine room that required him to be down there with the engine hatch closed. His First Mate stayed above decks, waiting for him to call her to have the hatch opened again. While waiting, she asked herself what would have happened if the electrically operated hatch lift failed while hubby was down there?

 Fortunately for them, there was no issue when it came time to operate the lift, with a simple push of a button at the helm once again magically lifting the hatch. All good.

 Of course, that conversation led to the realization that a back-up plan would be prudent. In case the electrical system failed, or if there wasn't enough power in the batteries to allow the system to function, some sort of manual operation would have to suffice. Happily, most (if not all) boat manufacturers have figured out a workaround for just such a scenario.

 When we originally got our 1998 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer, I investigated to see how I - or potentially one of my rescuers - would perform this function in case of a loss of power.

 On that model, there was a screw out inspection plate (*paid link) on the engine hatch that simply unscrewed if needed. That allows one to both look into the engine room, and more importantly, reach below to access a manual release.

Open-able plate to access the engine room.

 Here's a closer look at the plate, removed for access.

 So, how does one open the hatch? Pictured below is a look at the ram that operates the power lift. The green arrow is pointing at a removable clevis pin (*paid link). By reaching through the removable plate, that pin can be easily pulled out of the ram. Once that has been removed, the entire hatch can be lifted up (on its hinges).

Removable Clevis Pin 

 The only word of caution I'd mention is that the hatch on this boat was quite heavy, so an extra pair of hands might come in handy when lifting. Of course, be very careful if you have to perform this function, as dropping that thing on hands or feet would definitely result in injuries - and that's the last thing any of us wants when enjoying time on the boat...

 * Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Boat Holding Tank Replacement - Measuring For New One

Ask yourself this; How can a day crawling around in a cold boat bilge to measure for a poop tank put a smile on anyone's face? Easy - it brings us that much closer to having 'Boogaboo' ready for relaunch and moving aboard full time :-)

 Although this photo may suggest that we are far from being back in the water, the snow and ice are melting quickly now. With any luck, we should be ready to be splashed in a couple of weeks.

Shrink wrap to be coming off soon :-) Boogaboo on the left in this shot.

 This past Sunday saw me down in that very bilge, removing three heavy batteries, measuring, doing a lot of crawling around and talking to myself - out loud. The end result was that I was very happy to figure out that we will be able to accommodate a much larger tank than was installed from the factory. That's gonna translate into longer times between pump outs, not to mention one happy Anchor Girl. She has been somewhat paranoid ever since we got the boat that we will have another overflow, something that happened during the first week we had the boat. As far as we can determine, the gas dock attendant didn't pump out our tank completely and only three days later - at anchor on Georgian Bay - a flush of the toilet chugged some unpleasantness out through the vent. Needless to say, we made a quick exit and over to the closest marina for a complete pump out.

 A look at my template for the new tank. Nothing more than a cardboard box, but it was very close to the dimensions I needed to check.

Our temporary cardboard tank.

 Ever since that incident, and despite a new gauge on the old tank, Anchor Girl was FOREVER asking me if I thought we needed a pump out. Argh!! Bottom line is that we should be able to enjoy an extra 4 - 5 days between trips to the gas dock, for a new total of 10 - 12 days capacity. That's gonna be relieving - for a couple of reasons ;-)

VIDEO - Yours truley doing the aforementioned measuring and smiling in the engine room;


 A shot of the marina, looking out from the launch ramp. As you can see, the ice is opening up and revealing the beauty of open water once again!

Open water again at the marina!

:-)