November 16, 2007

November 12, 2007

  • Swages Take
    Wages


    A sleeve

    The first time we took the Bantam
    out, the forestay came loose, due to a turnbuckle that just wasn’t capable of
    spanning the distance it was asked to span. 
    So, in order to make my sailboat safer, I have to re-do the standing
    rigging.  I was told I needed a swager to
    finish the ends of the wires.

    How expensive could it be, I thought to
    myself?

    Well, today I looked up a press for the wire ends, and this
    Nico Press Tool costs “Only  $298.86 each.” 
    Just a mere $300, huh?

     


    Only $298.86 each. .
    .

    And that’s not even considering the
    costs of the wire,
    the sleeves,
    and the thimbles yet.


    Rigging wire, only sold in
    250-foot reels. 
    What the heck am I going
    to do
    with 250-feet of rigging wire?


    This isn’t my grandmother’s thimble.

  • Jamestown Distributors Revisited

    I love how Jamestown Distributors is really trying the hard sell using female spokespersons.


    “Please use caution when using this blade, as you can cut yourself with it.”

    But that aside, they really do have some good informative videos, such as this one on fiberglass repair:


    Fiberglass repair video by Jamestown Distributors

November 8, 2007

  • The New Homestead (aka The Second Boathouse)

    In many cultures, there are superstitions about how to move into a new house.  In both of my parents’ cultures, the ideal things to first bring to one’s new house are RICE and SALT.

    I am guessing this is because when moving into a new house, one of the first orders of business is to eat.

    Well, last month, we “moved into” our new house.  The first thing we moved into it was a sailboat we had trailered all the way from Minnesota.  What does this say about one of the first things I did after moving in?

    We just got our internet access yesterday.  It’s so weird, the priorities Matt and I have.  I am sitting on a folding lawn chair in the kitchen.  I sleep in the echoing, cavernous chamber of a living room in my sleeping bag.  The refrigerator doesn’t arrive until tomorrow.  But, . . . at least I have my Internet access!

    And my coffeemaker.

November 1, 2007

  • Boat-Building Revisited — Jamestown Distributors

    After meeting the maker of my most recent sailboat purchase, I was impressed that he built it with nothing but a handheld circular saw and a handheld jigsaw.  No table saw?  I asked him about this, and he said, “Funny.  Someone else asked me that same question.”

    Apparently it was my misconception that one needed a table saw to build a boat.  But, after all, people built boats before the invention of the table saw, so why the hell not build one with just a hand-held circular saw and a jig saw?

    Some other boat builders have been very helpful with explaining to me where I can purchase boat-building components.  Their biggest recommendation is Jamestown Distributors.  One guy’s words to me were, “[Jamestown Distributors],. . . suppliers of absolutely everything the boat builder needs.”

    So I looked it up.  There’s this girl on their front webpage. . . but to be honest, I don’t think there are a lot of female boat builders.  I think this picture is up there, just to cater to the 80% who aren’t female.  I’m sure that model has never even held a circular saw.  Or a welder, for that matter.


    Trailer Hubs and Axles

    Hubs and axles should be checked from time to time. Inspecting and
    replacing worn components is essential to safe trailer operation.
    Trailer wheel bearings and wheel hubs must be properly and sufficiently
    lubricated to prevent damage from dirt, dust, friction, and heat.
    Bearing kits and Seals often need replacement. Make sure your trailer
    is safe and ready to go before your next boating adventure. Failure to
    keep boat trailer bearings properly greased and protected from dirt
    causes friction to build up and seize wheel bearings. This is in turn
    can destroy the hub or even prevent a trailer wheel from turning,
    risking a blowout. Complete boat trailer roller bearing kits are
    available to replace worn out bearings. Boats and other trailered
    vehicles that see frequent trailered transport deserve a trailer that
    will not fail and leave you on the side of the road. Wear items to
    check include dust caps, seals, trailer hubs, wheel bearings, grease
    fittings, the threads on lug bolts and nuts, and axle spindles. We
    carry replacement wheel hub and bearing kits, as well as advanced kits
    with integrated lubrication systems (The Tie Down Marine Turbo Lube
    kits). With trailer maintenance, it pays to be proactive. Don’t wait
    until your hub, wheel, and tire fly off the axle at 70 mph to decide
    that frequent inspection is a good idea.

