Well I've been thinking really hard (yes it hurts:) and have come to some Difficult decisions. Firstly If I do decide to head off this year I will be rushing like mad to get the boat finished! I will also be sailing with a debt  and not much funds at all. Which also means I wouldn't have all of the equipment that I would like for a safe cruise, carefree as possible, wherever I may chose to go. It is a hard decision to make, Valmik being so very nearly ready, but I need to sort myself out financially before I Head off.  I will feel a lot better for it! And already do!-)  Almost every time I have Gone sailing so far on Valmik it has been rushed.

A Repair job that I first thought would take me a few maybe six months to finish turned into a restoration. It is getting close to two and a half years of full time work on the boat. It has also seen me flying back to AUS to sort out visa's, Twice. I have only really had a paying job for about a year and a half in this time. And am always generally indebted!

So I am planning to do some small short sailing trips this coming year, as many as possible!!
I also will be looking for a full time paying job!
I think I will go sailing up the East coast looking for this!
I will continue to slog away getting this whole thing started.

I think the Cost of a brand new fiberglass  Folkboat is around £30 000.   You can buy an old wooden one in good condition ready to sail for about £10 000.     

Rugging up for winter

Well come 3rd March 2013  it will be the fifth year I've struggled away at Restoring Valmik. Since I bought this Folkboat my whole life has been devoted to getting her "ship shape" and "sea worthy". And she is very nearly there!
I am aiming to sail around the UK starting in march and taking my time.
It will be a hard winter and I have lots of work to do if this is going to be possible.
My main problem is the costs involved with something like this. New charts for this would be around the £400 mark. I need solar panels £££, An Epirb, and the list goes on and on...
Then there is admin costs, insurance, survey, licence's and more. It's expensive this boating stuff :)

It is starting to get cold, and the daytime's shorter. And I must admit I have been getting a little lazy! Only working 8 hour days and not studying at night, sleeping for 9 hours or more! But Today I gave myself a good slapping and am introducing a new strict routine. It involves me being very boring, but getting lots of work, physical training and study done. I need to do this otherwise I will be writing something similar at the end of 2013! 

As of yet I have not added up all Spendings on valmik. I will be doing this near the end of the year!
I am guessing something like £10 000.  for materials and fittings

Aground, Adrift, Ashore and Afloat.

Well the Swale barge match did not go to plan. One of my crew brought me the charts we were to use the night before and unfortunately it did not cover the start line. I have sailed in this area a couple of times before and knew where to go. About an hour before my start time we raised anchor and started sailing towards the line. I had two crew, one which had sailed in these waters plenty of times.  I left it to them to get us up to the line, as I went about the running of the ship very excited to finally be going for my first proper sail in my boat! "Were aground" came the call.  ohh no aground and off the chart.. and on a falling tide, Great. I went for a run/swim around the boat in a circle of about 20metre diameter and found no deeper water. I got the dingy and a lead line and motored around looking for the channel, no luck. The tide disappeared very quickly and I rigged up two anchors abeam to make sure we stayed upright. I was very disappointed and berated myself for not keeping a closer eye on our course!  Lesson learnt. Do every little bit of navigating myself!

Yes Aground

The wind strengthen the tide came up and lifted us off the mud. We had a very exciting sail well reefed down, into the wind and tide through the very crowded Anchorage, and found a spot to anchor. We were running late for the prize giving and left the boat at anchor. I anchored in 6m of water with about 2m still to rise. I put out my 30m of chain and about 10m warp on a CQR thinking that should do the trick. Right. Wrong 

Well we had three pints and I headed back with my one remaining crew. As we passed near a boat they said  "do you own that little blue boat"  "yes"  "it went that way" "what" " yeah it went that way, I think that those two barges rafted up may have rescued it".  We quickly rowed down to tide to find Valmik rafted up alongside two barges. People with torches were going through the boat. Ohh here we go I though, Salvage claim, all my stuff gone. I couldn't have been more wrong. They were the loveliest people! It took me an hour in the dark to clear, unfoul and stow my anchor and this seamed to surprise everyone even me. As my warp was all wrapped around my lower pintel and gudgeon. I gave them a bottle of wine and all the beers I had for there trouble. I'm still not sure why my anchor dragged. I will be sailing in the anchor from now on whenever I can. Maybe too much scope tripped the CQR???  

