Too hot!

Its been quiet these days, here on this blog. This is basically, because the extreme summer heat has taken its toll. Last Saturday I went to the boatshed, and worked on the steering mechanism. I was eager to push forward. And so I did, despite the tremendous heat. Although I was constantly drinking water, to prevent dehydration, at one point I felt extreme exhaustion. I felt that I overdid it, called it a day, and went home.

I payed the bill over the rest of the weekend and during this whole week. I felt miserable, weak and wasted. And I won't go the the shed tomorrow either. We have temperatures around 40Degrees. Its too much for me.

Hot, hot, hot...

Recently I decided on a strategic reorientation of my project. Instead of fiddeling around with interior fit-out, I am now focussed on getting the structural elements done, to bring this boat to the water. It is not at all a matter of despair, of me getting weary of boatbuilding. It just seems more rational, to first make a rough test of this quite unusual configuration. And then, in case of promising results, finish the job, regarding interior fitout and whatsoever. The main things I want to have tested in the water is trim, maneuverability, stability,...

I was impressed with the ease with which the club workers brought the ama to the water, under the orders of Club Director Ivan. Holding the main hull level is not as easy as the ama, since it has no stability as a stand-alone hull. The ama could be held upright by arm's strenght. This is not the case with the main hull. Therefore, I'll build the akas, and the deck and the rudder. And then, get them together. And do the test.

But in order to build the akas, I need to decide on the material to be used. And now I did. I've decided to play it safe - and expensive. I'll use freijó, for its resistance and light weight. But I won't get it until next weekend. And it will cost me 1300 Reais! But hey! What is peace of mind worth?

Until I get that material, I have continued on the bed-bench. I did a rough job on it. But at least one can now safely, and comfortably sit there. And I have glued together the mast step. All was done in copious heat of about 40 degrees Celsius. The sweat came down in buckets. I ended the job just shorly before swamping the boat in my own sweat!

Sunrise

This is where the sun comes up in summer-time. As opposed to a far more northern location in winter-time.

Cyclic tragedies

Just as last year, tragedy has stuck Rio de Janeiro. Heavy rainfalls have devastated large communities in the mountains, about 100km from Rio de Janeiro. More than 740 lives have been claimed.

What remains is a clear reminder, that some things on this earth don't change. One is that nature, the weather, is cyclic. Natural phenomenae tend to occure in a cyclic pattern. This is why we say "weather pattern", stations of the year etc... In the subtropical belt of South America, little above the tropic of capricorn, summers are hot, and high humidity levels result in heavy, violent rainfalls. Mostly in the afternoon, when the heated atmosphere starts to cool down. So, there is nothing new with that.

The other thing, is that humans have a terribly short memory. We saw these pictures only last year. If we had any sort of prevention, and warning mechanisms, we wouldn't have to mourn, and sorrow for all the scattered families.

River margins, situated in the dephts of steep valleys, surrounded by rocky mountains, are treacherous places. Building there should not be tolerated by authorities.

Brasil 40

The other day, I just couldn't resist climbing ontop of the Class Brasil 40, stored in the Ramos Yacht Club, to peek inside. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone who was able to tell me the name of the boat.

The restauration of the boat has been underway at one point, but since I'm in the Club, for about 2 years now, no further work has been done. See in the picture below, that there are big gaps between the planks. Which is worrying.

Still, I found it nice to see this lovely boat from up close. I hope someone takes on the task to bring it back to life at one day.

Waterline

The ama is an important element in the configuration of a tacking outrigger. Its weight, shape, volume will influence sailing characteristics determinantely.

In my understanding of a tacking outrigger, the ama should be as neutral as possible, and influence the minimum possible, the sailing of the main hull. Therefore, the round bottom and light weight of the ama, that Michel Pomar has produced for me from a mould, fits the bill handsomely.

In the way that the hull sits in the water now, whith the bow and stern slightly above the waterline, when the ama gets depressed into the water, as it is sailed to leeward, it gets pushed into its "hull-waterline", with maximum waterline, and the transom above the waterline. It also has plenty of reserve buoyancy, so as to avoid cutting into and under waves.

As the ama is sailed to windward, the ama will quickly reduce the wetted surface on the stern sections. The bottom of the stern has a nice sweeping curve upwards, to achieve just that effect. I'm glad that my conversations with Miguel, about how the stern should be shaped, have been very fruitfull.

I had an excellent conversation with Ivan, one of the Directors of the Iate Clube de Ramos. A very friendly and generous guy. I took the opportunity to show him Arpex, from outside and inside the cabin. Ivan reminded me, that I should quit fiddeling with tables and beds, and that I should get this boat to the water! I should concentrate on the structural elements, rudder, decks, and get the boat floating, to see how it works. After that, there would be sufficient time to finish a bed for the boat.

