Lunch at Rio Sailing

Yesterday Lelê and Don joind me for a sail on Arpex. We had a lovely breeze, and splendid weather. We creamed along at about 8 to 9 knots, with a top speed of 9,2 knots. Lelê and Dn, who sail a 36 cabin boat, seemed to enjoy the ride and sailing Arpex. We stopped at their "second" club, the Rio Sailing, in Niteroi. Serving of our lunch took quite a while, and we made our way home at the end of the day. A marvelous breeze took us home, under a magic sky. I loved it!

Good Morning Rio!

Tudo tem um lado bom. Mesmo acordar as 5 da manhã. ... Tem que ligar o som. #urca #paodeacucar

Um vídeo publicado por Peter Mirow (@petermirow) em Out 8, 2016 às 2:43 PDT

Balaio do Mundo Pop - Luanda Baldijao Podcast

An intensive business trip kept me away from my boat, and from this blog. But now I am back, and the weekend has started.

Fish

Just another mobile in the making.

Sailing again

After the four weeks of olimpic curfew, where we were no allowed to move our boats on the bay, between 11am an 6pm, I had to go for a short sail. Even if, after getting some maintenance jobs done, I was rather tired, and lazy....

Helicon Gold

Helicon

Another piece of the Helicon series. 

AVU - First Anniversary Celebration!!!

Last week we had a blazing barbecue party to celebrate the first anniversary of the Urca Sailors Association. It is a joy and a priviledge to be together with these people.

Gold Medal for the Golden Girls

I was really happy and proud to see Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael win the Gold Medal in the 49er FX competition of the Olimpic Games, in Rio 2016. 

Im the past few months, I have often seen them training on the bay. I have no idea where the professional and personal requirements will take them. But I  and hope to occasionally cross wakes in the future. As it happens, Kahena lives in the same appartment building as Adri and I do. Therefore, we have followed her beautiful career for a few years already now. The two girls have conquered many significant international titels, A career now charmingly crowned with an Olimpic Gold Medal!
From my full heart, I congratulate them both for their great feat!

Olympic Games in Rio

The last few days have been exciting, for those who live in Rio de Janeiro. The thrill of having such an event in town has spread quickly after the opening cerimony. Everyone tries to manage to keep up a certain routine, while still getting to see the sport, and the changes to the infrastructure in town.

Adri and I have been to a couple of events on different locations; Rugby, with the unprecedented victory of the gold medal by the Pacific Island of Fiji, was pretty new and stunning. BeachVolleyball, just as well. What a party! Of course I wanted to see the Olympic Park, with the several different arenas, and the new metro and BRT traffic system, to the distant part of town, Barra da Tijuca. It was a pretty interesting experience. An naturally we went to see the sailing event, at Flamengo Beach, by the Guanabara Bay.

The quality of the water has been surprisingly good, just as I have recently reported. A good part of luck with the weather has been involved...

Helicon

A new mobile from the Helicon series taking shape. This one is a gift to a friend. 

Associação dos Velejadores da Urca - AVU

All those who read this blog regularly know, that I keep my boat tugged in a small bay, under the Sugar Loaf. The bottom of the baylet, has a beautiful, white sandy beach, Urca Beach. It is on this beach that I keep my tender. The trustful nutshel, which brings me to my boat and back. Unless I prefer to use an available boat service, to bring me there and back. The view is phantastic under any circumstance. At any time of the day, the place is a pleasure to the eye and the soul. Blessed by the Christ Statue on the Corcovado Moutain, the sunset quadrant is pure magic at the end of the day. At any time of the day, the Sugar Loaf protects us, and warms our back with its rocky shoulders. I could also point out the Famengo Park, the skyline of the city center, the big Niteroi Bridge, the Channel, Niteroi and all the other bayside. 

But the best part is the friendship and camaraderie found in my fellow users of this special place. Together we have created the Associação dos Velejadores da Urca, Urca Sailors Association, aka AVU. The Association is the instrument to organize and solve our internal issues, so that we can all have a good time, and not create any distrubance to others. By taking care of each other we give a significant contribution also to our safety, and that of our equipment. 

On the 20th. august 2016, within barely 3 weeks, we will celebrate the first anniversary of our group of friends. We will do it with a commemorative "regatta", a cricuit rather, since we do have members who prefer power proulsion. ... ok. anyway... When we come back we will make a commemorative barbecue, which might just as well extened into a party. It will also celebrate the end of the Olympic games. 

This little heaven is located in close proximity to my home. I'm very grateful for having this. And I very much hope, that our multifacetted community can strive and grow togehter for a long time to come.

Fail Report

The other day, I managed to produce a big fail. I dropped my Torqueedo battery, which was damaged critically. These high quality lithium batteries have a water proof encapsulation, because lithium becomes instable when in contact with water. A quite explosive reaction can be expected. 

As a consequence of the drop, the encapsulation was damaged. A coin sized hole rendered the battery unusable on a boat, where water contact can not be avoided. 

Since those batteries are expensive, very expensive indeed, I thought that a home repair might be tried. 

First, I closed the punctured area with Durepoxy. Next I will cover it with fiberglass, and more epoxi resin. Then, I need to hope that no other internal parts have taken damage. But this I will be able to test only once I can bring the battery safely to the boat. 

Admiral on the helm

Outside view

My sister took this outside shot from onboard her 40 ft. Elan, Minna. 

Pure joy

This is how I like it. 

Sailin' away

My friend Duda took this lovely picture. I was starting into a lovrly sailing day. 

Yeah! Good day

A promising day. Even though the forecast does not foresay much wind. Thats just fine. 

I took advantage of my early coming, to give the baot in external shrub and deck clean. Also the wooden deck, wich was in need of some brushing. Some peroba oil would also be good.