What's in the post today?

It's amazing what you find on the kitchen table and how fascinating the explanation can be.

To keep the engine cool our boat engine needs a constant flow of seawater running past it. To get the seawater running past it it needs to sook in sea water and it has an impeller to do this. And THIS (nice bronze coloured, round, metal bit) is the cover to the chamber in which the impeller is housed.

Not only is it the cover, it is a new (and therefore better) design for the cover which won't damage the impeller so that it needs changing annually.

The other thing I know about this cover (from experience) is that if you take it off at sea, without first closing the stopcock for the seawater inlet, you can get wet feet and a fright!

At risk of boring you further, I also learnt that the seawater (for cooling the engine) somehow gets expelled along with the engine exhaust fumes ... and that leads to a slight possibility that, under unlikely circumstances, the seawater could get back into the engine which would be BAD.

... And, if the fuel weren't to ignite when the starter motor was turning (and therefore no exhaust fumes to help the seawater escape, but the seawater being impelled) that too can be BAD... so, if that happens, you shouldn't try to start the engine more than 3 times without closing the aforementioned seacock, but then if the engine does start you need to open the seacock quickly!!!

Mmmmm, I think I, and my understanding, are sinking fast - thank goodness for sails!

Apologies to those of you to whom this screams with inaccuracies .... it's just my approximation of reality!