Rio from the air

This is a beautifull view of Rio de Janeiro, as seen from the air. The image was taken from a "blimp", which is a zeppelin-like aircraft. Its slow navigation thourgh the air allows for some unusual views and pictures.

My home is almost in the middle of the picture. The Arpoador Rock is up on top, at the end of Copacabana Beach. The Sugar Loaf sits in the middle left.

Boxed

Steps towards the restart of the construction are painfully slow - but we're moving. Today I got acess to the box and brought the material into it.

I'm actually taking my time. After almost a year of pushing construction forward, not allways sucessfully, it was time to dedicate a little time to my wife, relax a bit, party with friends, and do all those things that amateur boatbuilders usually don't. Sadly, partying hard and getting up early to sand and glue doesn't seem compartible.

I'm taking the short break to ponder about the priorities regarding quality of finishing vs. time and money spent on the project. The first laminators which I asked for quotings, delivered a much too high price to finish the hull. So, I will take my time and slowly work on the boat myself for now. This way I will have time to see how the economic scenario develops, before I put my money on an experimental project.

So, I'm not too worried at the moment. What I consider important right now is not to stop moving.

My little mermaid

This is my little mermaid. It was given to me as a gift, by a friend, artist Paula Gama, back in 2001. She, the mermaid, sits in a little wood and glass box, and seems to enjoy herself.

Catch a cat

The other day I got a fascinating mail from my friends Lucas and Musa, at the Barranco Alto farm, in the swamplands of the Pantanal.

The mail reported from a 3 day chase of a fabulous female jaguar (Panthera onca, onça-pintada). The one seen on the picture above. "Barbie", as she is called, has made it to the pages of this blog before. The animal was chased in cooperation with the Jaguar Conservation Fund. It took us 3 days, 6 dogs and 12 people to track her down.

When found she was sedated and marked with a lightweight radio collar...

Read more about it on their blog: http://pantanal-lodge.blogspot.com/

Bugs!

It's a drag; Some bug is keeping me lame, at home.

The bug on the image above is a box jellyfish, it is rather smal, but it's stingers can take you right out. They make swimming in North Queenland, Australia quite an adventure in some periods of the year. When travelling there, I was very surprised to find the warning signs on some beaches. Protective swimsuits seem to be mandatory in some places of higher incidence.

Mermaid

This mermaid has a name. It is Jessy Milley Dyer ducking a wave.
I've got it from: http://surfedeluxe.com.br/

Arpoador

Arpex in a calm period.

Image from: http://www.surfdeluxe.com.br/

Images from the amazon

This nice picture was most probabely taken somewhere in the Rio Negro region. I lost track of where I've picked it up, and do not know the name of the author. But it looks so much like as if I could have taken it myself! Even the paddle looks identical to my own paddle. I mean identical!

New start of building

The new beginning is slowly, but steady taking shape:

The boat is back on the ground, on it's new building location.
The box for my material is free, empty and I will start moving the stuff into it on the next week end. Then I'll still need to by this and that in terms of tools (scale, for example) to do the lamination.

I started talking with candidates to work on the boat, they gave me their proposals. Of course it was more than I have planned for. The proposal refers to:

1. Finishing of lamination (correct blisters and put 2nd layer of cloth on extrusions)
2. Glue keel on and laminate
3. Finish and fair hull

Most of the work refers to finishing and fairing the hull. I can do the first 2 by myself. So, I will do that and then decide on how much time, effort and money I will put into finishing of the hull. I definitely want to bring in some external opinion from friends on that question.

Spi

Another couple of nice pictures by Gustavo Pacheco.
Thanks!

Razzle Dazzle

Of course "Guilty", by Jeff Koons is not to everyones taste. Not to mine either, actually...

