"Fettes B"

Back in Berlin, after 3 weeks out in Abu Dhabi.

Maya Gabeira

Beautiful Maya Gabeira, the big wave rider, covered as it suits her best - diving under a big wave.

From the Magazine Body Issue.

Go figure

Ok.
I have reopened the blog. After a short period of some 2 weeks, during which I have set the privacy options of the blog for private access only, I have decided it was more fun, when this was an open space.

Also, basically, because I missed it, myself. My initial intention was to continue the aprex.blogspot as a private diary. As a purely private space. However, the idea to write to myself only, without the exposure to others, without the concept of sharing information to others, took a great deal out of the appeal of writing.
The temporary closure was a funny experiment, for sure. It gave me a different perspective on the blog-writing activity.

One thing is different now. I will just relax concerning the non boat-construction related posting. I will report on the boat construction whenever there is something to report. And if there is nothing new going on related to that side, I'll just post away on whatever my interest is. In a way,... not much different than before, really, if I think about it.

Image by Michel Balasis: http://www.michelart.net/

Blog closed

Originally, this blog had been created as a private space, where I could record the construction of my boat, the tacking outrigger Arpex, and to share progress on construction with my family and friends. It has always been a private space, which I have shared with many known and also unknown friends. And I am very grateful for the many joys, and enormous incentive I have received from known and anonymous contributors during the past few years.

It has also served me as a private, but openly shared diary. A diary which more often than not had a bias towards the more nautical matters of my thoughts and motivations.

With the current hiatus in construction due to my new professional assignments, I´ve just decided to close the blog. I feel is not serving its purpose any more. Construction is temporarily stopped. No progress to report here. And I miss the personal side of the diary function and feel restricted in the use of the blog, since the more nautical side has all but disappeared.

I might re-open it at some later stage. Maybe in weeks or months. But right now, I feel like closing it. I have already reduced the blog´s footprint on search engines. And in a couple of days I will close for public access, restricting to approved access only.

Sailing Outrigger Yacht

Just found another tacking outrigger blog... Scot, is building his 8 meter tacking outrigger in Vietnam,... as far as I understand. I´m looking forward to see the progress. Check it out here: http://outriggeryacht.blogspot.com/

Lisa´s Rio de Janeiro mornings

My sister woke up early in the morning and had this great view towards the city, and the mountain ranges in the distance. For a good start into the day she drove up into the forest for a refreshing morning walk, and again enjoyed the splendid looks over the mist, and our beautiful city. I´m very glad she remembered me, and took these pictures to share these moments. I thought I might just as well extend the courtesy to you, on her behalf. Enjoy. Obrigado, Lisa. Saudades.

Oddity

I´ve spent the day on a couple of meetings in Dubai today. Can´t help but ask myself about the future of this town. What is going to happen once the oil is gone? It is not a question of money. But where is all the energy going to come from, to keep the air-condition running, and the desalinization stations to provide all the water? The region has the highest water usage on the planet.

Space Oddity

Arpex: Berliner style

A look into the files, to see how time flies

Pictures taken on March 02nd. 2012. Mere 3 months ago...

Project status

The last few day have been perfectly painful, in the sense that I have been missing my boat building activity quite dearly. As contradictory as feelings sometimes manifest themselves, this pain has been amplified by many people asking about the status of the construction project. I say contradictory, because I assure, all inquiries have been wonderfully motivating also. Yes. Very kindly, some manifested the opinion that they missed the steady progress reports on Arpex´s construction, and wished for the continuation of activities.

Sadly this will have to wait until my return to Rio, around august. Two or three more months to go...

If you wonder;... Valmir never gave an evidence of delivery of the agreed activity. My calls were greeted with friendly conversation, and assurance of completion. However, upon my request, he failed to produce any evidence in form of images. My gutt feeling suggests that my boat is perfectly untouched, since my leaving in march. But I might be wrong...  maybe?

Berlin - Alexanderplatz

What can be more extreme?

In terms of sporting exercise, what can be more extreme like this type of ocean sailing, which happens on a course which goes right around the globe?

Check out the Spinnaker Maid

Watch the beautiful 12-metres on Oresund right outside Copenhagen in the battle for the Baresso Coffee Meter Yacht Cup 2009. And say hallo to Miss Spinnaker on the winning boat - Vanity V from 1936.

Oh! Arpex!

Some days every year the water on Rio´s beaches become glass clear. The water glows in a most unnatural way of pale jade green. The perfect white sand on the bottom, reflects the luminous fireworks most effectively. A situation which can also occur during a night swim.

Desert archives

My boat building hiatus is now well into the third month. Frankly, I miss it dearly. The weekly routine of driving out to the shed, the slow progress, earned by honest sweat and a little brain-work on problem solving... I miss it. 

Sure - Every coin has two sides. As a compensation for the missed time working on the boat, I get a full new experience of work in a foreign country, in a a totally unfamiliar culture. Despite the hardships imposed by a frankly difficult project, I do acknowledge the benefits and leanings. And I also get sweat - for the bloody heat - and I get brain-work, and problem solving on the side.

So, if some of you guys, those of you who sometimes still drop into this blog, think I´m slacking, that this boatbuilding project is coming to a sad end... Then I´m glad to comfort you. If you keep you patience, just as I am, then you will see this boat floating sometime in future, eventually. Even if it looks like we´re very far from the water still.    

And by the way, thanks for keeping coming back to this blog. It is a form of incentive, in ways you could´t imagine.

Al Gaffal Dhow Race in Dubai

Tomorrow starts a traditional dhow race in Dubai  - the Al Gaffal Dhow Race. 

When I first arrived in the region, I was eager to find the traditional sailing dhows. My enthusiasm has been somewhat dampened by the stiff work schedule of my current project. But today I heard in the radio, by chance, that a dhow race will take place tomorrow. It starts at 7:30 am, from some distant islands. However, it is quite hard to find information about where it ends, and about a suitable place to see the finish... and Dubai is 135 km away. Chances are slim, that I will be there to see it...

://dimc.ae/index.php/events/calendar-events/details/146-60ft

Weekend in Berlin

After a long, long while of skipped weekends due to a tight project schedule, Adri and I had the chance to enjoy a weekend in Berlin. We took time to see the lovely Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, and the Photographie Museum, where a great Helmut Newton show was on display.