what does Holy mean?

diver dave · Nov 17, 2017

Is this a reference to working "down in the hole", or some superstitious influence of motors or something that requires worship maybe ??

DavidM · Nov 17, 2017

"Working down in the hole", is a metaphor for a cramped workplace of any kind. The "holy place" is a euphemism for the engine room and the engine, probably indicating that it is too complex for mortal men to deal with.

David

Toadhall · Nov 17, 2017

Holy place is the engine room.

It is called the holy place for two reasons:

1. You tend to be on your knees.
2. You tend to.....uhm...... talk......yeah, talk to god a lot when you are down there on your knees.

OldDan1943 · Nov 17, 2017

Toadhall said:
Holy place is the engine room.

It is called the holy place for two reasons:

1. You tend to be on your knees.
2. You tend to.....uhm...... talk......yeah, talk to god a lot when you are down there on your knees.

So true, so true.

diver dave · Nov 17, 2017

I'm beginning to understand.
so, if the stuffing box lets go, then this area fills with.... Holy water??

what_barnacles · Nov 17, 2017

I always thought it meant a bad word was coming next.

Xsbank · Nov 18, 2017

Not bad words, boat words.

Peter B · Nov 18, 2017

Toadhall said:
Holy place is the engine room.

It is called the holy place for two reasons:

1. You tend to be on your knees.
2. You tend to.....uhm...... talk......yeah, talk to god a lot when you are down there on your knees.

OldDan1943 said:
So true, so true.

So true indeed. My most common lament when working down there, is "oh God, why does everything have to be so hard..?"

FF · Nov 18, 2017

I always think of the engine space as the HELL Hole , as no visits are required , IF I did my PM properly.

Bay Pelican · Nov 18, 2017

Peter B said:
So true indeed. My most common lament when working down there, is "oh God, why does everything have to be so hard..?"

Hard, not really, very easy to break something when trying to fix something else.

Russell Clifton · Nov 18, 2017

It's more like " Holy sh__!! Head for the haul out!"

Art · Nov 18, 2017

Love our Tollycraft's twin screw and gen set and batt bank... double piano hatched, wide open, under sole, roomy, stand-up "hole"!

I enjoy often getting into our boat's "hole" for equipment checkups or scheduled service/maintenance. Standing straight up just about whenever I like

Also, to either the forward or rear of the "hole" is large area of salon sole surface at stomach height. Really comfortable to work on things off engine and to have tool sets accessible.

Happy Engine-Hole Daze! - Art :speed boat:

Sabre602 · Nov 18, 2017

Holy? Shoot, I've been doing it wrong!

I used to crew on a 50' displacement trawler in the Galapagos Islands. We filled her tanks by siphoning from rusty 55 gallon barrels of diesel that came out from the mainland on barges.

When the seas got up, that's when the rusty diesel would get all stirred up...and the filters would clog. We'd draw straws and the short straw had to go down into "el infierno" ("HELL") to change the filters.

Boys and girls, there is NOTHING like changing clogged diesel filters in a cramped engine space (hardly a "room") with a hot Caterpillar diesel engine filling 90% of the space and the round-bottom hull rolling sickeningly on her beam ends.

There was absolutely NOTHING holy about that experience other than the fact that the poor slob who crawled out of that hot, stinking hole was so sick that he wanted to die! :ermm:

kapnd · Nov 18, 2017

diver dave said:
I'm beginning to understand.
so, if the stuffing box lets go, then this area fills with.... Holy water??

Hey, I’ve got the recipe for that stuff:
Just take some water and boil the hell out of it!

FF · Nov 19, 2017

"We'd draw straws and the short straw had to go down into "el infierno" ("HELL") to change the filters.

Boys and girls, there is NOTHING like changing clogged diesel filters in a cramped engine space (hardly a "room") with a hot Caterpillar diesel engine filling 90% of the space and the round-bottom hull rolling sickeningly on her beam ends."

Plan B is simply to move the filter bank OUTSIDE the engine room where it can be worked on with more comfort.

Art · Nov 19, 2017

FF said:
"We'd draw straws and the short straw had to go down into "el infierno" ("HELL") to change the filters.

Boys and girls, there is NOTHING like changing clogged diesel filters in a cramped engine space (hardly a "room") with a hot Caterpillar diesel engine filling 90% of the space and the round-bottom hull rolling sickeningly on her beam ends."

Plan B is simply to move the filter bank OUTSIDE the engine room where it can be worked on with more comfort.

Damn... Plan B seems the way ta go!!! :lol:

kapnd · Nov 19, 2017

Might be a comfort factor to relocate filters outside of the ER in the off chance that you did have to actually work on the filters at sea, but good installation and maintenance practices can almost nullify that.
I prefer to keep all the nasties in one area (the ER) that is isolated by bulkheads for spill and leak containment, and has absorber pads and fire protection on hand.

Fletcher500 · Nov 19, 2017

FF said:
"We'd draw straws and the short straw had to go down into "el infierno" ("HELL") to change the filters.