A good piece of advice, indeed.

Still interested in the construction, Ivan asked about where the calculated waterline of the boat would be. I explained him where the calculated waterline according to the plans was for the main hull, and told him that the waterline for the ama, was only suspected, since no calculations had been done on that. He asked, candidly, why I didn't just put it in the water, to see??

I looked at him, and then at the ama, and started to explain what a laborious job that would be, and hardly necessary to bother... But of course, I'd have to admit, that I was very eager to see the ama in the water. Ivan just smiled, and said that this was hardly a problem. Only 15 minutes later, the hull was on a trailer, pulled by the clubs tracktor, and the hull touched the water without much fuss. Four strong guys just manhandled the hull onto the trailer.

I was very gratefull to Ivan. Seeing the ama actually floating was a great, small moment. And reassuring too.

The ama is still quite rough, in its finishing. In order to push the project forward, I have agreed about the execution of some finishing jobs on the ama, with Valmir. He will sand it, fair it and paint it.

Arpex Floats!!!

The year 2011 started with a surprise for Arpex. The ama was taken to the water to make a float-test, and check where the waterline would come to be. This is important information for me. This data will be needed to build the akas, crossbeams and wooden deck.

Luckily, I can say that it is just perfect. The bow sits about 2-3cm above the waterline, and the stern sits well out too. With half the weight of the deckstructure and equipement, like anchor and chain, weighting on it, it will sit perfectly fine. I was very happy to be able to see, at least a part of the boat, floating in the water. Unfortunately, I did't remind to take a picture with the ama floating clearly free. I was a little tense...

The volume and displacement were not exaclty calculated for the ama. All was made based on the eye, common sense and rough estimations.

A now for something completely different....

Wally Fulcrum 88 Concept Yacht from Wojtek Bachleda on Vimeo.

A short cruise to Ilha Grande

I apologise to all readers of this blog for the intermittent posting. However, my internet connection has failed on me over the last 10 days.

I'm still dreaming of the days in the islands, with lazy sailing in a paradise. So, here is a video with a few of the shots, to whish everybody a great new year and a prosperous decade!!! May we all have less worries, and more sailing, more time for making our dreams become reality, more love, more friendship and happiness!!! Scol! Get inspired!

Sail to Ilha Grande - Sitio Forte

On the first day, we took off early in the first light, under engine. The little wind we had came from the North. A light rain didn't bother. It actually gave a peculiar touch to my silent and solitary departure. The rest of the crew didn't bother waking up in early morning. And I didn't mind at all. I was eager to get to sea. As I fired the engine at 6:30 am., the boat was already half undone from its quayside moorings, and in no time I was in the channel of Bracuhi Marina, and heading out to the islands in a calm sea. The bimini held the rain off, and the cockpit was tolerably dry and cosy. My old friend, the light foul weather jacket, came in handy to keep me comfortable.

As we approached the islands Paquetá and Itanhangá, after 30minutes of motoring at 5-6 knots, the wind picked up slightly. Still blowing from the North, it made the islands' anchorage a bit exposed, and not suited for the breakfirst I had in mind. And since the crew was still fast asleep, I decided to move on to Jipóia Island, to seek a well protected and solitary anchorage over there. And since the wind had picked up, I opend up the genoa too. Afterall, I came for sailing. And that is what I did, slowly, in a following wind.

As we came closer to Jipóia Island, the crew came to life. The approach to the small and isolated Praia das Amendoreiras, was all I came here for. We admired the wild vegetation of the Island. It sparkled in deep, fresh green, gleaming in the first timid flashes of sunlight. Clean and washed from the morning rain, all vegetation seemed to bust out in vigour. The first morning heat produced clouds of vapour steaming up from the forest. The sea invited for a swim in its esmerald waters. The temperature of the water was such, that you just didn't want to come out of it any more...

After swimming, exploring and breakfirst, we moved on to Ilha Grande. The wind had now veered to a more Easterly direction. After we cleared the Jurubaiba Point, the wind gifted us with an easy close reach, right into Sitio Forte, where we would find a safe and quiet anchorage.

In a lucky stike, we saw a couple of fishermen in a small boat, working on some nets. A quick approach and negotiation rendered us with a bucketfull of still-alive fish. Smartly, the negotiation included killing and gutting. Shorly later, after a heavy tropical downpour, the fish made a beautifull figure on our grill. A white wine kept them in good company, during our splendid dinner.

