Coming Out	Coming Out 2	Black Swan moving away from The Dock
Black Swan On The Hard	Moving into The Slip	Just about there
Almost there	Getting into position	It's a long way up

Transformation Update 2

 When disassembling the rear deck, the dog house which was over the stairs leading to the rear cabin was removed.  There was a brass plaque attached to it which reads

“NIHIL DESPERANDUM   Jens Kauffeldt  21.1.53 – 16.3.98”.  This was not thrown away as its significance was unknown.  After making some enquiries, it was found that Nihil Desperandum means never despair as inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules in Gibraltar.  Jens Kauffeldt was one of the part owners of Rana and was a skipper on many of her voyages including the ones up the Amazon.  When he found out he had cancer and that he had only 2-3 weeks left to live, he organized one last voyage with his friends and co-owners of Rana.  He was a brave man and always optimistic even in the worst of crises and loved Rana.  When he died his friends went out in Rana to spread his ashes in the Bay of Arhus accompanied by a flotilla of 20 boats.  This plaque was placed on the ship in his memory with the words “Never Despair” inscribed on it.   This plaque will be reinstalled on Rana now to be called the Black Swan in memory of this man whose spirit is so very much a part of the ship.

Ballast 1	Ballast And Pieces Of Cut Up	Concrete and Ballast
Cutting Off Prop	Cutting Stern Tube	Debris from dismantle of Rear Cabin
Lowering Prop	Now Empty Space For New Engine	Now Just A Mouse
Prop Coming Off	Prop Off	Rear Section of Stern Tube
Removal of Stern Tube	Removal of tar sealing Stern Tube	Removal of tar sealing Stern Tube 2
Removal of tar	Tar

Transformation Update 3

The boat will soon be taken out of the water again to have the prop shaft, stern tube, cutlass bearing and propeller installed.  Then she will go back into the water once more and the new engine will be installed.  The replacement engine was rebuilt by Carl Mitchell of A-1 Marine Services in Jolly Harbour Marina.  The new engine is a 671 GM engine 240 HP with a maximum RPM of 2600.  It is fitted with a transmission with 4.5:1 ratio which will swing a 48 diameter X 48 pitch propeller.  This should give the boat a speed of 8-9 knots.  She previously had a maximum speed of only 4.5 knots. 

1 knot = 1.15 mph.  That means that 10 knots = 11.5 mph

The old Hundested engine is 120 HP with a maximum RPM of 300.  This engine had no astern gearbox so in order to get the boat to go astern, you had to turn the propeller blades in the opposite direction.  This was achieved by turning a wheel on the deck to reverse the position of the propeller blades, which was quite a job.  The propeller was a variable pitch Hundested. That had to be changed so that maneuvering the boat is not such a problem with passengers on board.

What is a knot when referring to boat or wind speed?

A knot is a unit of measure for speed. If you are traveling at a speed of 1 nautical mile per hour, you are said to be traveling at a speed of 1 knot.

A nautical mile is based on the circumference of the planet Earth. If you were to cut the Earth in half at the equator, you could pick up one of the halves and look at the equator as a circle. You could divide that circle into 360 degrees. You could then divide a degree into 60 minutes. A minute of arc on the planet Earth is 1 nautical mile. This unit of measurement is used by all nations for air and sea travel.

In the English measurement system, a nautical mile is 1.1508 miles, or 6,076 feet.  A nautical mile is 1,852 meters, or 1.852 kilometers.

To travel around the Earth at the equator, you would have to travel (360 * 60) 21,600 nautical miles, 24,857 miles or 40,003 kilometers.

 

1957 Hundested Engine	Cleaning New Engine	Cleaning New Engine 2
Hundested Engine	New Engine ready for Installation	Space ready for New Engine

Transformation Update 4

The boat came out of the water again in order to have the shaft, stern tube, bearing carrier, packing gland and propeller fitted.  Measurements were taken for the keyway to be cut on the shaft.   The shaft and the propeller were transported to Antigua Slipway to be installed.  The shaft alone weighs approximately 900 lbs and was lifted into the boat by block and tackle.  The propeller which is about 4 feet in diameter and weighs about 700 lbs was also lifted by this method and attached to the shaft.  Whilst the boat was out of the water, the bottom had to be painted with anitfoul, and that’s a lot of boat bottom. 

In the meantime, work on the deck has also started.  All of the tar in the decking planks has to be removed and replaced with life caulk and any bad planks replaced.  The tar is totally unsuitable for this climate and is melting and making quite a mess.  Also work on the masts has started and is continuing. The masts are being sanded, stained and painted.

The ballast which was removed to make way for the new engine room has now been cleaned and treated for re-use when the old engine comes out.

When the dog houses which were over the stairs on the deck were removed, they left fairly large gaps in the deck which had to be fitted with temporary hatch covers to protect from weather and also from the occasional unwanted feline guest.  There are many of them residing at the Slipway.

Work has now started on dissembling the deck house which has turned out to be quite a job.  Everything on this boat was built to last.  Temporary lighting has been installed below deck because all the electricity ran through the deckhouse.  A new deckhouse with an upper deck will be installed towards the stern which will house the bar and additional seating upstairs.

The boat is now in the water again and final preparation of the engine bed is underway.  Once this is finished the engine will be transported from Jolly Harbour to Antigua Slipway for installation. Work will now commence on the installation of the engine.

Cleaning and Treating Ballast	On the Hard again	900 lb Shaft
Block and Tackle lifting 900 lbs	Propeller ready to go to Slipway	Deckwork has begun
Removing Tar replacing with Life Caulk	Shaft to go through here to prop	Hole where shaft will connect to Prop
Shaft going in	Installing Shaft Bearing Carrier	Installing Shaft Bearing Carrier 2
Preparing to paint the bottom	Priming for Antifoul	Priming boat bottom
Priming Bearing Carrier and Rudder	Propeller attached to Shaft	Attached Prop ready for Antifoul
Engine end of Shaft	Work on Mast has begun	That Guy is really high
Temporary Hatches	Engine Bed being prepared