Boys and girls, there is NOTHING like changing clogged diesel filters in a cramped engine space (hardly a "room") with a hot Caterpillar diesel engine filling 90% of the space and the round-bottom hull rolling sickeningly on her beam ends.".

Ever go in to a steam drum or boiler?

Northern Spy · Nov 20, 2017

Fletcher500 said:
Ever go in to a steam drum or boiler?

Yup. Many times. Steam drum, mud drum, vestibules, penthouses, high pressure separators...

Dryer cans on a paper machine are as bad or worse. I've been crawling around inside gearboxes, screw conveyors, pressure vessels, tanks, equipment sumps, towers, and trays, sometimes under air, for 30 years now.

Come to think of it, working on boats really isn't that bad or cramped compared to many of the other pieces of equipment I've worked on.

FF · Nov 20, 2017

"Plan B is simply to move the filter bank OUTSIDE the engine room where it can be worked on with more comfort."

IF the fuel filter selector is down in the hell hole with the filter restriction gauge on top ,
there is a better chance of it being monitored , and a filter change done before air gets into the system.

When I decided to install a Flow Scan and a remote filter selector , it just became neater and easier to move the pair of 1000's to a better location .

The batterys (2-8D ) are under the salon sole , doesn't make them lighter but way easier to wrangle , when its replacement time., and the temperatures are better..

Art · Nov 20, 2017

Northern Spy said:
Yup. Many times. Steam drum, mud drum, vestibules, penthouses, high pressure separators...

Dryer cans on a paper machine are as bad or worse. I've been crawling around inside gearboxes, screw conveyors, pressure vessels, tanks, equipment sumps, towers, and trays, sometimes under air, for 30 years now.

Come to think of it, working on boats really isn't that bad or cramped compared to many of the other pieces of equipment I've worked on.

That is why I enjoyed and appreciated your avatar form years ago showing technician deep into it and crazed from handling pressures and gauges! That powerfully represented in-depth background of the poster - you!!

Not to say that picture of Maynard G. Krebs.... err Gilligan to the youngers... isn't a fine representation of crazed - in its own way!

sunchaser · Nov 20, 2017

Northern Spy said:
Yup. Many times. Steam drum, mud drum, vestibules, penthouses, high pressure separators...

Well said Spy, the list is endless. Such as reverbatory furnace, autoclave, fluid bed roaster, calciner or 130F 90%+ humidity underground mine and the chilling system fails. Been there.

Hats off to the commercial guys on here who work in the real holy places. Fascinating stuff in the bottoms of the big tugs and ships.

diver dave · Nov 20, 2017

sunchaser said:
Such as reverbatory furnace, autoclave, fluid bed roaster,

I play with 500kV sometimes, but you guys have me terrified.

rjwilliams11741 · Nov 20, 2017

Sabre602 said:
Holy? Shoot, I've been doing it wrong!

I used to crew on a 50' displacement trawler in the Galapagos Islands. We filled her tanks by siphoning from rusty 55 gallon barrels of diesel that came out from the mainland on barges.

When the seas got up, that's when the rusty diesel would get all stirred up...and the filters would clog. We'd draw straws and the short straw had to go down into "el infierno" ("HELL") to change the filters.

Boys and girls, there is NOTHING like changing clogged diesel filters in a cramped engine space (hardly a "room") with a hot Caterpillar diesel engine filling 90% of the space and the round-bottom hull rolling sickeningly on her beam ends.

There was absolutely NOTHING holy about that experience other than the fact that the poor slob who crawled out of that hot, stinking hole was so sick that he wanted to die!

Truer words have never been spoken!

Northern Spy · Nov 20, 2017

Art said:
That is why I enjoyed and appreciated your avatar form years ago showing technician deep into it and crazed from handling pressures and gauges! That powerfully represented in-depth background of the poster - you!!

Not to say that picture of Maynard G. Krebs.... err Gilligan to the youngers... isn't a fine representation of crazed - in its own way!

Perhaps it is time Johann from Das Boot returns...

Art · Nov 20, 2017

Northern Spy said:
Perhaps it is time Johann from Das Boot returns...

Maynard G. / Gilligan will be rollen over in his grave... but YES!! In my book... Johann from Das Boot is the excitement elevator - For Sure!!

Fletcher500 · Nov 20, 2017

sunchaser said:
Well said Spy, the list is endless. Such as reverbatory furnace, autoclave, fluid bed roaster, calciner or 130F 90%+ humidity underground mine and the chilling system fails. Been there.

Hats off to the commercial guys on here who work in the real holy places. Fascinating stuff in the bottoms of the big tugs and ships.

After leaving steam ships, I worked at a power plant with a circulating fluidized bed. Hard, dirty, work, and We were definitely not over paid. But very satisfying, and Made me appreciate a desk job later in life in a different field. My hat is also off to the people who work in these heavy industries, including the marine side. Most people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes when they hit a light switch, or flush a toilet.

what does Holy mean?

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