Explaining, again, how the rudder arrangement should work. 

Work has come to a standstill for the moment. The proposed budget limit has been reached: she should have been ready to launch, minus detailed interior fittings, and there seems to be no end to the money burn. So we called a halt, and now we will work on a phase by phase basis, with each phase being carefully planned and costed.

At the same time there are little things that are not done yet, but we should now sandblast and paint a primer coat. So phase one is to get a costing of everything that has to be done and corrected before we can do the sandblasting.

Lighting the work done for an engine mounting and stern tube
 - although

we cannot afford an engine any more. 

In the meantime she rusts away, which they tell me is not a bad thing, as the rusting removes the mill scale and the sandblasting can then easily get to white metal.

So here she is!

Rusting is good, at least at this stage!

Old Norse legend has it that a ship, unless launched over a living person, is unlucky. Some ancients slaughtered a maiden to launch a ship. Later shipbuilders, running short of maidens, would sacrifice a slave, or slaughter a sheep.

The old gods are strong. Wynand, installing the scuppers, had the ladder break under him, and he nearly was slaughtered on the build framework. Fortunately he survived with bad bruising and fortunately the framework also did not suffer (;>

And on the way back Rean's Volkswagen had a turbo blowout.

Rest assured: on my next visit I will have a suitable libation for the spirits!

Wynand showing where he was working when the ladder broke

Gaff sailplan. Who will build it?

And so to the sail plan. The identified sailmaker seems to have vanished, Shahnaz hides her sewing machine, and some plan will have to be made. Ordering from Hong Kong is very expensive, but will local be better? We need to get some progress here.

And the lead casting is proceeding. Now I wonder: if we spray the ingots gold, will they be heavier?

Checking on the stash. 

And we are progressing again. Bowsprit is in, at least provisionally. Cockpit basics are in place, and the interior seems to begin to look like something. Mast position has been determined, keels are in.

Now lots of questions: How will we handle the 400 kg lead ballast per keel? Poured in? Ingots and shot? What about rust? Nitrogen gas under pressure? With a pressure gauge so we can see when they begin to leak? Dessicants that would show colour change, and a lexan window through which it can be inspected?

Over-engineer? What is that?

But here she is: looking less like a beached whale.

The boat, guarded by vicious attack dogs ...

62 Liters capacity per keel

Planning: Thinking, making up your mind: a small diesel inboard. Check prices. Change mind: outboard should do. Think again. Ok, install a stern tube just in case. Think again: we will need electricity. Small generator then. I have an alternator that can give 12 and 220 volt, and you can weld with it. But it needs a small diesel to drive it. So small diesel, but gearboxes are expensive! And propellors even more so ... Nice variable pitch propellor at Euro 6 000!!! Maybe have one made? Would cost even more. Designs for modelling ones ... Maybe find a good engineering shop?

Oops!!!

Planning: lead ballast. London prices are just this side of gold! But scrap lead should be cheaper. No, rather use steel punchings. Ok, find a supplier for steel. No, they do not have any, might get in the weeks to come. Lead? Yes, how many tons? Oh, er, well, maybe 400 kg, how much? Good price. Check bank balance. Ok, order 800 of the needed 900kg, steel punchings or ball bearings can do the rest.

A lot of lead can go in there!

How to transport it? Cruiser? Can do, brakes need adjustment, tyres pumped, off we go. But getting it in is not as easy! The forklift drops on the tailgate, bending the hinge, so the rest of the load goes in by hand: Some slabs of sheet lead, old pipes, even a few diving weights, then sinkers, tyre weights, small scrap. How to fit it in the keels? Just dump it? Melt it in? (Preferably not, I want to be able to get it out again, to make trailing easier. But how to get the eventual water out? Bilge pump?

Would have been easier to buy one of the many boats lying on moorings from year to year, but not nearly as much fun!!

So far so good. 

Too late to change our minds! The first steel is cut, the basic concept is welded down, and the work begins.

Lines are drawn for the bottom sections

And the first cuts made. 

Now these will be drawn together on a building frame, and welded together. Then the next set will go on them, and so on. This is the fast part, the rest is detailed work and will need time. 

"... Come, my friends,

T'is not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, ..."

Alfred Lord Tennyson said it all. At least for me. And so, instead of sitting by the hearth, I also wish togo down to the sea again ... 

A little fat, some may say, but so am I. 

Here is a first list of requirements:

She must float. Ok, that should be logical. 

She must be transportable. No, I do not want a trailer-sailer, I want a boat that can cross the ocean. But I do not want to have to rent a low loader, cranes, police escorts, and so on if I want to move her from her birthplace to the ocean. Which very much limits us to 3 toms maximum weight, and 3 meters width. 

Ilha Mozambique, where sail is still a way of life. 

I would like to explore shallow waters: Lagoons along the Mozambique coast come to mind. I would love to anchor of Ilha Mozambique, barter with the fishermen near Vilanculos. And maybe visit the Comoros, Nossi Be ... at my own time and at my own pace. 

First lines

So at the moment the design is for a boat with a draft of not more than a metre. Preferably with bilge keels so she can stand up on her own feet. A gaff rig, because it looks right, and should be easier to handle, and be cheaper than a tall, high tension rig that would require winches and so on., 

She must be steel, bcause I bump into things. And I would prefer the damage to be to the other guy. 

I need electricity on board, because should I succeed in enticing my wife aboard she would have to be able to carry on her translation work, and I my editing work, from the boat. 

Vilanculos: dreaming ...

One interesting option at the moment is to put a small genset on board, there are lovely small Kubota-powered ones. Use a good few batteries as ballast. Then use an electric engine to turn the propellor. There seem to be a lot of people thinking along those lines these days. 

Ernest Gann had the specifications about right: She should drink six, eat four and sleep two. Ok, maybe there should be space, should grandkids want to come along for a weekend. Or a friend want to come diving when the sardines run ...

The project has begun ...