Telltale 88.
Merry Christmas Assembly......2006.
The weather is still unbelievable, like in
the rest of Europe and I
hope that this continues, as I will need some dry 2 weeks in the
beginning of January, to allow Ahmed to paint the topsides and to
keep Sylphe on schedule for launching again on january 22nd. Yes, you
are reading it correctly, by than everything should be fixed and I
should be afloat again.
The world (well most of it) is in the ban of Christmas and more
shopping. Well, to some extend I am as well, but it is shopping for
Sylphe. And the next three days will be used to re-assemble the hull
and close the holes. The new frames have been cut, and tested. All the
wood is treated and ready to be put together again. We will laminate 7
new frames in place, attaching them to the keel. The epoxy glue will
have to cure some 24 hours and than we can fit the hull planks back. As
simple as that.
Glueing them together and with the
help of a lot of clams, the epoxy will cure:
And this is what it looks with 6 new frames ready, still to be attached
to the keel:
Two days later we removed all the clams and can start on fitting the
hull planks, which is a nightmare. The planks are thick and difficult
to bend, but Encin (the carpenter) is a patient and skillfull guy. And
moro so, a proud man of his job on Sylphe:
And a week later it is all nice looking again and very strong for the
future:
And Roland goes up and down to the "Sanayi", the industrial area, where
the
stainless steel chainplates are made in a workshop. I try them and go
back, they must be bend in several places and not the easiest
job, not to mention the fact that the thing weighs a ton. A huge
hydraulic press bends the 1 cm thick stainless steeel like it is a
piece of elastic. With the right tools every jobs becomes easy...
And after the bending, they drill some holes, for all the bolts, that
are also custom made. Some 56 of them, the really BIG advantage of a
country like Turkey. No sweat, no problem, no waiting...etc. Try to do
this in Europe.......... I challenge you all.....
So, the new stainless steel
chainplates are ready, and
time-wise it all fits again, and that is the biggest concern in a
country like Turkey. There is no plannng from their side, that is why
one has to stay here and make sure that they have all they need.
Experience is all what counts.
And the new chainplates should come through the deck here:
There is 2 weeks in between these pictures, but all done now.
In the mean time, I am taking advantage of doing some other jobs. One
of them is removing the bowsprit and re-arranging some stuff there. The
stainless steel fixations for the bowsprit will be altered. The
original ones closed off the wood and water stayed inside, which is not
a good thing
for wood. And I am
still trying to find a new way to feed the anchor chain over the side
of the hull. It has been a frustration for me for the last 7 years,
that the chain does not go out over the center of the boat, as the
bowsprit makes this impossible. So, every time when we haul up the
anchor, I physically have to step outside of the boat (dangling on the
bowsprit and the bobstay) to secure the anchor. It may be nice to see
this happening, sitting on another boat, but I am determined to solve
this as well (I am a lazy bastard after all!!). Now
I have the
opportunity to change
this and make it go out more over the centerline of the boat.
And this extra work keeps me out of trouble, as they
say. So, off
it came...the bowsprit. And the workshop under the boat was also quite
happy with this....the guy kept looking up all the time .... rather
afraid, with the anchor and bowsprit dangling above his door..hahahaha.
I made a friend by this action.
Although the Turks don't celebrate Christmas that much and work can
continue, there is a rather bigger 4-day celebration at New Year.
Bayram starts on the 31st of Dec and this will mean NO WORKERS around.
I will use those days to fit the chainplates in place and painting some
of the guestcabin. And I still have a complete mast to sand and than
varnish 5 times, a bowsprit to varnish, etc.
AHOY,
Roland
www.sail-in-style.com