28 December 2010

No Canoes today

Well there is a nice picture of a typical Kanak Pirogue in our apartment room plus I saw some people out practicing in their OC6 and OC1’s.

With Cecile away Nico spent the week days at his grandmothers which meant that there was no time for building. Saturday we got off to an early start and headed out to the airport.

First Nico got to check out the cockpit (the power of a grandmother armed with a toddler):

Then it was off to Cecile’s parents for lunch of Vietnamese spring rolls, followed by a desert of Mango and coconut milk:

The summer has (so far) been the hottest they’ve had in 50 years. So we were all walking round stripped to a minimum of cloths. After lunch we went to our apartments and had a dip in the ocean. Nico couldn’t be held back:

I also got to test out my Canon D10 water proof point and shoot camera:

Best viewed at 480 rez
Best viewed at 480 rez

Sunday was another day spent on the beach, with lots of sun, snorkelling and general relaxation.

19 December 2010

Do you Think This Rain’s

Ever going to stop?

The ama has been painted and theoretically we are ready to launch. However fate has again conspired against me. The weather has been rubbish the last five or so days; almost non-stop rain. Certainly not weather I’d want to take a boat out in. To compound matters there has been a crisis in Cecile’s family meaning that she and Eloise left for New Caledonia today, a week earlier than planned. So besides buying some hardware for the rudder my weekend was shot to do any boat building.

So at the end of week forty five the ama is painted and we are ready to launch as a paddling canoe. However holidays start next week and we’ll be in New Caledonia. So we’re going to have to wait till the new year.

12 December 2010

Back with Photos!

In spite of late evenings and a bout of some nasty bug, I managed to get the outside of the hull varnished and grind out the shape of the tiller handle. Sunday I took the hull out of the garage so that I can paint the ama. At the same time I re-attached the forward & aft cleats and tried lashing the iakos:

The rope is 5mm and does a good job holding everything together. One lesson I did learn was to wear gloves! I managed to strip a layer or two of skin from one of my fingers. Time to develop some callouses.

The forward iako with the mast in place. I need to have the mast in place before I lash the iako down or it won’t fit. I’ll need to figure out a solution to that because with the sail and boom the rigging gets heavy.

The other job was tiller, it fit together nicely. This week I’ll give it a coat of varnish.

At the end of week forty four this is where we are at:

The hull is back on the deck and the ama is drying in the garage with it’s first coat of primer. Next weekend, time permitting I’m looking to launch her. She’s not ready yet for sailing as I need to build the bracket to mount the rudder on, but I’m thinking I might need to hold of on the sailing until I have more experience on how she’ll handle outside of the pool and see if Nico is ready for it. I’m also not certain yet for the best position for the leeboard so I’m planning to test sail her with the board at different points for the best position.

So things left to do:

  • Finish painting the ama
  • Build and paint bracket for rudder
  • buy and attach rudder fittings
  • Mount leeboard
  • Varnish tiller

07 December 2010

Sorry, no Photos Today

Still nothing to show, just an overturned hull in the garage. Last week I got all the coats of varnish done on the inside and painted the fore and aft deck. Over the weekend I turned her over and sanded the outside and got one coat of varnish on.

This was in between taking Nico and Eloise to Sinterklaas on Saturday and going sailing on Sunday. On that note I managed to sort out the leaking bung in the aft bulkhead. I brought an adjustable rubber one that is a good fit for the hole.

I also glued up the the tiller handle. I can’t repeat often enough how much I like the ability to create strong structures out of pieces of scrap wood and epoxy. In this instance I had three meters of ash left from the gunwales. I cut them up measured out a spacer and glued them all together. Next step is to draw on the final shape I want and take it to the belt sander.

Back to sailing, Nico joined us for the day on Viking and he was a real gem. Calm and patient, helping where he could and standing back when needed. He also adjusted to the heeling of the boat without freaking out and wore his life jacket the whole time. I was so proud of him!

Week forty three and I’m aiming to get another two coats of varnish on the hull. After that I will paint the ama. My next challenge will be to build the attachment to mount the rudder to the iako. Since I’m not planning on buying an outboard just yet I’m tempted to forego the outboard bracket Gary uses, for now.