Our beloved sailing vessel, TRUE – the heart of what we do here at Sail Bainbridge -got a new…well, heart.  That is, she’s got a spanking new diesel engine. The original diesel power, a huge Ford Lehman we called “The General” finally gave up the ghost after 54 years of good service.  We hired our good friend Evgeniy Goussev at Access Marine (link to Access Marine) to install, with Ben’s assistance, a brand new 60 horse power Beta – a marinized Kubota tractor engine. They are typically red, but we ordered ours up in custom white, so we are forced to keep it squeaky clean and we can spot any future issues easily.  Also, it looks so good!

The install was a great success, though it had its challenges. Most notably was cleaning and re-organizing 54 years of muck and gunk and wiring in the engine room. But the old engine was craned out with relative ease, the engine room completely over-hauled and painted, and the new engine, with Ev’s incredible expertise, went in so beautifully. We’re calling the new engine “Light Fury.” If you haven’t seen the latest How to Train Your Dragon, you are missing out.  She’s got 2.5 hours on the clock so far, and we’re looking forward to a few more in the coming weeks to get it broken in.  Then we hope to use the engine sparingly as we set sail.