                            A couple of days after the swale barge match, I awoke to this beautiful scene over the swale!

This morning I would be heading for Ramsgate with one crew. We had a lovely sail(google maps link updated), beam reaching all the way to north foreland. Rounding the corner we became headed and had to tack to get there. The wind picked up and we were riding over small 1m waves.  Heeling over Valmik was leaking, as would be expected of an old wooden boat. The topsides of a clinker wooden boat will leak, as they may not have "taken up" like the planks under the waterline have. The slapping of the waves knocked in some mud, that had been sitting in between the lands of some of the planking. When I painted the inside of the hull all those years ago, the planks were very dry. Some paint had gone down into the lands and hardened  between the planks, stopping them from swelling and closing the gap, which the mud soon filled. We were leaking about 1litre every minute whilst tied up in Ramsgate. I became more and more worried about it. I had advice from a few people, and decided to lift her out and re new some of the old copper clenching. I headed back to the swale rather than face an expensive lift out and mooring bill in Ramsgate. I re newed quite a lot of copper nails where there was not much, if any at all, bent over the rove. Even with no roves these nails still took some persuading to be removed she was still strong. The nails that were removed still had a lot of meat left in them so to say. I was careful not to created more problems, and had her back in the water within three weeks, keeping the moisture content high the whole time. 

I was the last, not to start the swale barge match :-)  And had to pull out of the trip to Folkboat week for repairs.

I will weather the winter in Kent, and do as much sailing as work on the boat will allow.

Planing to cruise around the U.K come march.

I've now been planning this for over four and a half years, I bloody well hope its 2013 i may go mad by2014 :) 

new album check it out

Ready for some sailing

 I have been working like mad trying to get my boat Valmik ready for the Swale barge match on the 11th August. It is a race between the old working Thames barges and very traditional craft. There is a class for classic Bermudians which I will be entering in. It will be Valmik's longest sail since I have owned her, 4years, and she was out of the water for about 4 years before I bought her! So it is a pretty exciting step for us both!-)  She will be sailing with boats much much older and of the similar era. This is a massive step forward

I have completed my 12volt electrical system which consists of,

.125aph sealed lead acid battery, strapped down tight in a battery box with a battery monitor connected,

.wind generator with battery regulator,

.masthead nav  and anchor lights,

vhf, log and depth sounder,

.2 powerful electric bilge pumps as a precaution!

. cabin lights

I have managed to get this all finished in time for the Swale barge match. But that is just the warm up!! I will be attending the folkboat regatta down in the Solent. It will be a week of racing against other Folkboats. I also about 2 months ago, wrote a lovely little article about Valmiks restoration in the annual Folkboat magazine.  I do not expect to win any of these races or to get even close. As Valmik is heavily reinforced and weighed down with all of my tools(boat building,sailing making, rigging) and lots of equipment for cruising. It will be a good test to see how she goes against other Folkboats. I will also get the opportunity to get on other boats and check them out, get ideas and lots of advice!

I have two weeks to sail down the English coast to the isl of wight from the Swale. I have crew for all of this so no single handing I think! I plan to port hop and make the most of the tides and hope for good weather. I don't think I shall get a chance to post again until mid September. As after the Folkboat regatta I will be close to broke and looking for work down in the solent area!   Well that's enough for me as I will be leaving conyer creek with the tide this afternoon, and I need to tidy my nav table.    later

My first single handed sail in Valmik

After my last rowing practice with my mate, I realised that it was going to be extremely difficult to row or scull my Folkboat in any wind over 10knots by my self. I should and can sail in much lighter airs than this, but small rivers( like the one in which i moor) make tacking up them nearly impossible. So to expand my sailing time and give the boat more capability's I have decided to fit an outboard bracket! 

I Know I Know I was hoping to sail everywhere with out an engine!!! I think for the start of this trip it is a good idea, it will help with mooring around expensive boats in stronger winds   But..

