Arpex from the water

Morning rising ower Rio de Janeiro as seen from the water.

It is allways a suprisingly splendid view. Specially when looking towards the Arpex rock, with the Dois Irmãos and Gávea Mountains in the backdrop.

Gone sailing... Or: Arpex on the Beach

Guys, I'm gone, sailing. Instead of construction progress reports you'll have to make due with this nice image from Arpex Beach. Or even better still; leave the computer, and go out to the water yourself too. Look what you might be missing if you don't...

The image was taken on the first day of canaval this year. Rio has been blessed with splendid weather during these festive days... Hope the weather favours our sailing passage from Angra to Rio too.

Classic Boat - March 2012

Brazilian Classic Boat circuit is getting a little attention in Classic Boat Magazine.

Forward deck sandwich closed

Closing the forward deck was a hard job. But I got it done. The sweat ran in buckets. The heat was intense. Valmir was back, after a few days off during carnava, working on the amal.  

Not, that I have layed in a wooden block at the spot where the forestay will be attached. At this point I will attach a fitting with through going bolts. Having the wooden block will allow me to attach this with confidence.

The next step step now is to laminate the deck with glass. I hope to do that tomorrow.

Foaming

The last day of carnaval was a very productive one - in the boatshed. On a day with intense heat, I managed to get seriously close to closing the deck sandwich. What looks like a simple and straigtforward job, actually takes lots of time and physical effort. Mainly due to all the screws which needed to be removed from the first  layer of ply. And then the drilling and screwing of the edge batten.

 First the edge batten needed to be cut, than screwed on to check the fit, and to cut the poliestirene foam. After all that, the batten needed to be removed again, only to apply the epoxi. Then the whole things gets screwed on again. Thank God for my eletric screwdriver!

One day more, and I will be able to glue the second, cover ply. And one more still, and I'll manage to laminate it with glass and epoxi.

A small stride for man...

We've had our share of carnival for this year. I really like that crazy, sensuous time of the year. There is a magic in the air, which promotes relaxation and well being.

But this year my mind is focused on other things. Changes in my professional life will require me to stay away from Rio for a while. And travelling, of course, means a break in boatbuilding. 

I was hopeing for a break in between jobs, during which I would finish Arpex. A month or two of concentrated building time (estimated about 200 man-hours), would bring it to the water. But the break didn't materialize. Instead, I'm required in projects out of the country. Bad for the boat. Good for my bank account. Which is good for the boat, and me. And, make no mistake, I'm looking forward to the changes, and thrilled by the challenges ahead. Everything is going according to plan.

And that is the reason why I was slightly embarrassedby my slip, on last Saturday. ... But now I'm back on track. The closing of the forward deck is proceeding smoothly. 

Today, I've glued on the first layer of ply. Adri gave me a helping hand today, again. And I was gratefull for having her helping during this critical job. Obtaining a good bond between ply, with the stringers and hull is important. Afterall, this forward hull section will receive all sorts of funny torsional, compressional and bloody othier sorts of forces from the mast and forestay. 

Of course, the polystyrene/ply sandwich and glass sandwich will be bonded to the hull mainly by the glass. But a sound construction requires all parts to fit and bond well together. And I think I've got that done in the first layer today. A tough job. Sweaty.

My cousin Florian and my brother in law Mauricio came to say hello just when I was finishing with filleting inside. I don't think I made a good figure, when I emerged from inside the hull. Had they arrived 15 minutes earlier, they would catch me cursing and swearing, stuffed and claustrophobic, inside the bow, covered in filleting epoxi, and stressed to close all gaps, in order to obtain a good bond. Anyway,... all went well, and I was happy with the job. the plan is to proceed with gluing the polystyrene and ply by tomorrow. and the day after I will cower in glass and epoxi. That will be Thursday than. On Friday, I hope to glass the cabin's decks. And on Saturday I'll go help bring Aleguá from Angra to Rio. And then I'm off.  Where to? Wait and see. 

