Page 59: of Marine News Magazine (November 2020)

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fuel lines, raw water-cooling systems, muf? er and exhaust all went in. In addition to these upgrades, new Glendinning

ECS controls were installed as well during this time, as well as signi? cant re-wiring from the engine to the engine brain- box, and up to the controls in the wheelhouse. With a good amount of assistance from Scott Hat? eld from the shipyard, the Elakha crew removed all the old wiring for the CAT en- gine and ran new wiring for the Cummins engine.

“Along with this new wiring, the Elakha received some dash control upgrades as well in the form of a more mod- ern engine monitoring system with a more comprehensive assortment of readouts and information for the main en- gine. After everything the installations were complete The

Elakha happily splashed back into the Yaquina river and we arranged for a test run.

The Curry Marine mechanics, Scout Hockema, Scott

Houck and Matt Orr arrived at the yard and we ? red up the new engine. As expected, it ? red right up and ran smooth. We ran the engine at the dock all day without incident. With a few minor adjustments we were ready for sea trials. Our plan was to run down to Newport and back the next day. Sea trials went remarkably well, the vessel performance was excellent and signi? cantly surpassed our expectations. With a newly repowered vessel, signi? cant upgrades and COVID-19 mitigation procedures ? rmly in place, we were ready to go back to work just in time to kick off the busy summer season.

“For the past six months we have stayed busy even with- in the mitigating parameters of the ongoing pandemic, and the new restrictive operational practices we have devel- oped to keep all users and crew safe. The new engine and gears are running smother, quitter, cleaner and more fuel ef? cient than ever before. The new Cummins engine pro- vides our operations with more available power and speed, while also increasing fuel economy, which is certainly not a common combination. It’s a real comfort being offshore in adverse conditions to have the reliability and power that you know you need to get home safely.

“Captain Lawrence, and our whole team are grateful to

Oregon State University and speci? cally our College of

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences for their contin- ued support and ? nancial commitment to the Elakha and her mission of safe science at sea. We are indebted to all of the scientists who advocate for our vessel and our mission.

Finally, we sincerely appreciate Scott Graff and his team at

Curry Marine for their hours, experience and efforts that they put into this major project and also to Toledo Boat

Yard for the great work on the install.” www.marinelink.com