You are looking at a small but important design detail, the window in the engine room door, and the view through it. Note that the mechanical Murphy gauges (center left) are easily noted without opening the door. If you have good eyesight the gauges on the watermaker are also in view.
One of the door dogs is shown here. These are fast acting, and easy to operate from inside the engine room or from the aft starboard cabin.
Our normal routine at sea is to have a look through the door once an hour. Once a watch (minimum) we open the door, and have a closer visual inspection sniffing the air in the process.
The photographer is standing here at the workbench, looking to starboard and the engine room side of the door.
Posted by Steve Dashew (February 16, 2010)
February 16th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Hi Steve
As one with a case of elder sight, I have taken to placing small stick on flourescent dots adjacent to various engine room gauges positioned where the needle should be pointing under normal operating conditions. In some cases this might be a specific value, in others it might be a min/max. This eliminates the need to read the gauge and gives a very quick visual indication if something isn’t where it should be. I have also written the normal operating temperature of various components and systems in the engine room adjacent to the system or component so I can quickly verify if something isn’t where it should be when it is shot with an IR gun (generally once a watch).
I need all the help I can get!
Regards
Pete
February 16th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Excellent suggestions Pete, even for the younger generation with 20/20 vision.
March 6th, 2010 at 6:39 am
In my boats I always turned the gauges ( pressure, temperature, flow, vacuum etc ) allowing the needles to be pointing straight up in normal situations.
Any needle not pointing straight up needs attention.
Lessons learned from my car racing career 40 years ago.