On hold

For the moment the adjustment works are on hold... or to be more precise, they haven't started yet - except for the sourcing of the epoxi and carbon fiber. Those I have already. But actual work has not started yet. I am waiting fo r a good opportunity window, means available time, to do the job.

In the meanwhile Arpex sits in the water and weather. I hope all is right and safe with the boat. Having it exposed to the weather and abuse by sea organisms and careless humans, sometimes leaves me apprehensive. It is a new experience I need to get used to.

Back in the Mud

Before Arpex can go into further sail testing, I will have to make a few adjustments. The beam ends need reinforcement, and introduction of  vertical fibers. This will be done by wrapping the beams into carbon fiber.

Also the boom needs some reinforcement. It will also receive some of the carbon. The sailmaker recommended to strengthen the gaff. But I am still pondering over that one.

And then, I should remove the current windows and replace them. The white protection pellicule does not come off, and the sikaflex which currently hold them smears off.

To do these jobs, I have brought the boat back into the muddy waters of the back of the bay, in the Ramos Yacht Club. There I will look at the challenge to execute the works with the boat in the water. Ideally I would remove it from the water. ... But frankly, I recoil at the prospect. So I will do it in the sun.

Arpex Sailplan

The sailplan of Arpex seems to work quite well, and I am happy with the sails that Carlos Sass has built for me. They seem to work, and the boat sails pretty swiftly.

The boat handles well on all points of sail. Pointing into the wind was not a problem, on both tacks. We managed to sail at an angle where the windex flag, was touching the marks,... thereofre about 45 degrees. I think that 47-48 degrees is reasonable.
But I will still do a more analysis on this,... maybe even define a polar, in order to determine the performance on the different tacks.

Also tacking was not a problem. If sailing under jib alone, tacking was achieved, with a little encouragement by holding the jib aback. Under mainsail alone we did manage to tack. But we also failed a couple of times. Under main and jib, there is no problem tacking. What we need to learn is how to accelerate quickly after the tack. For a little while the boat sits there and wants to think for a short while, before surging forward.

What I still need to do, is to improve the tension on the rig, in order to maintain a straight forestay. It might also be possible that I will need to install running backstays.

Sérgio de Garcia, whom I know from Facebook, spotted Arpex sailing, and was kind enough to take the lovely shot, and share it with me. Thanks for that.

From outside

Another flight of pictures. I am afraid do become boring with boat pictures on other channels. But here on this blog, I presume, I am free to post the images that I like to look at. And I also presume, that you viewers out there, come here to see them, in the first place. So I will post away. Also because the boat will never look as good as today any more. Sun, salt and use are already working 24 hours per day. ... On the other hand, wear and tear also have their beauty. Ok. But for now I like to look at the brand new boat in the water

These first two images were taken yesterday, when I went to see the boat in the end of the day. I do enjoy the approximation.

The final approach to the boat is made with the dingy. Below you see the dingy, and the boat in the backround. Click on the image to enlarge. When I arrived, we had a very high tide. This is about as high as it ever gets. To reach the boat, I drag the nutshell into the water, and paddle away to cross the short rowing distance to the boat.  I had produced a paddle for the dingy. But I found out, that a double blade kayaking paddle is much more adequate to row the tender. I had an old paddle at home. It belongs to my paddle collection, actually. It was given to me as a gift by a cousin, and it must certainly be more than 50 years old. It is very light, and convenient in every way. You can find it on one of the next pictures.

These pictures below were taken by my sister, Elisa, when she came with her family to visit the boat, last weekend. They came on Aleguá. The boat that my father bought in 1979... I think... The very boat I learned to sail on.

The water was wonderfully clean that day, and I took advantage by using Arpex as the swimming and relaxing platform. The very thing the boat was also built for.

Da Lama ao Caos

Em breve de volta à lama.

Leaving Arpex on the Mooring

Arpex on the Mooring at its Shorebase

Warp Speed

Here is an interesting picture (above), catching the exact moment when Arpex entered Warp Speed. The manipulation of space and time, a characteristic common to all sailboats, becomes very apparent here on this one. Note, that interestingly, warp speed was achieved with mainsail up only!

Full sail test

Today we, Roland and I, made the first full sail test. The testing of Arpex'  sailing abilities is a long awaited pleasure to me, and I was eager to get into the pudding. As the old ones said: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

And I must say, to me the pudding tasted very well. Quite splendid, indeed.

The day was beautiful, the wind was building up, the sea was still flat, except for the occasional chop from the powerboats, and a long underswell inside the channel. A consistent breeze of about 12-15 knots promised a challenging testbed for the trial. The occasional strong gusts of 20-25 knots, promised a high heartbeat rate.

First we raised the mainsail, just for testing, and then got it down again, I was also interested in feeling how it would come down... just in case needed. There were no issues to make the sail come down. Handling the halyards worked like a charm.

