Due to the heat, I've been working at home. I'm putting the hatch together. Good way not to stop completely. I just drove out briefly on Sunday, to check whether the glued hatch was fitting all right. I was there in the early morning - the heat was already stunning... I drove back home with a clean conscience.
The hatch will be painted white on top. Leaving only the sides varnished over the epoxi. 
The visit to the Tallships was great fun. Despite the copious heat.
We were lucky to visit the festival on a day with not too many visitors. so we could go aboard all of the 8 big ships. A unique opportunity.
I've ben locked out from internet these last few days...
Carnival is the time of beauty contests. Queen Paola Oliveira has been elected the most beautiful "Rainha da Bateria". Any objections?
Here comes the sun, to greet another hot day in Rio, of 40+ degrees. This picture was taken yesterday. It ain't fresher today, and it won't be tomorrow. Nor Saturday, nor Sunday...
Rio is hosting the tall ship regatta "Velas Sudamerica 2010". Nine tall ships, form different nations, arrived last Sunday. They will stay for a week, and leave on the 07th February. A regatta will be staged on the occasion of their departure. They are open to visitation from the public.
I've dicovered the ships by chance, last Sunday, while walking in the forest, up in the hills. I saw them parading in the distance, all along the beaches of Rio. A great sight. I had time enough to drive down, into the heat, and see them motor-sailing in very weak winds. They are now moored on Pier Mauá. I can enjoy their sight every early morning, on my way to work. 
Look carefully at the picture, click on it if you like, and you'll see 4 big ships...
Yes, night swimming on friday was brilliant. But sleeping at 3pm is not beneficiary to boatbuilding. And the balmy temperatures of 28 degrees C. at 3pm, quickly transform to a very hot, baking hot, cenario of 35+ degrees on the following shiny day.
Taking advantage of the full moon of the friday night, balmy temperatures and most pleasant water conditions, we went to the Aproador Rock, Arpex, for a night swimming session. Very adequate to celebrate the milestones that the Arpex projetc has passed so far. It was brilliant.
Along the last 2 years, this blog has accumulated almost 50'000 visits. By tomorrow we will, most likely, see a big fifty with zeros on the counter. I'm often surprised, when I think about that. And, amusingly, others tell me that they are too. So, at least I'm not alone.
Quite surprisng how long it takes to produce a decent hatch! Or, maybe, let's say simply... a hatch. Let's later see, whether it will be called a "decent hatch".
For now, though, it seems to come out all right. To me it looks good too. From the outside and from the inside.
It takes so long because lots of alignment and verification is needed. I'm screwing things together before I glue them on. Because once glued,... there is no way back.
Again the router was my main tool.
Here is a great video showing historic images of a proa, which is, maybe, the most sucessful modern proa of our days. It is the French "Des Jours Meilleurs", conceived and built by the Guillard family. They have sailed some serious mileage on their 62 ft. boat, including Atlantic crossings. The proa is pretty quick too. She has clocked 23 knots already. My compliments to Famille Guillard.
São Sebastião offered me a lovely day for my ama trip. I went to visit Miguel Pomar, who is building the ama hull. Miguel has been building simple and inventive boats for his lifetime. Now he is dedicating his attention to catamarans - and other multihulls, like mine. He invited me for a tasty lunch in his house, so that I could see and understand the mould from which he will build the ama hull. Drawings are nice, but actually seeing and touching the ama, to understand its' shape and volume is much better.
I was very happy with what I saw when I got to Miguel's. Miguel is a nice guy, with tons of experience. His boats are pragmatic and cater for the brazilian market, which can not afford the outrageously expensive imported boats. 
Building the hulls for multihulls are often the most complicated part of the construction. Miguel has a mould which can be adapted according to many wishes. I think amateur boatbuilders who dream of building something according to their own ideas have a good opportunity here. Building from Miguel's moulds, and then developing whatever sort of cabin, deck, and what not, from there... That makes life much easyier.
Tomorrow is a holiday in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is the day of the saint-patron of our town, "São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro", also nicked as "Rio".
So, this is why I'm free tomorrow. The day off will be used for a trip to the nearby town of Petrópolis. Miguel Pomar will be building my ama over there, and I want to see the mould and how he works. Miguel invited me for lunch, and I'm looking forward to it.
It takes an hours drive to Petrópolis. It is about 70km, up in the mountains. Due to the altitude, tempreatures are more moderate, than in our baking Rio. I'm looking forward to that too...Wharram cats are interesting boats. I wonder why some don't like them. Easy to build, following detailed plans, and simple in the inventiveness of the proposed solutions, they make lots of sense to the amateur boatbuilder. And some semi-professional boatbuilders also do a good job in building them on comission. They seem to fit our tropical South Atlantic waters very well.
This is a nice video showing that they cream along nicely in a breeze.
We dont have many amateur boatbuilders here in Brazil, but we do have some people launching boats they have built themselves. I enjoyed this classic launching sequence, with a fine song to go along with...
Today's time was mostly dedicated to get some order into my box. That's a small space, where I keep tools and material. It is very hard to keep it shipshape. Therefore, I don't even try. Miraculously, it seems that my hand finds all tools it needs, without much thinking from my side. But too much is too much, the mess was getting the overhand, and I needed to make a ballance of the wood and ply, I've got left to work with. The area around the boat was also cleaned. It is incredible how detritus accumulates.
Nothing is more satisfying and thrilling than to see the morning breaking, after a night sailing on a reach through a tropical night. There is no tiredness nor strain from the lack of sleep. No worries blowing over with the night breeze. Only the spiced scent of a new glorious day, carried by the caressing land wind.
