DIY Bridge Crane Success! Lifting Engines & Installing Sail Drives + F2 Eco Paint Episode 59
This week aboard our sailboat we hit a huge milestone in the refit — installing the sail drives, mounting the props, testing a new eco-friendly rudder paint, and moving the engines into place using a DIY bridge crane we built ourselves. It was a big week of progress and one of our most satisfying yet.
⚓ Project 1: Installing the Sail Drives
With the mounting surfaces prepped and aligned, we finally lowered the sail drives into position and secured them — a major step toward getting this boat back in the water.
⚓ Project 2: Installing the Propellers
Once the drives were in, we fitted the props and torqued everything to spec. Another big checkmark on the list.
⚓ Project 3: Painting the Rudders with F2 Eco
We tested F2 Eco, a new opalescent white marine coating that’s just entering the recreational yacht market. It looks stunning and promises environmental benefits — we’ll be watching closely to see how it performs.
⚓ Project 4: Moving the Engines Into Place
To move the engines into their homes and bolt them to the sail drives, we built a DIY bridge crane out of Unistrut and used a compact chain hoist from Amazon. It worked beautifully and made this huge job manageable.
Every one of these tasks brings us closer to launching, and this week felt like a major leap forward.
⛵ In This Episode:
Sail drive installation
Propeller mounting
Rudder painting with F2 Eco
DIY bridge crane build
Engine alignment and installation
Real-life sailboat refit progress
F2Eco link:
https://f2ecousa.com/
Original music created with SUNO
00:00 Intro
00:38 Channel into
00:57 Install sail drives
04:28 Install props
10:00 Paint the rudders
19:31 Move engines into place
24:25 Wrap up
24:39 Coming up next week
24:59 Like and subscribe
25:29 End card
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#SailingLife #BoatRefit #CruisingLife #DIYBoatProjects #SailboatMaintenance #SailDrive #SailingCouple #EcoFriendlyBoatProducts #PropInstallation #MarineRefit #CatamaranRefit
© Sailing Roam 2025
Sailing Roam
👋 Hi, we’re Geri 👩🏻⚕️(a retired nurse) and Shawn 🤓 (a not retired technologist). We’ve gone on the greatest adventure of our lives instead of living the comfortable and predictable suburban world we left behind. Living aboard Roam, our cruising catamaran, we explore and immerse ourselves in new cultures, do boat repairs in exotic places, and get up to all kinds of shenanigans. Roam isn’t just the name of our boat, it’s kind of a philosophy. We’re not taking the shortest routes or using a formula to sail around the world. We’re not in a hurry either. We’re meeting the people, seeing the places and getting distracted by things we find interesting along the way. We’re unconventional and we’re living the best life we can imagine! Join us as we turn our 11-year old catamaran into our perfect adventure platform and see what’s over the next horizon. We can’t wait to meet you wherever you are! Clamptite Tools link: https://clamptitetools.com/?sld=syroam 10% discount: gerischaffer10
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DIY Bridge Crane Success! Lifting Engines & Installing Sail Drives + F2 Eco Paint Episode 59 Location
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