So I cast off the lines and sculled out of my mooring smoothly as usual. I switched to rowing when in mid creek, then raised the jib when the wind permitted and sailed down wind till the next turn in creek. This put the wind on the bow and I had the jib lowered before the corner and was rowing again. It was a struggle to keep in the middle and I got blown over the short distance (15metre wide creek) onto the side of the mud bank where I went aground. This is not a problem as I always tow my dingy (I have assisted close to ten boats aground near this same spot and got most of them off) and I always have a couple of anchors ready!! But having an outboard engine now I decided to motor off. Engine in reverse I quickly got off the side of the bank before the engine clonked out.   What engine problems already!!! GREAT.

So I continued to row out, struggling to keep the boat in the middle of the small creek. Constantly looking over my shoulder for the buoys and trying to work out the best position for optimum leverage with the oars. sculling is better for watching where you are going but I can't get as much power as rowing. Rowing facing forwards is also good, I use this for mooring, but also not as powerful.  So almost out of the creek I rounded another slight turn and came into the expected stronger wind. Instantly Battling to keep the bow into the wind, as to present the lease amount of windage, in order to make it the 100 metres till i could start sailing. I knew that this would be a massive challenge to row this 100m in about 10knots gusting maybe 13 by myself. I was not making much headway but get pushed onto the lee side of the channel. It seamed like about 30mins of trying to keep off this mud bank, rowing then quickly trying the engine and hoping it wouldn't clonk out. If only the wind angle was a little more favourable or I could get to the opposite side of the channel I could sail out. Every time I tried the engine and It failed I was pushed very close to the bank. I gave up on the engine then.

 Rowing it would be. But soon enough, the wind caught the bow and pushed me 180 around to face straight back at the bank I was trying to get off, and fast approaching it. I could have trying to row the boat backwards, but have not tried this yet. Or row back up the creek, but I was sure I would of ended up on the bank. With little time I quickly ran forward raised the jib ran back sheeted in and sailed narrowly off the lee mud bank, back around the corner, up the creek back safely into my mooring.

It was a good exciting trip, with a few lessons. Maneuvering in creeks to small to sail up, in stronger winds than I can row against, with a malfunctioning engine, may best be avoided single handed. Had I of had someone steering and helping row, we would of had no problems at all!

sailing under new rig

                                     WELL THE NEW RIG FITS VERY WELL!!
                                          I'm  so happy to be at this stage now!!

Ive taken Valmik out now twice, both times staying out over night and doing a couple hours sailing all days. She sails so beautifully and the rig and sails are a joy. Rowing and sculling a 2 ton long keeled boat is hard work! I am going backwards in any wind over 10 knots. Although this is only done in a small creek where tacking is not possible. All of the close maneuvering in and out of the pontoon is going really well with the oars! But this has all been done in favorable conditions so far.

          

              So to date, I've nearly finished restoring a 26ft 1961 Nordic Folkboat.
              Making my own set of sails and splicing my own rig.

              I now need loads of electric equipment as well as safety gear and lots more,
              Yes this is all very expensive, Yes I am also nearly broke and in dept!!!
              So I guess a job is in order.

              My face book page has been updated with loats more photos click on the face book albums link


              

Splicing my standing rigging

                                                        Splicing wire is difficult!

I spent the first two weeks of April trying to get my improvised rigging vise working efficiently, as well as waiting for materials and practicing the 7x7 eye splice. I did 10 splices in 5mm  and 5 splices in 8mm all 7x7 construction with galvanised wire. It was quite easy to pick up with a little study, and much easier once I had made up the right tools, and I was producing very tidy looking splices by the end of the two weeks. I took some to get tested and they broke at just under the wires breaking strain, proving my work!!

A very welcomed visitor

Practise done, I got my measurements, cut the wire to length, and begun renewing my whole rig. I had 12 splices to do in 5mm and 6 in 8mm, and decided to do over sized eye splices. This way I can repair any damage to the thimble or service. I did it all in the traditional method, worming, parcelling and serving the wire to protect it from corrosion.

