Winter pic

So, after some hectic time without time for boat related stuff, we went out to Linnea this sunday and started renovating the companionway hatch and cleaned some diesel from the bilges. Also took some notes on the new deck box lids we will make this winter.

Here is a pic on the boat on land:

Some more pics

The new halyard winch from above…

… and from below.

And an image on our flag. Shame on us! We didn’t take it down all winter, now the Swedish flag looks like a Finnish one with no yellow. We actually bought a new one after this, so all you royalists out there can sit down again.

Sailing soon!

Hopefully we will be out sailing on monday. Just need a lot of work-work finished and some boat work. In the meantime enjoy this picture from spring, on the painted transom:

The perfect table

Sorry about the crappy pictures. I really like my Iphone but it has a really crappy camera. Maybe I will shop around for a digital camera in the future.

Above you can see the saloon table as designed by Tom. While folded like above, it has high rails around that can make Lego pieces stay put when the boat heels. It also makes it easy to put dishes on the table on the way up on deck. When unfoldet it is flat.

Breaking the law

Some people and some countries take flags a bit too serious. Not Finland, at least not Åland. We didn’t actually plan to sail there this summer but since the winds were blowing south we did anyway. But we didn’t bring a guest flag. We didn’t even have a Swedish nationality flag.

And as we came closer to Åland after a windy crossing, I remembered another incident, in Greece. We came sailing in a Turkish charter boat. “This Greek island is too small to have a police force,” we though. “Let’s put up a small Swedish flag, instead of the Turkish one.”

For some reason, we didn’t understand that this was a really bad idea. Not even after a Greek RIB full with marines with black painted faces came out to greet us by crossing our cource just two meeters in front of our bow and then return. Now I know they tried to tell us something.

Just as we had tied up and started to prepare an octopus we had cought earlier, the harbor master appeared. He didn’t look harmful. He had a white uniform with hat and gold buttons and epaulettes. The uniform wasn’t really large enough for his roundness but he had buttoned up anyway. The operetta actor told us in a high pitched voice that we had broken, not only Greek law, but also international regulations. And for that we had to pay… eh… let’s see… 10,000 Deutsche marks, or they would seize the boat.

I have no idea why he didn’t prefer to get this huge amount of money in Greek drachmae, or even Swedish crowns; this was before the euro. Fortunately the skipper of another boat, we were sailing three boats together, talked Greek, and was able to bargain down the price to 300 Deutche marks. I am pretty sure the money didn’t go into the operetta heroes pocket since we got a receipt. He also helped us to “hide” the boats name with fenders, so nobody should get upset.

So should we really go into Åland without any flags? As we came closer, I called up the passport police, just in case, to tell them we “lost” the flag. No problem whatsoever. Even though we had some miles left, they said: “Are you the junk rigged boat?” (Obviously they keep good lookout.) “Welcome to Åland!”

Then we found a really small Swedish flag in a gift shop. And also bought a guest flag that we seized to the lazy jacks.

Sorry excuse for a flag.

Slow progress – dust and disorder collects quickly

Some days are slow, like today. Anyway, see our navigation table tell tale Lyth compass:

Lyth compass

As you also can see, dust and disorder collects quickly.

We also worked on the head tank.

I mounted the discharge pump upside down three times. Did I say today was slow?

Head tank in the aft cabin

Also mounted the VHF and the aft navigation light.

(I got the new video. I don’t know if I have the tiime to upload it before going to Skåne tomorrow…)

Gone sailing

It was a bit nervous. The first sail of the year is bound to be bad. I remember one special year with an old boat of ours. Disaster. Rosehip soup all over the brand new main sheet. That stain does not go away! So the first sail, you want the wind to be perfect, everything double checked, some strong people on board. The kids stay on the jetty. Let’s just say we did the opposite this year. A bunch of relatives joined us, we were eleven people on board, some with quite dubious sailing experience.

So, what happened? Shipwreck? Disaster? Wounded limbs? No. The whole event was… uneventful in a good way. The only demanding maneuver was dropping two people off at the steam ship quay with a lot of swell involved.

So, here are the pictures:

Sailing

Ida in her berth. No mattress yet.

Interior, cleaned a bit.

Steering station from the inside. Impossible to get a good camera view.

Starboard view.

Navigation table.

Ida at the bow.

Idas new favorite spot.

(R. I have the goods.)

Is that a mast?

OK, just so you understand why people are intimidated when they ask if the bamboo is a mast and we answer that we use it for battens. Ida got this offcut for making mugs of. But it says something about the size.

Batten waste

Some picture progress

Today I snapped some pictures of the progress.

The Deck with sail and dinghy.

Steering station portlights

Bow roller and sail.

We haven’t adjusted the lazy jacks yet, so the yard and sail bundle has a little drooping angle. Notice the new thick bamboo. We put it only on one side of the sail, used no keep battens. Let’s see how that works out.

Tomorrow we are aiming for a trial sail. A bit nervous about that.

Saloon table prototype

I promise. We will only use this mock-up this year. Later we will build a new table out of mahogany and make it really sweet. I’m looking forward to it. But this mock-up tells us the real thing will be great. We haven’t decided where the pull-downs on the kerosene lamps will be fastened yet though.

The saloon table folded.

We will extend the back to enclose all the folded table top. Perfect for a heeling meal. Or just to put some stuff in it while sailing.

The saloon table, unfolded.

A clean table top for harbour use. Remember, this us ugly. This is a mock up. Yes, we will eat on it this year.

Other things that happened today: My father worked on the water system while my mother painted the aft cabin.