Classic Australian Wooden Power Boat Association

It's getting exciting Bob. You're making good progress. I'm looking forward to the sea trial.

The drive train is now all lined up & locked down. Skeg and log sikaflexed & bolted in. Fitted the log gland, transmission flange and safety collar. Tomorrow I'll lock wire the bolts on the flange and replace the log screws with the right ones (longer) when they arrive tomorrow. Lots of small tasks ahead now.

The light at the end of the tunnel is pretty big now. A heap more tasks checked off this past week or so. Throttle cable brackets made & fitted up, choke cable is in, water temp gauge fitted, oil pressure gauge in, tachometer cable fitted off, fuel tank lag bolts in and today all the electrical wiring was fitted off, clipped with zip ties and secured in the split tubing. The glass for the windscreen has been cut to my patterns and is ready to be fitted when the bright work is fitted. The 6 volt battery has been a problem with the supplier shipping 3 different batteries, all under their nominated CCA spec. I've now got an Optina 6 volt 800 CCA rated battery on order for delivery on Wednesday. Right now, I'm anticipating launch day in about a week.

Great news Bob. You must be rapt.

Sure am Greg! It's been quite the journey, very satisfying, especially the run home. Thankfully I don't need to crawl up under the deck many more times... I hope.

The most satisfying times are close now Bob, as usual the stuff you're doing is outstanding. Will we see her at Paynesville?

Yes Raymond, I've booked in to Paynesville so will be there. Aside from an unexpected issue, Nirvana will be on the water & running.

Following a big push over February, I can confidently now say that Nirvana is essentially finished and will be displayed at the Paynesville classic boat rally. I was frustrated with a string of dud 6 volt batteries, but eventually settled on a Optima Redtop battery. So a rework on the battery carrier, together with a whole bunch of small but significant tasks and the engine was test fired and ran like a charm. Thanks to Craig for his exceptional skill & knowledge and my son Ross who wired the boat without an engine or battery! Seats are in, floors fitted, hatch on, bright work fitted, all the fuel water and electrical lines clipped, windscreen fitted, nav light installed, tacho hooked up... and it runs like an old charm. Water test will happen tomorrow (Sneaky Sunday) and assuming all goes well it will be a few days of polishing and prepping for the rally. Bring it on.

Bloody nice Bob. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Phew! What a relief. Nirvana is launched and it all went really well. My biggest fear was a leak or a major tech problem - you all know how it goes with boats. It's all good until they touch the water. My expectation was a top speed in the low 20 mph bracket, so to see 27mph on Ross' GPS was very pleasing. I've got a short list of fixes for the rally next weekend, the biggest challenge is some wiring to figure out with the ignition and also the generator. Maybe I should have switched across to 12volt instead of sticking fat with 6 volt? Again a massive thanks to Craig for his dedication and knowledge and also to Ross, Max and Ken for their assistance at the ramp this morning.