October 28, 2007

  • Michinoku Traditional Wooden Boat Museum

    Ever since being introduced to a wooden Japanese sailboat in Marina del Rey, I’ve been curious about what the Japanese sailboat market has to offer.  In my search, I discovered a lovely website for a Japanese wooden boat museum.  In particular, they display pinishi sailboats — a rig consisting of 8 sails, which is still the predominant rig for Indonesian shipping sailboats.


    Our ancestors have always depended on wooden boats whether
    to cross the river or to set out sea to catch fish, whether we
    recall the situation in Japan or any other country. It is understood
    that the canoe was the earliest dug-out boat-like-boat that resembles
    the shape that we are currently familiar with. Thereafter the
    shape and size has metamorphosed over thousands and thousands
    of years they continued to evolve differently around the world.
    The shape of these boats in Japan have also developed into a
    shape that varied somewhat from its counterpart of the West.

    All boats other than the dug-out canoe are generally referred
    to as structural boats. Simply put, Western boats were built
    with a backbone like a human bein g,that came with a keel that
    ran from tip to tip through the middle of the vessel. And on
    the keel foundation are several dozens of rib-like frames that
    also resembled the physique of a human being. This skeletal structure
    was then finished with an outerboard that was hammered on the
    frame in general structu revessels. The size of these boats ranged
    to as big as enormous British battleships and British/American
    clippers that developed as the last of its kind speed sailboats,
    with some extending longer than 100m and weighing a tonnage between
    4,000 to 5,000 tons.

    In Japan the first step away from the canoe was a wooden boat
    with a flatboard on the floor, then a board was obliquely angled
    against the side of that boar d to create a boat. In other words,
    a board was first placed as the flooring,and then flatboards
    were placed on both sides as walls of that floorboard to build
    a boat. This closely resembles the procedures to make a box.
    Though the number of ledge boards used varied according to the
    size of the boat, the structure was finished by placing a ledge
    on top of another ledge to increase the vessel in size. The Kitamae
    boats on display here at this museum feature a compilation of
    that technology.

    These types of wooden boats are no longer being built from
    about 30 years ago with the introduction and development of FRP
    (Fiber Reinforced Plastic). Wooden fishing boats previously built
    are no longer seen as frequently in the coasts of Aomori Prefecture,
    either. As I witnessed the limited number of existing boats on
    the path of extinction I realized that unless a collection to
    preserve these assets were made today, that the opportunity would
    never be available. This is why I collected wooden boats from
    Northern Tohoku and Toshima Island in Hokkaido. As my collection
    grew, I found that the flooring of Japanese boats from this region
    varied from fishing boats from Western Japan.

    The Northern boats were finished with flatboards and didn’t have
    a so-called covering on the floor. These boats were directly
    carved from lumber instead, and came to be known today as the
    Mudama Style. These boats were directly carved from wood because
    coastal waters of the Northern region are more harsh than the
    South and thus, required stronger boatbeds to venture these waters.
    What’s more, the abundance of big trees to acquire Mudama materials
    were also quite abundant until recently, unlike the situation
    in the South. This feature has become known as the major characteristic
    of Northern fishing boats. In 1997 November 67 of the boats collected
    here were nationally designated by the Ministry of Education,
    Science and Culture as Important Tangible Ethnic Cultural Assets.

    Backed by this opportunity, we decided to exhibit wooden fishing
    boats that played an important role in the daily lives of our
    ancestors to secure food, by building a museum to house these
    assets in hope to leave this wealth of knowledge for the coming
    generations to enjoy, as well. In addition to fishing boats on
    display are Pinishi sailboats from the South Pacific that are
    sailing foreign waters even today, the Dhow boat navigating the
    Indian Ocean and the
    boats modeled after junk boats that transported the Mongolians
    to Japan when the Mongolians attempted to invade this country.
    Every intention has been made to satiate the interest of boat
    fans. Though the collection is still incomple tein itself, effort
    will continue to expand the details made available to all to
    relish. It would be most beneficial if visitors are moved by
    the concept of “boat and water” that we portrayed here,
    and further, every staff seeks to create dreams, especially for
    children to enjoy.


    President

    Kosaburo Daidoji

    From http://www.mtwbm.com/english/aisatsu/main.html

     

  • Kaiomaru

    The world’s largest sailboat right now was built in Japan.



