A couple of nice days giving me the opportunity to patch up some of the paint work in the cockpit. Two part white DD paint, that I mix early in the morning to ´settle´, whatever that means. I put it on early in the afternoon, when most of the moisture will have been gone. Did an explanatory note on the puzzling climatology time lag of the hurricane frequences behind arctic tree ring data. I hope the tree ring guys did a serious job. Otherwise, I might have made a fool of myself. At the end of the afternoon, the paint was hardened, offering a good feel. Next week I want to do some job on the boom, strengthen it a bit.by adding two Oregon Pine side bars against it.
My boxlike kevlar covered ply dinghy fits neatly under the cockpit seats, as it should. As my barge neighbor stated - if your boat sinks, just stay in the cockpit, revealing horrible stories on whale attacks, and such..
Zeewind
zaterdag 25 februari 2012
maandag 20 februari 2012
Some Zeewind Data
The length of Zeewind is 11.99 m.(39'), her beam 3.56 m.(12'), and her draft 1.32 m.(4'). Her loaded displacement is 10.500 kg.(23,000 lbs), and, as such, of heavy nature. She has a sloop rig, with roller reefing for both the jib, and the mainsail.
Her engine is a Vetus-Deutz D29, of 63 hp.; a bit overpowered, but I did like the 10 liter oil cooling with long intervals, the pretty low revs allowed continuously, the economy on fuel consumption, and the ease of maintenance..
Her heavy rudder has a helm, but is also trailing a trimtab, with a separate small helm. On long distances the trimtab helm should make for a light job on the windvane or pushrod of the autopilot. It is amazing, pushing the small helm, how the heavy rudder immediately follows.
She is built in epoxy-woodcore, a bit rough on her appearance, for reasons of having adopted an allergy in the early building phase. That rules out much sandpapering. She is flush decked, with glued solar panels on the center line of the foredeck.
Her cockpit can hold a dinghy, featuring fore, aft, and side buoyancy tanks. Construction is of kevlar-epoxy covered thin ply. Kept under the seats it is hardly visible. Although, being box type shaped, it is easily propelled by an outboard, and offers reasonable rowing qualities. In many respects it compares to an inflatable.
Her engine is a Vetus-Deutz D29, of 63 hp.; a bit overpowered, but I did like the 10 liter oil cooling with long intervals, the pretty low revs allowed continuously, the economy on fuel consumption, and the ease of maintenance..
Her heavy rudder has a helm, but is also trailing a trimtab, with a separate small helm. On long distances the trimtab helm should make for a light job on the windvane or pushrod of the autopilot. It is amazing, pushing the small helm, how the heavy rudder immediately follows.
She is built in epoxy-woodcore, a bit rough on her appearance, for reasons of having adopted an allergy in the early building phase. That rules out much sandpapering. She is flush decked, with glued solar panels on the center line of the foredeck.
Her cockpit can hold a dinghy, featuring fore, aft, and side buoyancy tanks. Construction is of kevlar-epoxy covered thin ply. Kept under the seats it is hardly visible. Although, being box type shaped, it is easily propelled by an outboard, and offers reasonable rowing qualities. In many respects it compares to an inflatable.
zondag 19 februari 2012
My example - Johnny Wray
It happened in my school days, when I was 14 or 15 years old, that I came across a wonderful book in the public library of Goes, written by New Zealander Johnny Wray. Vagabonds of the Southsea, in a Dutch translation. He described the building of a sailing boat Ngataki. Very much from scratch in the years of the Great Depression. He had been fired at the age of 21, and decided to build a sailing boat by himself.
He was allowed to do it in the front yard of his parents home Remuera Road in Auckland. He wanted to build the boat of Kauri wood, so the boat would easily survive him. Yet, he had to get the wood himself, from logs that were lost in transportation, and lay separately stranded on the beaches of Hauraki Gulf.
In a yacht of his friend, he searched the beaches, and after collecting some wrong ones, he found some sound Kauri ones, bringing in enough to start boat building. The logs were sawn, paid for by those first cheapy wrong ones.
His 'design' was a half model, carved by himself, at a ratio of 1:12, taking care it was a straightforward model to simplify the construction. He then cut the model into parts in such a way, that he could use the pieces to measure the real dimensions of the construction parts.
Having mastered all the difficulties of getting the parts of the boat together in an unconventional but sound manner, he could sail his boat with friends across the Pacific, and lived on it with his girl friend Loti. However, in an answer to a letter of mine in the late fifties, he wrote, that because of WWII he had been forced to sell Ngataki. He included a photograph of his new sailing boat he had build again, some 10 feet larger, than his 35 foot Ngataki (Interestingly, Ngataki is being restored nowadays in New Zealand). Having read the book my decision was taken - building a boat from scratch, of my own design. However, for practical reasons it would take some time (actually half a century) to realize my plans.
He was allowed to do it in the front yard of his parents home Remuera Road in Auckland. He wanted to build the boat of Kauri wood, so the boat would easily survive him. Yet, he had to get the wood himself, from logs that were lost in transportation, and lay separately stranded on the beaches of Hauraki Gulf.
