2008 dry dock Page 2

We had a big list of jobs to get done in dry dock! The short version was: remove old engine, fit new engine, install bow thruster tube, then bow thruster, move old battery bank to bow, install new quiet gennerator, hull condition survey, hull ultrasound survey, class survey to re-register, hull washing, welding, painting 3 times, new anodes, propellor repitching, new 2v x 12 traction battery bank and 2 inverters.
Committed now, Waterdog was levelled and then a laser level used to get the bow tube level each side. Cutting the old iron with rib re-inforcing was quite hard and took several days.	We'd bought the steel tube with some to spare, luckily this cam in handy for fairing the tube in, quite a lot of the 'spare bit' got used for this.
The hole for the bow thruster tube was cut oversize to allow for fairing in the edges. The smooth fairing would allow water to flow past the tube when we were underway.
These were the fairing pieces cut from our overlength tube, quite neat.	Mark the painter, the friendliest and most helpful guy at MMS, maybe its the paint fumes? I can see the job satisfaction in this though.
The hull was pressure washed to about 8000psi which removed all the slime and the paint blisters but left some paint. We then opted for an International 2 pack epoxy primer as a base coat. We went for a cheap option of not choosing the colour and taking unwanted stock so it started out red but was finished in bronze. The two top coats were of Jotun black bitumen as it gave a nice finish and we can probably get compatible paint all over Europe.
Tilly bagged for her daily carry down the ladder for walks.	It's not fair really, but it was funny. She was quite comfy in her bag and didn't always get out when put down and unzipped. It was very cheap from a pet superstore so we bought it for the 3 weeks in dry dock.

With a coat of bronze epoxy and a re-pitched pollished propellor we could start seing the light at the end of the tunnel. The huge dry dock made Waterdog seem small and toy like.
An unusual view of the boat and reassuring that it all looks in proportion.	Major disruption in the bow with the floor removed, the water tank boxed in for protection from sparks and the pressure system replumbed and rebatteried as it was in the way of the new bow tube.
The new bow thruster tube was put through, just above the keelson so that the top of the tube would be about 25cm below the water level. This had been our storage area so the rest of the barge was crowded with the shelves and stuff that had to be taken out of here. The tube was 9.5mm walled 300mm internal diameter and about 4m long. This is longer than recommended by the thruster suppliers, so some concerns there for not achieving the full thrust that we need.