But this razzle dazzle thing produced some interesting results here and there. See these nice prints that you can buy here: http://www.scari.org/razzle-dazzle.too.html

I think they look nice. It's funny to think that they actually painted warships like that - see the image below. Just imagine the art of persuasion needed to convince a militay mind, from the navy, to paint a ship with such a color scheme! Must have been a convincing person! The event of the radar technology brought the creativity within the navy to a sudden halt.

Arpoador

This beautifull image was taken by Carlos Secchin, a gifted marine photographer, who has a series of books published. I own one of his books about underwater photography in the Ilha Grande region. I didn't ask for permission to publish this image here on this blog. I hope Carlos does not disagree.

It is a nice image of the great "Cisne Branco", "white swan", the Brazilian navy's school ship, passing the Arpoador Rock, on a foggy morning. A lonely observer stands on the rock, watching the tall ship ghost by.

....

I was maybe 10 years old. We were sailing the 23ft. "Aleguá", on a family afernoon. We anchored on Itaipú Beach. A beautifull day. All of a sudden, one of those surprise "Sudoeste" winds came in, for an afternoon shakedown. Our anchor didn't hold. We didn't have an engine, or it didn't fire, I don't remember. In a quick, hasted maneuver, we hoised the mainsail. With a loud bang! it tore in two. The boat drifted towards the beach, fast.

The powerboats around didn't seem to mind. They responded to our waving and shouting, a call for help, with ammused cheer. There was ony one sailboat around. A marine shoolship, called "Cisne Branco". It was a former "Cisne Branco" - not the tall ship we see today. It was a 60 or 70ft., beautifull classic yawl. They came, and rescued us in the last minute, like the cavalerie. I'll never know how they managed to handle the ship that fast...

They had come to Itaipú for an afternoon picknick entertainment for high ranked officers. Instead, they left their drinks and canapes and rushed for a family-boat in need. They gave us a tow until the Bay of Rio de Janeiro. Shared their sandwiches with us. I'll allways remember this when I see a "Cisne Branco".

Beleza é essencial - como diz o poeta...

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. I'm blessed, since I don't have to look very far to find one.

Hoje é o dia de nosso aniversário, meu bem! Beijos!

Guilty

I admire people who think out of the box. Just for the sake of it. Taking a new approach to established things, be that behaviors, objects, theories – whatever. Of course it is even more admirable if they are successful. But to me it doesn’t matter much. Just the courage of going a different path than the old beaten one is something that most won’t dare to do. For different reasons. Fear of failure and fear of what other people would think about it would probably be the main reasons.

“Guilty” is the result of a comissioning made by a probably very rich man, art collector Dakis Joannou, who certainly does not care a penny about what others think, and the artwork of well known modern artist Jeff Koons. The 114ft. long superyacht is an art object in itself, filled with works of other renomed artists like Anish Kapoor. The paintjob is based on a camouflage scheme called Razzle Dazzle, used by the EUA and UK during WorldWar 2. One thing is for sure; the camouflage thing is a bit perverted here. The yacht will stand out for a sure - as a bold statement.

Like it or not, the man has some big “cojones”!

5 Raindrops on Heliconia

Another one of my mobiles. One of my favorites. It is called "5 Raindrops on Heliconia". It has a very gracefull ballance and movement. It measures about 80cm x 110cm.

I sold "5 Raindrops..." after a showing. It went to an american girl, I didn't know her. But she lived in the apartment where I lived from 0 to 7 years of age! Hanging it into her living room, which had so many memories and imprints attached to it, was a very sentimental moment for me. I felt strangely proud and priviledged.

Cheers

I have been thinking about the color sheme for Arpex. This is a reflex of the sudden slowdown of building activities. Last Saturday I've been to the club, the get things moving again. The boat is already at it's building location, but has not yet been removed from the cradle, or trailer. This is going to be done tomorrow - I hope. The box has not yet been cleaned form the trash from the previous owner. I need the Club to do these things before I can think about building again.

I have talked to the first laminators and carpenters who could help me building. We'll talk money next Saturday. Not much else I can do right now.

