Why do I love sailing

"Something about sailing a boat brings so many senses and sensations into play that it's very difficult to pinpoint what it is specifically that makes me like it so much: the sight of sails and sheets overhanging the water; the foam and spray flying as the bow cuts the water; the motion of the boat; the physical and mental ballet necessary to handle the boat correctly. A sailboat might just be the most beautiful, sensuous and intelligent blend of man/machine/and elements that exists in the world today. The relationship between the three is the most harmonious I have experienced so far. Besides you can have a beer while you do it". --anonymous

I found this anonimous quote on the H2uhO blog.

The picture was taken by myself, and has been posted before. It shows my bothers former boat, Narwal. I took it standing on a rubber dinghy, which was set out, and, thankfully, later recovered.

The fine work

Only at 3 pm. I arrived at the boatshed! You can't build a boat in that pace... But never mind.

The little time I had, I've dedicated to the head board of the main hatch. I had to give it lots of sanding to make it slip and slide properly, and needed to seal it with epoxi. The next step is to sand the whole thing, and then epoxi it again, to give it a really good seal. After that, I have to apply varnish, with UV protection, and white epoxi paint on the flat top. The sides will be varnished to leave the beautiful wood exposed.

I know this will imply in future maintenance work. But I don't mind. If I ever get enough of sanding and varnishing, which I might, probabely, I can still paint it over.

Morning on Arpoador Rock

Beauty is where you find it

A short business trip to São Paulo gave opportunity to put the contrast between Rio and São Paulo in evidence. While Rio shines with its natural sceneries, São Paulo buzzes with its urban fuzz. Restaurants, theaters and cultural activity make up the appeal of São Paulo.

Like it or not, despite the contrast, the view from the 30th. floor of my hotel room, also revealed beautiful views.

New camera

A new camera has been put into service this morning. She is a Lumix 14M Pixel, and seems to suit me well. Since I like to carry my camera around in my pocket, I like them compact.

Joining the pieces

I have been enjoying my Sunday excursions with the bike. Two weeks ago, sparkling clear days, saluted us with inspiring views. I love these views. They make me feel priviledged to live in Rio de Janeiro. Click on the images to get a full view.

Today, again we're having a lovely day. The bike stands ready. Too bad I've lost my camera. Not pictures today.

Slow progress

After a late start, yesterday, I worked on the main hatch and washboards. I've glued on the cap board, and shaped it properly. I also fitter the washboards and figured out how to install them. Little detail work, which I have a hard time to get on with.

It seems I was getting swifter progress while tasks were "bigger", and where more hands on work was asked, than fine woodworking skills, and thinking out of detail solutions. It is not that I don't like those jobs, it is just, that here my skant woodworking skills become apparent. And also the obvious lack of appropriate tools, and a decent workbench. You just can't get a clean job done without those. The combination of these factors seem to nag on my motivation lately.

The result I am achieving on the main hatch is so-so. Working with the router is prooving more difficult than I had thought. Also, the wood, Peroba do Campo, looks lovely. But its fine grain seems succeptible to splintering. ... Or maybe its just me, showing poor tool handling...

As an addict reader of magazines like "Wooden Boat" and "Classic Boat", it is just too easy to establish too high demands on finishing standards. I must actively work against silly expectations of the finishing kind. Afterall, this is my first boat (not counting the canoe), and I have no proper woodworking or boatbuilding education. ... As if those were good excuses...

In the end of the day, the result will be acceptable - and it will work. And I suppose that is not too bad for a start. And I rememeber reading a wise, old chinese proverb: "Never mind the gaps - afterall, that is what epoxi is there for."

Here is the boat

Finally. Destiny has made its path, and Romeo has finally met Julieta. The little ama has come to meet her main ship on a rainy day, in the Yacht Club of Ramos. Romantic setting.

Despite the miserable weather, I felt majestiquely, and enjoyed the moment. Yes, I have the main components of my boat together. Now, building a couple of box beams, deck and mast, that is a piece of cake.

More attentive observers will note, that the ama has been positioned on the wrong side of the boat. They aren't aligned either. That is a bother, and I will change this. I will correct the position of both hulls as soon as possible.
Miguel has built 2 simple hatches into the ama's deck, as agreed. These provide ample storage room in the ama, and access for maintenance.

A couple of men hieved the hull down from the truck. I must admit, that the hull seemed to be surprisingly on the heavy side. But I might have misjudged. I will try to scale it somehow. Not sure how, though.

The logistics of bringing the hull down, from the mountains of Petropolis, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) away, proved to be simple. Miguel Pomar organized for a truck. Price seemed fair at R$ 500 (USD 280). I told them to meet me at a gas station in the early morning, and they did. We drove to the Club, manhandled the hull down, and it was done. Took a bare 45 minutes without any stress. Different than the arrival at Ramos, when I did the transpot of the main hull, from Itaipu to Rio, which was tense.
After all was done, I took a couple of moments and savoured the moment. All the rest seems simple now. Of course it wont be. Many details need to be thought out, technical solutions need to be developed. But comparing to when I started, many of the challenges have been overcome already. It is ony justified to believe that I will be able to master those who still lie ahead.

After savouring I took to the sanding machiene and worked on the main hatch.

YES, but what about the boat???

Some might get to think, that the project is slipping out of my hands, and that dark powers of lazyness are pulling me to the fanthomless abyss of boatbuilding projects.

I can assure you, that this is not the case. Instead, I'm just taking my breath, pulling things together, and then taking a step back, in order to see the big picture.

Tomorrow my ama is going to be delivered. Most likely. Unless it doesn't fall from the truck, which it has already been loaded on, that is. After that, all I need, to almost get a boat, is to build the akas, the transversal connections, so that the whole conception can actually float.

