Wind forecast

This weekend we've got a club Laser training lined up at Lauwersoog. Looks like it's going to be a survival course with 30 knots of wind and 4 metre waves on Saturday. Must remember my gloves and hat.

Gold

Gold
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Today was the final day of the 2010 season at the VWDTP. Claudia and I had another good day in the 16m2, keeping the Klein family on their toes for the first half of the race before a couple of Sailhorses got between us and them and they got away. Still, another second and a great finish to a season in which we've had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about our new boat.

On the other side of the lake Em was battling it out in the final two races of the Optimist Mini Cup series. She had been calculating all week how well she had to finish assuming that Dennis won both races. As it was she finished 1st and 3rd today, giving her 1st place overall for the season, a gold medal and her name on the Optimist B Mini Cup. Well done Em.

Congratulations too to Pim [Smart Pimmetje] for his 1st place in the Optimist C Mini Cup.

CWO3

CWO3
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Under the watchful eye of Club Commodore Peter Nannenberg, Em gets her CWO 3 diploma from trainer Tom. Well done to all the kids who got their diplomas and thanks again to the team of trainers who have taught them so much this year.
After the ceremony the Mums and Dads had to leave and the kids had a Hawaian party.

Thanks too to Charlotte and Sascha for organising the thank-you presents for the trainers.

sofa/bed

sofa bed
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Having finished the cupboard under the stairs - this had to be done so that the ceiling can go up next week - I started on the sofa. As well as there being ten lockers for heaps of storage Dave and Mariska wanted two people to be able to sleep at right angles to each other. By removing one part of the backrest the sofa turns into two full size single beds - as if by magic.

fridge

fridge
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

With all the walls finished earlier this week we turned our attention to the furniture. Peter set to work in the kitchen and is here putting in the first cupboard for the fridge/freezer.

Half way up, half way down

Sunday's race saw us get a good start. We tacked to the right early on what looked like a small shift, but the wind continued to go left. The boats on the left were lifted to the windward mark and we sailed the long way round to the first mark, rounding eighth.

With the sun shining and 7 or 8 knots of wind we had a great sail and gently worked our way back up to 5th place at the finish, not quite able to join the battle for 3rd and 4th place.

Later we all sat out in front of the clubhouse and discussed the difficulties of setting up the gaff mainsail, with all it's possible adjustments and all the string s required . So much still to learn.

Drysuit

Drysuit
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

If Em is to sail during the winter months in her Optimist she has to have a drysuit. To check the size we borrowed an old suit from Dennis. Of course Em insisted on trying it out in the harbour. All the air inside the suit finds it's way to the arms, causing much hilarity.

Willem Johannes revisited

Willem Johannes revisited
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

On Friday we visited Eric aboard the Willem Johannes in Wartena. We walked through the boat and noted a couple of things that have to be done before we can say that we've finished the first round.
We also discussed what still has to be done to finish the job, how long that will take and when we will be able to do it. Now we have to make an estimate of what it will cost, check on the availability of materials and see where the work can be fit into our schedule.
It was nice to be back aboard and be able to take a step back and see the work we had done. We look forward to getting the chance to go back in and add the finishing touches.

Vertrouwen back in the Noorderhaven

s00283
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

By way of an apology for calling Robert's tjalk a Frisian tjalk, when I should have known it was from the South of Holland, here he is returning to the Noorderhaven in the evening sun.

Was that a house?

Was that a house?
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Three days home with some sort of flue. Swine flu? I don't know. In Holland it's called Mexican flu so that the sale of pork won't be affected. Damn the Mexicans, obviously.
I heard the bridge bells but was just too late with my phone camera to get a good picture of this house on a flat barge motoring by. What a great concept. Thick steel square flat barge with a house on top just like one Em would have drawn five years ago. The perfect moving houseboat. Where do I get one?

Kitchen wall

Kitchen wall
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Monday morning on the 'Ora et LAbora' and Peter starts work on the wall separating the kitchen from the sitting area. As he works we come up with an alternative layout for the kitchen; one that may suit Dave's length better. We'll mock it up and show it to him on Wednesday.

Where do we dry it all?

Where do we dry it all?
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

On Sunday it blew hard, the most wind we've had yet in the 16m2.
Em is, of course, a seasoned heavy weather Otimist sailor by now. She began her race with a terrible start - 16th of 16 - but gradually picked off the boats ahead of her to finish third.
We had a bad start too, ducking most of the fleet on port because I wanted to go right. Right was good. By the first mark we were second, chasing the Klein family. The wind was building to a steady 18 knots with shifty gusts well into the 20's. Claudia, on the end of her trapeze wire, would ask every now and then if all was ok. I thought so, though I was watching our very bendy boom and one or two of the older fittings very carefully. Up the third beat Jasper caught us and passed us on a flat out planing reach. We worried him down the run and accross to the finish but ended a couple of metres behind him.
Having filled the workshop with wet sails we then went home and filled the barge with wet clothing.
I remembered my definition of winter sailing last year was when your wetsuit doesn't get dry between one week's sailing and the next.

K & S

k+s
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

Having done my homework, planing the mast and changing the shroud attachment points, we were looking forward to racing on Sunday morning. The boat felt good, with a bit more pressure on the rudder on the wind, though seeing the mast using all it's new space in the mast foot took some getting used to.
We got a good start, rounding the first buoy first but dropping two places on the second beat. Our excuse was that the boat was full of water, the seams having opened up from four weeks without sailing.
We made it back up to second place at the finish.
Seems like the homework paid off, though to complicate things we'd also dug out an older jib made by Kort and Smits, which came with the boat and to my eye looks much better.

Ceiling ready for planks

Ceiling ready for planks
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

With thirty years of changes visible in the steel roof of the 'Ora et Labora' it has been a challenge to get the framework up on the ceiling in such a way that the beaded pine planks will run in a pleasing curve, to match the sheer line of the decks.
This is one of those jobs that people only notice if you get it wrong.

Ballast

Ballast
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

When our barge was empty we had put 900 kilo's of cut up railway track under the floor to keep the propellor under water. Having slowly filled the barge with wood and all our stuff over the years it was time to get the ballast out and pass it on. Each piece weighed about 35 kilo's so I was glad when the last one was out of the barge and in the workshop.
Bas and Marieke came with a trailer and did two trips to their tjalk 'Watergeus'. They are now on their way to Meppel - almost one ton heavier.

3 Provinces

3 provinces
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

We have three tjalks in a row this morning at our workshop. On the outside is 'Vertrouwen', a tjalk from Friesland. In the middle is 'Ommekeer', a small tjalk from Groningen and alongside the quay 'Ora et Labora', our current project, built in Drenthe. One each from the three Northern Provinces of the Netherlands.

Every one's a winner

photo: VierPraatjes

Kampioenen
Originally uploaded by Sadlr

From left to right in the back row; Pim, Erwin and Em. Up front with the biggest trophies, Dennis. All four move up from Optimist C to Optimist B in next year's Combi series and Dennis is off to Hoorn in two weeks time to represent the North of Holland at the Combi National Finals.