People frequently ask Christi what she has been doing over the last few years. After all, she didn’t go back to work after the circumnavigation, and her last book was published in 2011. If she’s not boating or writing, what … Continue reading →
Windlass Maintenance
Our Maxwell 3500 windlass has performed flawlessly for us in a decade of use across thousands of anchorages around the world. To keep it that way, we disassemble and grease the top end every twelve months and change the oil every two years. Both were due recently. In taking the windlass apart, we found far…
It’s So Embarrassing
Time for a confession. Mom has privately mocked dogs who run around in little outfits. How silly. OK, there was that time when Dee Dee had to wear little t-shirts, but that was for medicinal purposes.
Now there is Dora who is cold if the temps drop out of the 70’s. It’s really no wonder when you look at Dora’s practically naked belly…
Compared to Dee Dee’s furry one.
Mom broke down and bought Dora a winter coat. She loves it. But it stops here. There will be no frilly tutus or cowboy outfits worn by the Red Head crew.
Apologizes to all the fur deprived pups out there.
Steering System Maintenance
Here we step through the steering system on the Nordhavn 52, showing some of the wear points and the changes we have made to minimize these issues. Finally, we show the removal and replacement of the hydraulic steering rod end. This is the part that transfers force between the hydraulic cylinder and the steering arm….
Medemblik
Medemblik was a prosperous trading town in 1289 when it was awarded city rights and is the oldest port on the IJsselmeer. It’s a wonderful town to explore, with a fortress dating from its founding and centuries-old houses overlooking historic canals. From Den Helder, we ran 26 miles south to anchor off Andijk, passing through…
Den Helder
For visitors to the area, Den Helder is best known as the gateway to the island of Texel, the most visited Dutch island in the Wadden Sea. But the long-time military base and former naval shipyard has a number of other attractions. These include the Dutch Navy Museum, the Napoleonic Fort Kijkduin, the Nollen Landscape…
Dutch Navy Museum
Late 20th-century Dutch guided-missile frigates carried a large radar dome housing a revolutionary 3D radar that could measure an object’s distance, direction and height at the same time. The radar had a range of 242 miles (390km) and could track over a hundred targets simultaneously, making it the most powerful radar of its time (1975-2000)….
Hardtop Project, Part 7
Lay Up Begins!
While the previous post the work happened over 4-5 days in this post the work was done in about 5-6 hours. Even with the extra slow hardener (West Systems) the team has to work very quickly.
The technique is referred to as “Wet Preg”. All the cloth is precut, wetted in a bath then run between two rollers saturating the fabric and squeezing out the excess resin. The cloth is then layed out between 2 thin sheets of plastic, this allows the cloth to be handled, cut and trimmed as needed. To apply the cloth the plastic is removed from one side then the cloth is laid by hand and formed into place. Once in position the top layer of plastic is removed. Once the lay up including coring is completed the entire structure is vacuum bagged which squeezes all the layers together and pulls out any air and excess resin. The technique was first developed in New Zealand and is now a fairly common technique.
Below: Paul laying down a strip of Wet Preg carbon cloth into one of the ribs. The plastic film has been removed from the underside of the cloth but not the topside……yet.
The center “beam”. This channel is hollow for solar and light wiring.
Wetting out the Corcell® coring.
Below: Bagging the entire structure.
Under vacuum!
Below: You can see the excess epoxy being pulled up into the bleed cloth. Pauls says the pressure is approximately 9 pounds per square inch, over a ton of pressure on this structure.
Texel
The island of Texel, with its extensive sandy beaches and abundant wildlife, is the most visited Dutch island in the Wadden Sea. Ferries make the 15-minute crossing north to Texel from Den Helder every half-hour during busy periods. Texel was popular historically as well. Texel Roads, off the southeast coast of the island, was one…
Sharing
Today Dee Dee and Dora did something unusual – for them. They nicely shared a toy. The two girls sat side by side while they worked diligently to eviscerate a poor stuffed puppy.Just in case you believe Mom simply got a lucky shot, she took a video. Wh…
