Going to need a bigger spanner !

Sitting here in a very warm boat contemplating a few hours in a very cold engine room  - the boat is 25c the engine room is 7c

Lovely day after a spattering of snow overnight. Just had a nice cup of tea with our long term boaty neighbour and friend Mandy off NB Don't Panic..... lots of catching up and chat around boat jobs toilets and batteries etc!

Came back and started to look at the job of the day which was to remove the exhaust manifold only to find the adjustable I thought would do the job isn't big enough. I need to review my photos from when we had the engine decoked a while back to see if there is a clue there of how it was done.... otherwise its a plan B job....

It is the large nut at the end of the exhaust manifold upper left ( pictures from when the engine was decoked in 2019)

At least I know we removed the manifold from that junction. It is a 90mm or 3 1//2 inch ring.... i've ordered some filter pliers that I hope will do it... in the mean time it'll get a regular application of penetrating oil. I'll be interested to see if one of the other cylinder outputs is more coked up that the others that might indicate a tweak to the respective injector pump to ensure they are both working as hard ... 

So that's that job sacked off today.... the  next job was to add a security lock to the inside of the hatch so when we are board we can actually lock the hatch from being opened from the outside. Just finished that job, had to get the drill and taps out but my goodness it's cold, even working in the hatch its bitter. Back in the boat now for the rest of the day/evening.

The coal cage got put in earlier  - a great device for regulating the burn on a solid fuel stove. Not good for logs if you need a lot of heat fast but once the boat is up to temperature the coal cage works well. I'd still prefer a Refleks diesel stove  if i was living aboard full time, much more consistent and controlled heat. We've tons of space in the forecabin for a decent sized fuel tank for it. Maybe that ship had sailed with the direct Morso replacement for what we need its spot on. Still pondering a cheap air blown diesel heater, just the exhaust and the heat pipe run, again it could live and operate in the forecabin..... that has more legs as it would /could be a companions to the Morso .....Mmmmm 

A few early morning shots