In a yacht of his friend, he searched the beaches, and after collecting some wrong ones, he found some sound Kauri ones, bringing in enough to start boat building. The logs were sawn, paid for by those first cheapy wrong ones.
His 'design' was a half model, carved by himself, at a ratio of 1:12, taking care it was a straightforward model to simplify the construction. He then cut the model into parts in such a way, that he could use the pieces to measure the real dimensions of the construction parts.
Having mastered all the difficulties of getting the parts of the boat together in an unconventional but sound manner, he could sail his boat with friends across the Pacific, and lived on it with his girl friend Loti. However, in an answer to a letter of mine in the late fifties, he wrote, that because of WWII he had been forced to sell Ngataki. He included a photograph of his new sailing boat he had build again, some 10 feet larger, than his 35 foot Ngataki (Interestingly, Ngataki is being restored nowadays in New Zealand). Having read the book my decision was taken - building a boat from scratch, of my own design. However, for practical reasons it would take some time (actually half a century) to realize my plans.
Characteristics of Zeewind
Boats can be built for speed, for comfort, and for price. If you want speed, a boat is constructed as light as possible, so it will plane or half-plane easily. One has to give in on accommodation, livelihood, and equipment. All reqs, that ultimately have to result in far less displacement.
Building for comfort, entails quite the opposite - much attention is paid to accomodation, and space for stocking up, while a propensity to restricted draught favors sailing in a coral environment. Enough equipment and spares need to be on board, to deal with long periods of staying 'out there'.
Costs are usually related to labor costs, and saving these costs by building yourself, used to be an option. However, nowadays saving should be more related to low cost countries, than to building costs in wealthier ones.
Considering Zeewind, the boat is obviously of the 'comfort' breed, as she is not intended for racing, but for living aboard, laying at anchor most of the time, and traveling long distances in-between. This type of boat was a usual appearence in the fifties and before, but largely replaced by better racing qualities and finishing standards of later years. They were, and are a bit less vulnerable to floating objects, such as dead heads, and drifting containers. Zeewind has less draught, and being slower and heavier, has a slight edge of offering more seakindliness.
Building for comfort, entails quite the opposite - much attention is paid to accomodation, and space for stocking up, while a propensity to restricted draught favors sailing in a coral environment. Enough equipment and spares need to be on board, to deal with long periods of staying 'out there'.
Costs are usually related to labor costs, and saving these costs by building yourself, used to be an option. However, nowadays saving should be more related to low cost countries, than to building costs in wealthier ones.
Considering Zeewind, the boat is obviously of the 'comfort' breed, as she is not intended for racing, but for living aboard, laying at anchor most of the time, and traveling long distances in-between. This type of boat was a usual appearence in the fifties and before, but largely replaced by better racing qualities and finishing standards of later years. They were, and are a bit less vulnerable to floating objects, such as dead heads, and drifting containers. Zeewind has less draught, and being slower and heavier, has a slight edge of offering more seakindliness.
zaterdag 18 februari 2012
For heaven's sake - why?
Why did I want to build a boat, and sail in her? Addictions may come early in life as a child, and have the property of not going away. Whatever one tries to do about it. Mine came when I arrived on a ferry in the harbor of Terneuzen on a bright sunny morning, and saw a sailing vessel at the opposite side of the pontoon. It was the only one, as times were harsh after WWII. And I was hooked.
As with most addictions, one might be better off (?), forcing them to the back of the mind by life's realities (as my other blog reveals: reinierscheele75). But then at last, being retired, I had the freedom to delve in my early addiction.
Does it make sense to build a boat? No, it does not. It is far better to have her build by others. Be it in the past, if you are poor, or in the present, when you are rich. It is not that bad to go for the first option, even if you are rich. First of all these boats are relatively cheap nowadays, cheaper than building them yourself from scratch. But they also have a record of their proven qualities and, above all, their peculiarities. Often, one can do something substantial about the latter, so one is better off, with a sound vessel in the end. However, it was not going to be, as addictions prevail.
Ode aan Laura Dekker
waar zilte zee ons dra te voeren staat
waar lange deining voorbij de klare einder rolt
waar squators' adem d'oude zeilen bolt
daar stuur' een vaste hand - recht zo die gaat
As with most addictions, one might be better off (?), forcing them to the back of the mind by life's realities (as my other blog reveals: reinierscheele75). But then at last, being retired, I had the freedom to delve in my early addiction.
Does it make sense to build a boat? No, it does not. It is far better to have her build by others. Be it in the past, if you are poor, or in the present, when you are rich. It is not that bad to go for the first option, even if you are rich. First of all these boats are relatively cheap nowadays, cheaper than building them yourself from scratch. But they also have a record of their proven qualities and, above all, their peculiarities. Often, one can do something substantial about the latter, so one is better off, with a sound vessel in the end. However, it was not going to be, as addictions prevail.
Ode aan Laura Dekker
waar zilte zee ons dra te voeren staat
waar lange deining voorbij de klare einder rolt
waar squators' adem d'oude zeilen bolt
daar stuur' een vaste hand - recht zo die gaat
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