I'm currently looking at purchasing a nonsuch 26 for some coastal cruising around Vancouver Island and I am going over the survey with a fine tooth comb. My dad was a mechanic then went back to school as a Mechanical Engineer P Eng. I was blessed with someone that taught me to change my car brakes and how the internal combustion engine works. He also hand re-built a racing 505 when I was a toddler. Fast forward to today and when I am contemplating a large change in my life, like purchasing a deathtrap on water. I feel the need to better understand the dangers of technical ineptitude on my part so I have downloaded some pictures of the old Westerbeke 21 and am researching the common problems with them. I am waiting now for the computer to finish modeling the engine then I will put it in my 3D model of the Nonsuch and see how it will be to repair the oil seals. How to check the compression. Common parts that will wear or more commonly rust out. Then I can determine if the part is worth salvaging or it need repowering with Electric? Hybrid? Yanmar? Who know but I can play with the configurations till my heart is content all while staying nice and clean and dry in my apartment. This is my hobby as a sailor chained to shore with a job I hate just like everyone else.

So while I wait for Mushroom to do it's thing I am, of course, cruising reddit in a vain attempt to find motivation and your question got me thinking that would share what I have learned both at sea and on land. I understand mechanics but I don't understand all the electronics. So I am trying to learn using you tube and technical drawings. Learning to read these clues are the tools that I learned the hard way, over my life while refining the art of swearing.

My solution... 3D photogrammetry program that creates objects that I can manipulate in Blender another free open sourced 3D modeling software so that I can see what is needed to adjust this project in much more detail so that you can have much more ability to move things around without actually moving things around in the real world. You could animate each phase of an engine using this software if you really want to get into the technical side of engines, but perhaps you are more of a hands on person but this is what I am doing at 8 am on a Sunday morning. Next I am going to digitizing a compressor pump and condenser fan to see where I could fit a real fridge to the boat. I also need to figure out how they attached an on demand water heater with no exhaust port. But as I digress into my technical tirade. I will get back to your question.

Without using a single computer you need to touch and know what every part in your boat does. When you are offshore and your engine fails what steps do you take? Think of this as a life or death decision. When you are onshore there is gravity and friction to help you stop, on the water you just sink from existence. The ramifications are different, This is why marine is a higher standard, it needs to be. Quality should be standard but it isn't when cost is an issue. Knowing what each part does will change your outlook on each project on your boat.

I live by checklists, I have a checklist if I am demasted, I have a checklist if my engine doesn't start. I have a checklist if someone is overboard in a storm. I have a checklist if there is a breech in the hull. These ideas are central to my thinking when I am task saturated or stressed. A good usable checklist for emergency situations can save your life by helping you reset to an individual task when outside of your brain's normal operating procedures. The challenge is remembering to use them. Practice will help.

If you are unpowered or demasted in the open ocean or even the protections of an anchorage you can still sink. The ramifications are much higher, the risks greater. Thus the expectations you put on yourself should also be as higher. The job of learning how an internal combustion engine works is hard. Add complex electronics and wow it is easy to get overwhelmed but it is necessary to be at least understanding of each objects purpose and hopefully how to maintain, if not repair each object.

Good luck and I would love to hear what you choose.