Costs,
Wire £170.   Bronze bottle screws, £500.   Tape,twine,tar,lanolin £100.
Time,
2 weeks prep/practice.  2 weeks renewing rig.
So it is worth it cost wise, but not time wise.
But I have learnt a new skill.

                                                    So lets hope it all fits tomorrow :-)

snug and homely

Well I've been back now for about six weeks and I'm glad I came back a month earlier than first planed. It got down to 0 degrees for a few nights but inside the cabin stayed at about 5 degrees with no heating, and much warmer under the covers. I have now owned Valimk for just over 4 years and have only recently built a proper bunk. This means that I now don't have to assemble and dismantle temporary supports every morning and evening for my bunk. I have also built my Hanging locker (for wet clothes) right beside the main hatch, to limit the amount of water in the cabin. I built a nice sturdy nav table (out of Thick plywood that was being giving away, score) I will be cutting and sinking a bucket into the corner for a sink with a covering top. Nav table/sink, I know it sounds like a messy nav table but, my navigation is messy and so is my cooking, so these two should cancel each other out and make for a smooth clean operation.. right?? well I'll work it out, whats the worst that could happen.. hmmm? I have also built a v berth up front, for crew and storage underneath, with a chain locker also underneath that should fit about 30m of chain and 100m of warp.

I am approaching nearly 2 years full time work on Valmik and she is starting to look very lovely inside. Everything is painted or varnished to an okay standard. I don't care much, for wasting too much time trying to get a perfect paint finish, I can improve on this later at my own leisure. I'm looking forward to replying to people that bring this topic up. I want to go sailing not spend a life time thinking about it!! So I've halted work on the fit out. I will improve as I go when necessary. I still have a big list of things I will do at some time when I've plenty of time.





Funds have hit low again (it didn't take long I know) but I did fork out a bit extra for a really lovely paraffin cooker. I went all over the northern coast of Kent looking for work at docks and marine related businesses. I got a few maybes but nothing solid. So I have decided to replace my whole rig, hand splicing galvanised wire. I tried getting work with some riggers but they had nothing, they very rarely splice wire rope anymore. So I'll have to teach myself again, I've got the book for it and it looks okay so I've ordered the materials. I'm thinking it should take me 3 weeks to have it all done max 4, so it all wire splicing for April.. :-)

"life is too short to splice wire rope"  -Bernard Moitessier,   Circumnavigator and author.

I disagree! I'm looking forward to it, also time is what I do have lots of money is what I don't have.

Why Galvanised??? well for a few reasons, apart from a little stronger and cheaper, If properly looked after it will outlast stainless, and I really like the idea of  parcelling and serving , it will look more traditional and add to my skills , win win in my book.

After that I will definitely need a job to afford some 12 volt electric equipment as well as safety gear and loads of other stuff I will need for the trip. And I will not be able to be as picky. A few months work should cover the essentials (or a donation of over £4000 or a sponsor) and I can order everything and install at nights and on weekends. So that should be all done by end June, but we shall see on that one. I will still have a big wish list of equipment, which will get added to as I get some more funds!

My plan has definitely not changed, I still intend to sail my 25ft folk boat Valmik back to Australia via Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Extensively cruising the coasts of many countries and having no time limit.

Feel free to comment if you like but you do have to be a member.

Submit your email if you want to receive an email whenever I update this blog, which is not often.

I have added some new pics, of the inside of the cabin, to my public face book page. You don't have to have a face book account to see this, but if you do please LIKE the page while you are there, thanks.

Well that's pretty much it for now.

Update

Well I will be returning very soon to my boat, having spent about five months in AUS.  I have my UK visa for five years this time so that is a massive relief!!!  I am sooo excited about this stage of the restoration because Valmik is almost finished. I Predict about three months max, of work left before she is ready to go cruising and for me to start "learning the ropes" as I sail Valmik around and about the UK.
Work left to do...
Build a bunk, attach cooker, put a sink in, storage and hanging locker, nav table..
All electrics need doing!! I will start studying my 12volt bible very soon. In between Nav study.
A new rig! I hope to splice my own wire, with a riggers supervision. We shall see
Then the fun part  :-) SAILING :-)
You will have to watch this to find out where...