maandag, 27 maart 2000 23.35
This two-week story is difficult to recap. Too much happened. But let’s start where we left off. Bayram is the moslim equivalent of Easter and thus a national holiday, including for the people working on Sylphe. So, Marit and I took the opportunity to explore the possibilities to ski in Turkey. And belive it or not, only a 2,5 hours drive down the road a beautifull resort with 11 hotels (like the french-formula) was awaiting us. The Wednesday, before Bayram, which started on Tursday, was hot, sunny, blue skies and with complete empty slopes. So no waiting at the lifts. Quite a new experience for some-one coming from the popular (read crowded) places in Austria and France.
Each hotel has build one or two lifts and if you stay in their hotel, you get a free pass for that lift. So how do you go around if you want to try other lifts? You end up buying all those passes seperately. So we ended up skiing around like X-mas trees with more than five passes bungling on elastic cords around our necks. And every time the hassle to find out which pass was needed for this specific lift. But the slope-lengt was adequate, the snow fresh and the usual priviliged treatment for the only two tourist in the resort, we could get used to this.
Afther two days we were joined by Jeff, Ayse and their son Robin (6) It took Robin 4 (!!) hours to come down without my support. A true wonder on skis. The next day I first stopped at the rental shop, to get him a helmet as the bugger does not know fear and refuses to make curves to slow down. So straight down he goes. Teaching his father and mother the next day was a little bigger challenge, but Marit and I succeeded in that as well. And they enjoyed it
All in all, a pefect stay and good experience (I do not mention the fact that the last three days of our stay there was no water in the shower, toilet, etc, and thus resulting in half the hotel (including us) with foodpoisining in bed, I can hear you all laugh)
On Sunday evening we returned home. Marit flyng the next morning to Geneva for a course with WHO (UN). This is a training, in order to be able to work as a coordinator in the world-campaign against polio. So, she will most likely be off to some godforsaken country in the near future. The good thing is that the contracts are for shorter periods (up to 3 months).
And Roland went back to……. The workshop. Sylphe was eagerly awaiting the continuation of the works.
In the last update we mentioned that we had chosen for peer-wood. Well, the problem was that you need two forms of the same wood; massive and veneer. The veneer to be glued to plywood for the larger surfaces and the massive wood for the doors, posts, cabinets, etc. It turned out that either the quantity or the price was not good, so we turned back to cherry.
Marit and I handpicked ourselves a complete cherry-tree in the wood-shop (similar to your local K-mart, but this one only has wood). We spend another half day in another shop picking the veneer. Veneer is basically a massive plank sliced up in very thin layers (1 mm) (giving 20 leafs of more or less the same quality, colour, signing and knots (‘eyes’). Since the veneer comes in different lenghts and widths, you have to to be carefull. If the pieces are too narrow, it is not nice, as you will see the repetition, since they are glued next to each other.
Can you still follow me???? Anyway we found 80 m2 to our liking and this was brought (before Bayram) together with the plywood to a special place where it is glued under high pressure and temperature.
When we picked it up on Monday morning the result was stunning. The signing and the eyes make the walls quite ‘alive’. You will understand, if you look at the picture.
During Bayram, two guys continued working on Sylphe. They recaulked the complete deck. The teak was sanded, cleaned, de-greased. Treated with primer, tape was placed where no caulk was to go and HOP. He whole deck is black now. After some weeks of drying we will take the tape away, together with the surplus of caulk and Sylphe should no longer be leaking.
We had to use the opportunity of Bayram, as you were not able to walk over her deck for a number of days. Now the whole deck is covered in Banana carton boxes to prevent the teak and caulk. The result will only be seen a few days before she will be launched again. Too valuable to risk a damage.
The outside of the hull is white again. At least the section above the water. One layer of epoxy-primer, and two layers of other primer cover up the wood. Protecting it for years to come. Next will be a layer of filler (to make her surface mirror-flat) and than another three layers of final paint.
The underwater section is only being put in the epoxy primer. Here we still have to caulk the seams in between the planks. The choice was epoxy or a flexible rubber. We finally made up our minds and will fill it with the flexible rubber. This giving Sylphe the chance to move a little bit, take in some water, allowing the planks to swell etc. Epoxy would seal it all off, and allow no room for swelling.
I spent a solid two days cutting the isolation material that went into the walls. Not for temperature but for noise reduction. Again it was specially made, with two soft layers and one 3 mm hard layer in the middle. Privace does not come cheap, but it will come.
And last but not least, I have almost finished the coolbox-refridgerator. I made it completely myself. Plywood, special shape, polyester, filler, paints, isloation material and it is now almost ready to be installed. Taking a cold beer in the future will always have a special memory to it.
Talk to you next week
Love roland