Raising the keel

So in order to "move" the rudder hole and then eventually fit the rudder I needed to raise the keel by 350mm.  So this weekend my brother and I set about this. Was a bit precarious but we got there with no damage to the boat or ourselves 

Photos aren't great. Taken at night with an iPhone.

Engine rotation

I have been making steady progress with marinising my engine, and have reached the point where I was ready to permanently assemble the transmission on to the engine. This is where I have come unstuck.

The 71C transmission is a hydraulic pump, these pumps will only work if the pump is rotating in the correct direction. To accommodate this you can undo a couple of bolts on the front of the transmission and rotate the casting. This allow the transmission to be used for engines that rotate either way.

Now I read the instructions a while back and saw that this could be done, but misunderstood the purpose. I had also read that on the 71C the input and output shaft rotate in the same direction when in forward.  

Cut a long story short I thought you could set the rotation to suit your prop. But no, you must set the rotation so that the pump is normally  operated in forward , long term running in reverse will wreck the box.

So I'm my case the engine is "left handed" it runs anticlockwise when viewed from the flywheel end. This means I need a LH prop.

I don't have a prop yet so the prop isn't a big deal. But to counter prop walk the idea is to offset the rudder in the opposite direction. Regrettably I have already drilled a hole in the hull to suit a RH prop. So I will have to block that hole and drill another.