We arose at 0700 this morning and began the work of preparing for moving the boat to another location, a side-tie for using the forklift to extract and place the new engine aboard. We added some fenders and dock lines and were ready when the marina work boat came to move us. The move was necessitated because we need to side-to a dock that's stable enough to support a forklift and engine. A side-tie means that we're tied to the dock with the side of the boat against the boat, so a forklift can more easily reach across from the dock to lift or lower an engine. In our temporary berth, we were "Med moored", eliminating any chance of a forklift being able to reach the boat.

We were placed across from the fuel dock, directly in the main entrance channel to the marina: lots of traffic. Adrian arrived and we went to the new Beta. We knew from our experience with the Nanni removal that we had to strip the engine of many external parts to make it light enough and narrow enough to be dragged from the companionway to the salon, and we convinced Adrian that the better place for this was while the engine was sitting on the pallet. And so it was and we began.

Adrian brought his day-labor, Ralph, to help. Both were working furiously to remove parts: water pumps, heat exchanger, air filter, alternators, for example. Still, not as many were removed as for the Nanni, and we paid for that later in damaged interior wood

A short word about this Beta. As Adrian says, most engines are made for sale and not for maintenance. Beta has obviously spent effort to design an engine that's easy and clean to install and maintain. The fuel feed and return lines are both mounted side-by-side and within easy reach. There are only TWO electrical connections: one hot, one ground, for everything! What ease and simplicity! The transmission is hydraulic, can be used commercially so it's durable, uses the same oil as the engine (wonderful, no ATF to cart around!), and has its own small heat exchanger for cooling the oil. The engine fuel system doesn't need to be bled, there's an engine oil removal pump that doubles as a transmission oil removal pump. Hold a jug under the pump spigot, give a few pumps, and dispose of the oil. Easy maintenance means that it'll be done more often. We purchased a 120A alternator so charging batteries will be much more efficient. The air filter, oil filter, and secondary fuel filter (the one on the engine, not the primary fuel/water separator are all disposable and can be purchased third party, reducing maintenance costs, and certainly improving performance. As Adrian says, Beta is as close to an "open source" engine as is available. All maintenance parts are easily available third party.

After the Beta was reduced in size and weight, we returned to the boat to ready the Nanni for removal. First was to slide it to the companionway to make it available to the forklift removal. Sliding a 300-pound engine along the floor, even with three sweating guys doing the work, is no easy task and we barely finished before lunch break was called. The Nanni was still on the floor just in front of the companionway stairs, so we set a similar system At 1300 hours, everyone returned and we began again, and the forklift arrive with our Beta dangling from the extended forks, still attached to the wood frame on which it was shipped. The forklift had been fitted with an extra-long extension that allowed several feet of support to extend over our companionway. We used Adrian's chain hoist connected to the forklift extension to hoist the Nanni onto the battery box under the companionway, then the forklift completed the task and pulled it out of the boat and it set gently on the dock.

We removed the Beta from its frame, and as it dangled in the air, we removed the motor mounts, narrowing the engine considerably. The Beta was raised on the forklift and set into the boat. Since I mentioned the problem, you know that it was a most frustrating experience to slide the much heavier engine from the companionway/galley to the salon and engine well. By 1600 hours, the engine was sitting on its mounts on the stringers. We called it a day.

It's 2000 hours and we're still at the side-tie, dog-tired, but pleased with the day's work. We're far from finished, but the muscle work is done and now it's small tasks as they appear. We've seen our new instrument panel, our new flex coupling and extra parts. We've seen our engine in place and know that at some point in the near future, the thing will fire and we'll be done.

One of the hoops through which we must jump is to prove to local authorities that we've disposed of the engine as required by our "vessel in transit" status. We paid no taxes on the engine because we're simply in transit, and we're not supposed to make any money on this engine or its parts. We've been told that we need to photograph all of the parts and provide them to the customs people and we'll be clear. I do hope so. First thing tomorrow is to deal with this.