We left the mooring under strong, gusty wind, and went inside the Bay to start sailing. The sail went up without fuss, and we started working the strings to get it to set right. I found that the arrangement with the boom works very well. I really love the possibilities to shape the mainsail. But this was not a topic for today. Today I just wanted to get the horse to run, and stretch the legs a little.

And stretch her legs she did! Arpex really outperformed my expectations for the first day of sail. To be quite honest, we also worked her hard. But what surprised me, is that all felt safe and in full control at all of the time. Arpex is smooth and responsive to the helm. Except, of course, if there is no headway.

The top maximum speed was, I think, not recorded. Because the GPS Tracker calculates the top speed as a 3 minutes average, the maximum speed indicated in the GPS Tracker recordings, was 11.9 knots. In the video above, the GPS announces a speed of 6.7 knots in a lull. But then the gust comes in, and the boat starts to accelerate to a speed of, what I would estimate of being above 12-13 knots. I think....  You give me your estimate. I don't know.

The point is that the boat sailed like a charm. She points high into the wind, while keeping her speed. When under main and jib, she wont miss a tack. This needs to be tested in swell and waves. We tacked her under jib alone and under main alone. Under main was more difficult however. Under jib, it was good to let the jib hold back for a short while, and let her turn into the new tack. Under main we had some unsuccessful  tacks. But jibes were no issue.

At no moment did we fear the ama flipping. She at times lifted gently, but never to be out of the water. Steering her felt like riding on a magic carpet, really. A real pleasure.

But the wind built up, and got too strong. We pressed her too hard, and caused some damage, which now needs to be fixed. The issue is, of course, related to the highest stress points of the boat. The crossbeams and their attachment this will be reinforced with carbon fiber. As will the boom. I was quite surprised, that the boom didn't break. I'm also very happy about it, because it will wrap it in carbon, to increase strength.

But the result for me was very good. We gave her a really hard go today. The wind blew with up to 20+ knots. And I was very pleased to see her sailing as sweet as you could wish. A real pleasure. The integration with the cabin works like I had in mind. The cabin is a very nice space, full of air and light, and views to the outside. It offers great shelter from sun, wind and rain. The boat sails fast. To my conservative reconing, I would presume that we had a top speed of about 15 knots for periods during the gusts. Nothing felt strange, or out of control to me. On the contrary.

Working to get things ready

Slowly things are falling into place, and the boat actually looks more like a working boat. It is because the necessary boatlike things are appearing on deck.

 I am beginning to get used to a routine of working on the boat. Everything is more difficult.

 It is not so bad to work until it is dark. There is so much light from shore, that only inside the cabin it gets really dark.

Ready for the Main

I spent the afternoon working on the boat. The main objective was to make things ready to hoist and work the mainsail. 

First I worked out the main sheet, and then the downhaul. I also installed and fixed the "amantilho", to hold the boom end.  

New Panoramas

Click on the image for a full size view.

Sailing videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcFj7eyoDng&list=UUIVp4ktPndnCCiapGlgfNBw&index=3

Sailing into 2015!

The year started well. After enjoying a great fireworks show at Copacabana, last night, I woke up eager to play with my new boat. Of course I was burning to get it sailing.

And so we did. I was happy to have my habitual crew, Roland, to help me work the boat. First we sorted out the halyards for the main, which now run to the winch, and have cam-cleats installed. I do think, however, that the cam cleats might not stand the pressure of the gaff top, for example. If it slips, I will back it up with a cleat, positioned in line. See the picture above.

As soon as we got that done, we left started the engine, and left the mooring. The feeling of leaving the safe mooring, was an odd one. Of course I have fears of something giving. It is a real possibility. things might break. However, it soon became clear, that the day was quite perfect for a start, and there was no excuse not to test. I say that, because, of course, there was a little point of an idea, that the whole thing might come apart.

To my great pleasure, nothing broke, and the boat sailed beautifully. All points of sail were sailed without concern. On a beam reach the boat sailed, under jib alone, at 7 knots. the true wind speed must have been around 15 knots. As we pointed windward, she sailed happily on the wind, at a steady 5 to 5.5 knots, at an angle of about 45degrees+, Maybe at 47 or 48 degrees. But going nicely to windward, with no issues. she is very responsive to the helm. But nevertheless, she sails steady to her course. I can leave the helm unattended, and she sails on her course without fuss.

 The whole arrangement for the jib sheet works nicely. No issues. Well. One, the port sheet sometimes drops into the water. But as soon as I have the trampoline, this will be solved. The trampoline will also improve safety for moving about.

As a tribute, we visited Aleguá, the boat I learned to sail on. Looking at the angled windows, I think one or two points of style have migrated from Aleguá to Arpex.

Start 2015

I hope that all have had a great start into 2015. We, Adri, Roland and I, profited from the fireworks display at Copacabana Beach

And now I feel like the first day of 2015 is a good day for a first try of the new sails.... Well, at least the jib could be put to play and see how things develop from there.