We have a runner! Yep, the engine is in place, installed, and in service. We got it fired up at the end of the day on Thursday with, actually, NO problems. With a new engine, there is a pretty long checklist of commissioning items to complete, so we worked our way through those: engine oil, transmission oil, coolant, raw water intake, electrical connections, fuel lines, and more. We ran it at the dock for about 20 minutes without a problem. There was a deja vu moment when we put it in gear for the first time: Remember “Reverse is Forwards and Forwards is Reverse”? Yep-happened again. But after reversing the throw on the shifter, all was good. Kim and I spent the Friday working our way through more “list” items: We got the bilge pump wiring sorted out so those are working again, got the anemometer connected up, cleaned the bilge (again), and, finally, washed the boat. It had been 2 months since her last bath and Meravigila was pretty grimy-the birds here are ridiculous.

Those tasks completed, we felt ready for sea trials, so yesterday, we topped up engine fluids and left dock for a cruise. We spent about 4 hours out in St. Simon’s Sound putting the engine through its paces. When commissioning, one has to run the engine at various speeds for various times, so we checked all that off the list and it performed perfectly! Yay! Added bonus: it’s a LOT quieter than our old engine, which is nice. Our plan originally was to spend all day on the water and do some sailing as well as motoring, but an enormous bank of thick fog rolled in. It swallowed up a giant cargo ship at half a mile. We decided being cold, wet, and blind wasn’t top of our list, so we returned to port. Maybe today!

That is a VERY big ship!
And yet, it just disappears in that fog!

It was nice to have a fully functioning boat again! And also really nice to be able to go out without worrying about it breaking. This new engine has really helped our confidence. Onward!