Well, of course there are tons of other things I could do. Detail mast construction, aka attachment, you name it. But it seems I prefer coloring Arpex ilustrations, to keep motivation up.

This time I have chosen a Cheers theme. Just to see how it would look. And at the same time to make a homage towards Cheers, the famous atlantic proa designed by Dick Newick. Cheers came in 3rd. on the 1968 OSTAR. It has been relaunched recently, by Vincent and Nélie Besin, with the financial help of the French goverment which has declared her a "monument historique". "Cheers" to them!!!

Tucano

I made a couple of mobiles inspired in animals. Birds mostly, but also fish. This one is the Toucan. I love it. The one on this picture hangs at my sisters barbecue area. I love seeing it moving in the air. Stefano has another, very similar one hanging in the Castelinho38. I love meeting them from time to time.

I should get back at building mobiles. But, as it seems, this boatbuilding business is quite time consuming... But that is just a cheap excuse. Nobody "has" time. We all "make" time. So, what am I waiting for?

Higher perspective

Weekend is approaching. The next steps are aimed at getting a panoramic picture of the possibilities I have now. Of course this whole situation puts me on a new beginning. I've kept the positive side of view. But now I have to take care of the negative side. I mean the more laborious, and less straight forward. Until now it was, "Get the truck, heave out and move."

Location, tools, labor - these are the main factors needed to build a boat. I've now sorted the location aspect. From Saturday on I'll start sorting the other two, and from then on I'll prepare a new activity list and timeline.

While I do that, you can relax and enjoy the view of the Arpoador Rock, sticking right out. Ipanema and Leblon Beach in the backround. Thanks to Helisight for the picture.

Black

Today Arpex wears black.
The world sits and waits.

1st. Anniversary

I'm not very good at dates. I don't care much about them, to be honest. Anniversarys, national holidays, dates in general often pass unoticed. And so did the first anniversary of this blog.

I thought the blog had been started some day in the beginning of November. In fact, the first post was written on the 31st. October 2007.

Looking back along these 367 days that have passed, I'm very happy with what I see. Arpex has gone from dream into reality. Even if yet unfinished. In November 2007 I was weary from planning, sketching and scheming. Drawings on paper could not satisfy me any more. Despite quite a few open issues, I decided to jump into the cold water, and try swimming, instead of dry running. I have not regretted my decision.

I know that the project is going through a very critical situation. Despite my positive look into the future, I am aware that the current changes are still potentially catastrophic. But, as I have stated many times here, this project is not about getting there. It is about being on the way. Therefore I can't loose. The project was a win from the day I decided to jump into the water.

Apart from that, the blog has exceeded my expectations. It was started with the objective of documenting the construction, pictures, thoughts, feelings, influences. My own past influences and those that I pick up along the way. I have much fun keeing it.

The blog was planned as a very private, but open space. And an open space it has become, and very public - as I can see from the counter, and world-map. The blog has had more than 12.000 hits, well over 6.000 visits. Well, I'm still not sure of how to think about that. But it's fine.

David, from the Never Sea Land has had great influence in the start of this blog. I've learned much by looking at his blog, and through his on-line and off-line hints. I want to thank him, and also Joe, from the Horse's Mouth. And also all the friends that read this blog and comment on- and off-line.

Colors

A more likely color sheme for Arpex.

Sure, it is fun to trace parallels to Wallys. But parallels to the colorfull fishing boats from Paraty might be more apropriate.

New Club - New building place

Today I became the newest member of the Iate Clube de Ramos.
We arranged the new building place for Arpex - which you see on the picture below. A box right next to the building shed was also arranged. I found an old paraty paddle in it. Good omen. I'm not shure if I can inherit it with the box, though... Adriana liked the club and the people. Good.

Sail

A masterfull picture by Carlo Borlenghi.
Found on the Sailing Anarchy.