Good days and Bad days

Rio de Janeiro does get some bad days too. Its not allways splendid sunrises. And somehow I do enjoy the dark days too. Here the last 3 days.

A dark and gloomy sunride annonced bad weather for the next few days...

Yesterday was really bad. Fog, rain, clouds, wind - all contributed to make a bad day.

And today came slight improvement.

What about the boat???

Family, events, biketours, visits - amusements of all sorts, but what about the boat? This is a boatbuilders blog, right???

Contrary to what it might seem, I'm still building my boat. Even if only with diminuitive advancements only. But Miguel Pomar has been working all right. The ama is ready to be transported down to the Ramos Yacht Club. We have made arrangements for transport on next Saturday.

A friendly visit frrm Fernando and his brother Luis.

I've made some reinforcements to the boat's cradle.

The New Mrs. Arpex

I`m happy to announce, that lovely actress Adri Miranda has accepted to step in for Adriana Mattos, as the new Mrs. Arpex! I am confident that she will live up to the job, and wish her good luck and success.

...

I understand that some readers might be slightly confused now…

I`ll explain: My loving wife, Adriana has decided to change her official name from Adriana Mattos to Adri Miranda. Her full name is actually Adriana Mattos Miranda. She asked me to change “her name” in previous posts. Since this could have caused slight confusion also, we decided to make this little “announcement

For a short while, I`ve considered making a little recruitment effort, to find a new, young, dynamic, charming and sexy talent for the job. It might not seem, but it can be fairly demanding at times to be Mrs. Arpex! Whith best of intentions, I just wanted to save my dear wife from the demanding job… But, oh my!!! She didn`t like this idea at all!!! As a matter of fact, she overreacted a little, and didn`t quite believe in the good nature of my intentions… And, well, to be honest, looking back, with all these requirements in the job description, I do not think that a really good replacement could have been found at all.

Official Communication

Frequent readers of this blog might be aware, that in the last few years, this blog has benefited from an official representation dignitary; Mrs. Arpex. The responsibility of representing Mrs. Arpex was held by actress Adriana Mattos.

Well, things have changed slightly: From herewith, Mrs. Arpex will not be represented by Adriana Mattos anymore.

A new actress to represent Mrs. Arpex will be introduced in due time.

I thank Adriana Mattos for the excellent work she did in representing this blog. This blog`s administration, and, I`m sure, one or two readers will miss Adriana’s charming appearances.

Kitecam - New angles

Here is a nice kitecam footage. I find it interesting how it gets more and more easy to produce video images of sailing action. Simple tools allow to capture live action from unusual angles. I hope to play around with that soon too, once I get to the water.

Sailing Sidecar

Doug Haines, the builder of the sailing proa "Sidecar", is writing a blog called "Sailing Sidecar". I have added the link to my "Blog'n Roll" list. Doug is posting about his sailing adventures around Perth, on the West Coast of Australia. His aim is to sail towards the Southern Coast, which is quite a feat, considering he's sailing on an open, light sailing proa. Due to its exposed location, the Southern Coast of australia is not an easy playground.

Dough writes in a refreshingly unconventional style, which cares little about gramatical rules, or punctuation, but is rewarded by autenticity. Sidecar was built to plans of Rob Denney, who designs modern proas, which carry the weight of crew and accomodation structure to windward. His design series, which ranges from open daysailors to large and roomy cruisers, is called Harryproas. The mast of Sidecar is a freestanding, carbon, aero-rig-type, of construction. Later adaptations to the 8 meter camp cruiser, included a significantly higher cabin roof and a rigid bimini sun shield.

Sun protection is certainly a mandatory equipment when sailing in Australia. And also here in Brzil - also on my boat. I still need to think through how I will build that...

Picture was taken from Doug's Blog: http://dougsboats.blogspot.com/

Saveiros II

The traditional working sailboats from the State of Bahia, called "saveiros", carry huge mainsails, with a long, often crooked gaff, and no boom. In companison to the main sail, the jib is diminuitive - as can also be seen on the crossing boat, in the image above. Click on it to get a fine view.

Micheal B, from the blog Doryman, has observed the odd trim and sheeting on the saveiro, pictured by Gustavo. However, contrary to what Micheal thought, the jib is not sheeted to windward. Please observe the image when you click on it. But the sheet seems to be simply tied down at the centerline of the boat. Right at the mast's foot. From looking at several saveiro pictures, it seems to be common practice on these craft. I have no idea why this is so.

Maybe the crew are just too darn well accomodated in the hamocks, lying in the fresh shadow, inside the vessel's wooden, humid body? Moving means sweating. So why bother? Or else, steering comfortly, in the cockpit? Maybe shifting the small canvas around won't make any difference anyway? Maybe the jib is just there, to give this blunt, but proud and elegant working-vessel a slight ballance against the huge main. I have no idea.

If anyone knows, please tell me. ... I'll ask Gustavo...

Sunnny Side Up

Some say that if you look into the sun, you don't see shadows. It is meant as an incentive towards too gloomy minded people. However, the picture above might proove that wrong. But anyway, who said that shadows are bad?

And furthremore, I say, that also when you turn your look around, and gaze into the oposite direction, you might find beauty. With or without shadows.

In order not to appear one-sided, today I'm posting the view I get in the morning when I look into the sun, and when I turn around to look the other way - East and West. Which one do you prefer? What is your point-of-view?

Pictures taken this Tuesday, July 6th. 2010

Saveiro

Here another beautiful picture, sent in by Gustavo Pacheco. It shows a traditional saveiro, from Bahia. Just keep them comming, Gustavo.