The heavy rain can be seen on video above, approaching from the West. It came as no surprise. The only suprise was, that the rain waited, until we had our hook planted, and the boat cleared for the night at anchor.

Late Christmas Greetings

Over the Christmas days I took a long awaited short break. It had been too long a time, that I spent without actually going sailing. To spend some time on the water, we rented a Brasilia 32, a very popular monohull from the 80-ies, and spent 5 days sailing the islands of Ilha Grande. My original plan was to go only with Adriana. But in a last minute turnaround, we took my friend Kiko and his 6 year old daughter Carmem along.

We had a great time together, surrouded by stunning natural beauty. The weather was sweet, blessing us with a most amazing set of weather patterns. All of the very beningn sort. In all a most extraordinary Christmas time, with a sky glittering with stars on Christmas evening.

I hope that you all also have had a good time over Christmas, joining your families and friends. And I hope you have a peacefull time, with a good start into 2011 comming up.

I'll post a couple of pictures of our short cruise shortly, as soon as I have edited them.

Rio Soberbo

The tropical rainforest covering the steep mountains of the Serra do Mar, around Rio the Janeiro, is one of the sweetest settings, in my opinion.

Stainless

Minster Palma is being so kind to help me with building all the rudder-hardware. Here he is showing the socket for the rudder tube, through which the stainless steel rudder-shaft will come to the steering quadrant.

An Eco Fishing Boat. by James Wharram

A design contest gave a brief for an under 10m boat for fishing under sail or oar. This sort of "eco boat" is relieved from certain restrictions by fishing license regulations in European waters.

The picture above shows what James Wharram came up with. A lovely little cat, in an unusual but very interesting configuration. The boat can be equiped with one or two cuddies, which provide adequate shelter. For tropical climates it could be equipped with a tent, for use while on anchor.

In my view Wharram has achieved a cool mix between Polinesian lightness and flexibility and English solidity.

I very much like the desing. I would even like to build one. However, in several aspects Arpex is quite similar to this. But having detailed plans available by Hanneke and James, that would be really cool.

Finally sail again...

I've been away from the sea for too long. I've decided to resume this silly situation, over the Christmas days. The fine boat above, a Brasilia 32 will help me in this endeavour.

The Itchin' Feeling

The itching feeling got the better of me. All through Saturday morning, I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. So I drove out to Ramos, even if just to ease some clamps and check out how the bed bench is comming out. The answer is: "So-So..." But it will work.

And I also just sat down, and took my time to look around and have a beer. While I took a good scrutinzing look at the things I had built all along this past year.

Year End Nearing

The last wo weeks have seen no activity in terms of boatbuilding. Part of the blame can be credited to our little urban war, here in Rio de Janeiro. But thngs have calmed down now. The good seem to have achieved the upper hand for a while now, while the bad have evaporated into the crooks and nannies of the favelas.

But apart from that, the end of the year is nearing, and whith it the social obligations. Streets are full of cars, and traffic jams are the order of the day if you decide to drive around. So it comes, that I'm resignating into a "no-more-work-this-year" scenario. I'm tired and need some rest.

Last weekend we did just that. Resting. Few places are better to chill out, than the exuberant tranquility of the great boulders of the Rio Soberbo river. Just a short 90km drive puts you out into the spicy air of the jungle, the wonderfully fresh water, and the smooth, hot granite bouders. There is something wonderfully relaxing in cooling down in the water, under a waterfall, and then heating up, on the hot stones again - over and over.

But something inside me keeps tickling my mind, and urging me to drive out, to the shed.

I love Rio de Janeiro

After the big turmoil of the last week, things have calmed down a bit, here in Rio de Janeiro. But a slightly alarmed atmosphere persists among cariocas. Normality is not yet fully re-established. Yesterday, I've whitnessed a sad situation, involving heavy guns, a crashed car, and a dead body.

Last weekend we saw the re-conquest of one big slum area, the Morro do Alemão, which's territory was being controlled by armed drug gangs. On Sunday the police entered the perimeter , with armed tanks from the Brazilian Navy Forces.

Me and most other cariocas are saddened, by the pain caused to many families, by this war-like conflict. But one the other hand we feel, that it is a necessary and healthy process. It is time that the law is re-established for all citizens of Rio.

Despite all this misery, Rio de Janeiro is a marvelous city. The beauty of its inhabitants, and the gorgeous beauty of its natural settings is mesmerizing to me. I like to live in this place, even if we sometimes suffer, from the restrictions inflicted by urban violence. If our government manages to install order, we could all go back to carry on living happily, in our sunny jungle-beach city.