This week was remarkably busy and tiring. On Monday, the weather was not in our favor to pop open the soft patch, breaking the watertight seal, so we began stripping everything off the starboard engine: aftercooler, exhaust manifold, raw water pump, alternator, and coolant reservoir. By Tuesday, the weather was looking better so we pulled up the decking to expose the soft patch, scraped off the 5200, and pulled off the soft patch. That was the easy part of the day. Following, we hooked the engine up with the crane and attached the Dillion tension load cell between the engine and the crane wire. Upon lifting we realized the engine still weighed 4,560 lbs., over the SWL for the extension of the crane, it was now time to remove at least 1,000 lbs. We started by removing the 6 valve covers (one for each cylinder and not one large one), followed by removing the cylinder heads, valves, injectors, and rocker body. Tuesday night I got the wonderful news that I had the opportunity to extend my internship until the middle of September and gladly accepted. By Wednesday morning, the engine was ready to be lifted again to remove it from the engine room. This time, it weighed exactly 1,000 lbs. less. We were now able to lift the engine and move the crane safely. This took some time as we had to avoid the generator that was sitting close by, as well as a seawater discharge pipe that stuck out about 4 inches from the edge of the soft patch. We were able to lower the engine in the middle of the deck, where the starboard crane would pick up the engine and place it on the dock. While the engine as placed in the middle of the deck on blocks, the oil pan was reattached. By the end of the day, the engine was blocked under an overhang to protect it from rain. By Thursday, we knew exactly what we needed to remove from the starboard engine to make it light enough for the crane. We started with breaking the head bolts and removing the heads, valves, and injectors to remove all that weight from the engine. This was all followed up by decluttering the area around the engine to be able to shift it aft without anything being in the way. By the end of the day Thursday, the engine was moved aft under the soft patch and ready to be removed Friday morning. Friday morning was started by removing a light fixture that was hanging off the soft patch, removing the decking and stairwell on top, then popping off the patch. The starboard engine was far more difficult to remove from the engine room because the hydraulic fluid tank occupied half, if not more, of the working area under the patch to more the engine around. Because of that, we had to keep problem solving ways to angle and maneuver the engine to shimmy it out. Once out of the engine room and lowering onto the dock everyone was relieved and excited. As the engines weight was removed from the crane onto the dock, the boat rose about 6 inches out of the water. With both engines out and off the boat, we removed nearly 5 tons, setting us below our lowest draft mark. Having both engines out was a fantastic way to end the work week.
