These are the tools I used for splicing. I found, that the bent wire works really well for threading the loose end through the hollow, single braided Colligo Dux Spectra rope. Working this rope, and producing the splice proved to be simple and straight forward. The only hard part is to cut throught the rope! You need a really strong and sharp knife for that!
Here is a really helpful video, which I used to tutor me through the splicing of my Colligo Dux rope, which will be the next standing rigging on Arpex. The video makes it really easy to produce a good splice. And the rope, is also really easy to handle. The only hard part is to cut through the line. You really do need a strong and very sharp knife!
My thanks go to John Franta, from Colligo Marine, who has helped me all along the way. He helped to sort shipping issues with UPS, and also gave good practical tips with the splicing.
I produced the six splices on my 3 new stays. The idea was to install them today. But unfortunately some light rain hushed away my goof friend Roger, who kindly offered his helping hand. I understand that driving across the city on a motorbike, in drizzle rain, is not a good idea. Never mind. We will find another suitable day for the job.
Arpex needs to have its stays replaced. I have the material already. Now I need to produce the splices. While I was going to heve this done for me, I found some videos in the internet, which demonstrated how easy it is to splice single braided rope, without a cover. I made one first test on another rope end, and now I feel qualified to do the other. Wait and see.
Arpex needs new standing rigging. The original one, unfortunately, is unreliable. The material, 7mm covered spectra, by german manufacturer Lyros, is just fine. The problem is, that the splicing has not been made properly. I had two failures, which almost cost me the mast. Two times it failed at the splice. My supposition is that since the cover was quite tight, this made the splicing more complicated, which led to a bad result in the end.
I have, therefore changed to the uncovered spectra by Colligo Marine. It is also UV resistant, and specifically recommended for standing rigging. It took me a while to find someone who could bring it from the US. But now I am happy to have it. The next step is to find someone who can make a reliable splicing job on it, and then to install it.
Last weekend Arpex came back together, with the good help from my friend Frank, and Rodrigo. It means that the rudder, which had been removed for repair and maintenance, was put back onto its rightful position.
As it was a day with fresh temperatures, in and outside of the water, I was happy to recruit Rodrigo for the wet parts of the job.
This weekend we called for an extraordinary meeting, in order to inform the sailor association's members about the current situation regarding registratoon of moorings. It was pretty crowded, and considered a success.
The registration of moorings in the area of Urca Beach is going forward. Today we have managed a great success. As the President of the AVU - Associação dos Velejadores da Urca (Urca Sailors Association), I have been contacted by the Port Authority and asked for a meeting. This is the result of my proactive contact two weeks ago, when I went to the Port authority in order to present the AVU, and put myself available for contacts. At the occasion I also left the presentation of our organisation. You can see the presentation in the video below.
Unfortunately I was out of town and could not attend the meeting. However, we were able to mobilize Pascoal and Douglas, from the Board of Directors, who had a very positive meeting. As a result, the orderly registration of our moorings seems closer than ever. And the best was to hear from the official that he welcomes our organisation and wants to work in partnership to keep the area safe and organized. This weekend we will have an event to discuss the next steps, and to celebrate the step forward.
I had hoped to install the rudder on Arpex, and go sailing. But that didn't materialize. Rainy days during the week halted the work on my sisters boat, and thus the painting of the hull - and therefore also my rudder. Since I am taking a hitch, I will resort to getting my boat ready and running again next week.
I used the free time to start the process of registering my mooring with the authorities. My intention was to do that a long time ago. However, they said the port captain was not accepting registration requests. This seems to have changed. So, I am taking the chance to get my mooring legal. If you want to find it, this is the location. You can see a picture of Arpex on Google Earth too!
However, the picture on Google Earth must be about 2 years old. It was taken before the relocation of my mooring.
I'm an amateur boatbuilder, who finished his boat and now happily sails it, based in Rio de Janeiro/Brasil. Besides having a special crush for the sea and all that relates to it, I love arts and creative thinking.
ARPEX is the name of my project, and that is the name of the boat. Click on the ARPEX marker to know more about it.
