Tom
March 27, 2009, Port Ginesta

Because of the installation of the new engine Iris had to pass again the feared Spanish boat inspection and since its last inspection 4 years ago legislation has changed a bit. For example, it is now obligatory to carry a VHF radio with DSC (Digital Selective Call). Hurray! Iris has one of these. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be enough. Although for Iris's navigation zone 4 (12 miles from coast) a GPS isn't an obligatory piece of security equipment, I was kindly obliged to buy a new homologated GPS, in order for the VHF-DSC to be able to be fully operational. The radio WAS already connected to my good old Valsat GPS and the combination worked perfectly, but of course that good old Valsat isn't equipment homologated by the Spanish Marine. So I searched a bit on eBay and bought a brand new Humminbird 785 c2 chart plotter with external antenna. Could have installed it myself in less than half an hour, but of course Spanish Marine obliges to hire an expensive authorized installer to do the job. Grrrrrrrrr.

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Tom
October 19, 2008, Port Ginesta

On Friday afternoon I went over to Sitges to do final tests of the new engine together with the mechanics of Nįutica Emilio. Wow, what a difference! The silent, vibrationless 30-horsepower engine gave Iris an easy 8 knot over a smooth sea.
The idea was to bring Iris back home to Port Ginesta on Saturday but that turned out to be a rainy day and we decided to postpone the first trip with the new engine for one day. Finally yesterday Moona and I took Iris back to her hailing port. There was a strong wind blowing directly in our face, and a moderate sea with 2m waves. With the old engine I would have desisted doing the trip because it would have been too hard for the old Volvo 2002. But the new D1-30 had no problems riding the waves. The log indicated 6.5 knots, 1.5 of which probably corresponded to the counter current. We did the 5 Nm in just about an hour.

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Tom
October 10, 2008, Port d'Aiguadolē, Sitges

Excellent job by the mechanics of Nautica Emilio. The new Volvo Penta D1-30 is already installed! Looks nice. Now it only needs to be connected to the fuel tank , batteries and to the small electronic control panel that's being installed.
Iris being hauled out of the water, today I've been training my arms sanding the hull and giving it a first coat of bottom paint.

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Tom
October 8, 2008, Port d'Aiguadolē, Sitges

This afternoon I passed by the shipyard of the Aiguadolē marina in Sitges to see how the repowering job on Iris was going. Iris had been hauled out on Monday, the old, rusty Volvo Penta 2002 had been removed and the mechanics were just finishing the building of a new tailored fiberglass mount to accomodate the new D1-30.

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Tom
September 20, 2008, Port d'Aiguadolē, Sitges

Oops. A long time I didn“t write anything here.
At last I've decided to give Iris a new engine. The 20 year old rusty Volvo Penta 2002 will be replaced by a new D1-30. More power, less vibrations and less noise, but most important of all a lot more confidence at sea.
Moona and I sailed out of Port Ginesta for a short 5-mile trip to Sitges. There she will be repowered by the local Volvo Penta service of Nįutica Emilio. Details will follow in future posts.
It was a sunny day, the last one of this year's summer. Nothing special to be told about the trip, except for the hundreds of jellyfish we encountered along the Garraf coast (Cotylorhiza tuberculata and Rhizostoma pulmo)

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