Telltale 90. (click your refresh button to make sure you have the latest version, I update almost daily)

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A Paradox: I feel like swimming (although you know I hate it), but Sylphe and me want to go back to the water. 7 more days (Jan 22nd) and we will be floating again. And than, finally the possibility to switch on the refridgerator, to use the toilet, to ...... sleep even better on the biggest possible waterbed, you can imagine.

A Metamorphosis because it is during these days that things change from chaos and mess and God-knows-what-unforeseen-problems into an organised state. Things not only take shape, but are being finished. And suddenly there is order amidst the chaos, beauty amongst the ugly mess, cleaning instead of making more dirt and dust, sunshine between the clouds, etc.

Okay, that was the poetry for the day. It is midnight on monday and I just finished another day....where do they go, anyway?? And the hull job is coming along very nicely, indeed. Sanding, priming, more sanding, a layer of control paint (in black, so that when you sand again, you see the black spot lefts...and that is where the "dents" are, so that means more filling and sanding), etc. It keeps Ahmed and his assistant happy and busy. Three more days and he will be finshed, well in tme before the launch date.





That leaves me with a number of jobs that HAVE to be finished BEFORE Sylphe goes back afloat. Basically working on the part of the boat, that gets wet (and thus unpaintable) once the boat is back in the water.The bilge-area is my main concern, but I will get them ready in time. The only thing missing is the special coat of bilge-paint on the very deep end of the bilges. the rest of the bilge and under-the-floor-section is done. We could eat in the bilges now.......hahahaha. That won't last long though, once we are back in the water, they get wet, dirty, oily, diesely, etc.....



The open-floor section in the middle of the picture is where the mast-support still has to be fitted. It is on deck and being painted at the moment. After that the door to the cabin can be fitted again... hahahaha. Oh, and as you can see, there are some cables running up to the deck, and I have managed to make some changes there as well. The VHF cable is now finally inside the mast (and no longer going up -to the top of the mast- via the backsaty. That was not nice and in full sight!!!). It only needed re-routing from the back of the boat to this point, all through the boat. And additionally,I have added a steamlight (used for running under engine at night!!!) halfway upon the mast, by changing a two-wire cable into a thee-wire cable in the mast. A four-wire cable had been the "normal" solution, but did not fit!!!!!!!!. But after all, you only need one negative (thanks for all your lessons, Ralph!). I had to feed the power from the instrument panel to the mast for this as well, though. Ahh, if it is all too  technical, forget about it. It just involves dismantling half the boat to find all these cables and re-route them. In the end, the result counts and that is: We have what we need...and more...after all, there is always MORE......

I still have to wait for Ahmed to finish his hull painting part, before I can put Sylphes underwater hull in yet another coat of antifouling, a three day job for me. I will apply the same Turkish brand as the last three years, as this seems to be just perfect stuff. Sylphe stays clean as a babies ass, ooopsss, I did not say that! But TEKNOMARIN certainly works.

And, although I said there is bright sunshine on the horizon, this is my saloon in present state. Please note that you have in ONE picture: a sail (on the left bottom), a watermaker, floorboards, paints, Andre's Grand Soleil sweater, a lot of dust, a dinghy-toy, Sophie and Harry's sweet box,  and more. As long as I can still find everything at the end of the day, when I need them. And, I can...believe me. 7 more days and counting........

During day times, I am painting bilges, mast-foot supports, masking, etc. The evenings are being used to do the carpentry work on the new guestcabin. The new cherry veneer was ready, and cut into the pieces I needed for the cabin, to fill up the gaps, or make new cupboards. I managed to salvage the doors and frames from the old lay-out. So, here we go, with fitting, cutting and more. Of course corners are not 90 degrees (that would be too easy!!!!), so it is a matter of fitting, sanding, grinding, more trying to fit and cutting before it fits tightly in all corners and sides.
A total of 12 new panels were made for the cabin.

Here, I am glueing the "new" cherry to the "old" existing door frame. Leave it in the clams for 24 hours and you have a connection that is stronger than screws or the wood itself.

And when you have to glue the new panel, but don't have access for a clam, you make one yourself. On the bottom of the picture you see the big piece of wood being held in location with another piece and a wooden wedge. Again, leave it 24 hours and done. It will never come undone and one does not need screws.
(NOTE: don't worry about the hoses and cables on the bottom of the picture. They are not in use, as this is my storage for un-used stuff. The real electric cabling and plumbing is for sure better arranged.)



And this is where the newly glued door goes, as a cupboard in the guestcabin. All that remains is varnishing to give it the same dark and shiny appearance. But that comes later, when I am back in the water, yippie!!!!!



If ALL fails, I can maybe spend the rest of my days working as a carpenter. My father told me yesterday, it has been running in the family line. No wonder, I feel happy doing it, and getting better at it, every day.

Two days before launching and the hull paint job has been done. Nothing reminds of the horrible days when the hull was being opened and one could look through the boat, from inside to out and vice versa. All hard work has paid off. A great day for Ahmed, who is proud as hell on his job, as shows on his face.



And one of the most horrible jobs was to get the waterline straight again, we will see in a few days when the boat is back in the water. For now, all that remains is the anitiflouling, another two layers of the wonderfull Turkish stuff will do the job for another year.



And inside remains some rinsing/cleaning of the bilge directly under the engine. Difficult access (if at all) allows no painting there, but a thorough rinsing will do the job for yet another season, the amount of oil and diesel remainder will protect the wood sufficiently. Since the boat is on the hard, one can remove the hull-plug and the lowest bilge-level will empty itself automatically, including all the stuff that has fallen into the bilge during a full year of use, like clients creditcards, screws, all dust, etc, etc. It all comes out. Just don't forget to put the plug back, before launching...hahaha, otherwise there will be some panic around.


And on jan 22nd, two and a half months after the accident, we are ready to go back, as if nothing ever happened before.



The huge lift gently picks her up and moves her to the launching site. Please notice the complete round keel, no flat sections here, as one is used from other boats. Sylphe was NOT made for tidal water, that is the difference, she was uniquely built with the Med in mind.




And here we go.........



And even inside, although not finished, I am getting things done. In three weeks all of the jobs should be finished, including the complete new guest cabin. After that I deserve a break