    Kaiomaru

    こちらがほぼ正面から見た海王丸です。
    もっと奥まで入ってみたかったのですが、人が多くて進めませんでした。(-_-;)

    【海王丸の仕様】

    進水：1989年3月7日
    竣工年月日：1989年9月12日
    全長：110.09 m
    船幅：13.80 m
    深さ（船楼甲板まで）：10.71 m
    満載喫水： 6.584 m
    総トン数：2,556ｔ
    主機：4サイクルディーゼル機関(2基)
    出力 ：3,000 PS (2,206 KW)
    燃料搭載量（100%）：511.9 m3
    清水搭載量：865 m3
    最大速力：14.09 kn
    航海速力：12.95 kn
    航続距離：9,800 miles (18,150 Km)
    最大搭載人員：199 名


    Kaiomaru

    Excerpt from http://www17.ocn.ne.jp/%7Etaberuyo/kaiomaru.htm

September 28, 2007

  • Isabelle Joschke. . .

    . . . Won the first leg of the Mini Transat.


    French female sailor Isabelle Joschke is one of the top ranked
    competitors at this year’s Transat 6,50 Charente Maritime Bahia (Mini
    Tranast) and has every chance of knocking Isabelle Autissier (the
    French sailor who finished third in 1997) off the perch as top female
    Mini sailor.

    Joschke,
    who’s been racing Open 6,50s for four seasons, competed in the 2005
    event aboard the boat formerly sailed by British sailor Sam Davies, and
    finished a creditable 15th overall.

    Now, two years on, she’s
    back, with one aim – to win. And with a new boat and some extremely
    good recent results including a win in the in the Mini Pavois and the
    Select, plus a second in the Trophy Marie-Agnes Peron and a third in
    the grueling 550-mile Transgascogne, Joscheke is definitely one to put
    your money on.

    Speaking to Joscheke on the dockside in La
    Rochelle, it became clear just now focused this young French sailor is.
    Four years ago she’d never done any racing. She spent her time as a
    delivery skipper. But now has, “a passion for these boats. I love
    racing them and I love being out in the open sea,” said Joscheke.

    The
    new boat, a Finot design with rotating and canting mast, canting keel,
    daggerboards and water-ballast is one of three brand new boats in the
    fleet and was completed in January. A fairly tight schedule but
    Joscheke managed to complete her qualification in her first two races
    and is now ready for the big one, commenting: “I am very happy with my
    current form year and I am as prepared as I’ll ever be. I now have all
    the tools to be able to do my best so I am really looking forward to
    getting out on the racecourse. Although the first bit, where they [the
    organisers] send us round a short, round the cans, course before we set
    off down the coast, will not be so enjoyable, there a lot of work to do
    on these boats so the sooner we set off on the long leg south, the
    better.”

    Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 14 September 2007

    from  http://www.yachting-world.com/auto/newsdesk/20070814104547ywnews.html
    and
    http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070819093624ywnews.html

September 26, 2007

  • The Cost of Living When One is Intolerably Stupid

    So I chatted with one of my lovely friends from the Bay Area of California today.  His spouse now works at Google, and he is still baffled at my political beliefs.

    He’s proud to say that he has a new job, and a new house.  His newest house is 1800 square feet and cost him $1.5 million.  He has had to strip the asbestos tiles, gut the walls, rewire the house, and completely remodel it.

    My new house is 3500 square feet, and we’re only paying $281,000 for it.  The previous owner (a contractor who actually built the house and lived in it) has already remodeled everything, and is even paying for the lawn to be mowed, and the floors and carpets to be cleaned before we move in.  A true Southern gentleman.

    I laugh because people say, “Well, who would want to live in Texas?”  My colleagues who finished medical school and now practice in California are finding out exactly why, in terms of malpractice insurance and reimbursement rates.

    I’ve got a new house, and a new job with a guaranteed salary, and to top it off, I’m taking a two-week vacation to go sailing with family in Southern California and Minnesota.  This means I’ve accomplished almost all of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2007.

    I asked my proud friend if he’d like to join me on my sailing trip in California, and he goes, “Well, I only have one day of vacation saved up at my new job.”  And I understand.  It must be hard paying off a $1.5 million dollar house so that one can live in California but not even be able to spend time to go sailing there.

    And who does he blame for this?  Bush.  Of course.

    Thank God I married Matt.  If it weren’t for having him to talk to at the end of the day, I’d think that the human race is not salvageable.