Carnaval 2012

Images from: OGlobo

Hard at work again

Reason has made its point over folie today. In an intrepid move, we made our way out to the boatshed, despite all carnival activity in town. As a pilar of motivation, Adri, my girl, said she would join, as a third, helping hand. As you can see, she did as promised. She didn't complain nor disturb all day, and even sang me a song, just when I was threatening to quit my sanding job due to the intense heat. Only due to her support I managed to ge the bow prepared for gluing.

Unfortunately, despite our joint efforts, overall conditions were not on our side. The club restaurant was closed. And that critical logistic shortfall, cut us off from vital provision of food and drink. Also the neigbouring restaurants were closed due to the carnival holiday. In the face of overwheling adversity, facing imminent dehydration, we made a strategic retreat at about 3pm, and headed diretly to Porcão... to get our deserved fill of food and drink. We were starved.

Fun in the sun

After being lured into carnaval folies by a treacherous fish, we dived in without remorse. Well, not quite, but that came only later. We joined the crowd at "Barbas", which gave us many of the well known "marchinhas de carnaval". The organization of the bloco also organized a water truck, which provided a refreshing shower for everyone.

 The evening ended with a snack to replenish energies.

Excuses - The fish is guilty

It's his fault. The fish, not the nice guy. The fish is guilty. It made me distract for a splitsecond. And in the end, I found myself  dancing in the streets and drinking much more beer than recommended, instead of following to good and righteous boatbuilder's path. Well, never mind. You didn't believe that anyway, didn't you? Humm,.... I actually did.

The fish got what he deserved. After being gutted by the nice guy, it went into the owen.

Die Lücke in der Brücke

Max und Moritz, gar nicht träge, sägen heimlich mit der Säge - Ritzeratze! - voller Tücke, in die Brücke eine Lücke

Utter Determination

Only through utter determination can a project, which demands an immense investment of personal effort, be brought to fruitition. It is absolutely imperative to keep eyes locked on the objective. Blood, sweat and tears are sometimes the only expectation, when you want to achieve project milestones. One successful strategy is to lock outside stimulus away, and keep concentration executing jobs in confined spaces.

Forward deck

Work on the forward deck has started. I've glued on the deck stringers, and will soon glue on the first layer of 4mm ply. This will then receive 20mm polyestirene, and an other layer of 4mm ply. This sandwich will then be laminated with two layers of glass and epoxi, which will bond the deck to the hull.

I have also managed to get the axle of the steering shortened, so that the wheel could be temporarily installed.

Drill, Fill, Drill...

Drill, fill, drill, that is the rule for any pefurations on wood, that might get close to water and humidity. And I guess that is any part on a boat. 

To avoid humidity on the wooden components, you need to drill a hole which is larger than needed, fill it with epoxi, and then drill a smaller diameter hole. And of couse there is sanding and epoxi coating involved in the production also. Time consuming, but necessary.

Carnavalamasteen

Boatbuilders delight is to have free time to dedicate to one's boat construction with a free and focussed mind. It is, however, a rare treat. Usually, one's mind needs to process all the ideas, worries and pressures from day-to-day live in family and profession.

After a while building, I have somehow learned to leave preocupations of other nature than those concerning the boat at the Club's gate. The two minutes walk from the car park to the boatshed, are key to wind off, and get my head to focus on the jobs at hand.

But there are times, when this gets specially difficult. Like at Christmas and Carnaval. Carnaval is worst I guess.    Others get into the samba groove, and hop from bloco to bloco, organize parties, grills and entertainment,  while one's mid wanders to the pending jobs in the boatshed. While others paint themselves to have fun in the streets, one is whiping of paint and epoxi spots from one's skin, with solvent and vingear.

Target for the next few days

I'll have a couple of days free. Despite a little carnaval activity in town, I'll try to focus on pushing the boatbuilding forward. My target is to close the decks. At least I want to close and laminate the forward deck.

Despedida II

Despedida

Amigos, obrigado pela acolhida, e por todo o suporte durante os últimos 4 anos de trabalho. E obrigado pela carinhosa despedida de hoje! Muito obrigado!  Espero que nossos caminhos se cruzem em outros momentos. 

 E bem-vindos ao blog... ;-) Fiquem a vontade.