Summary

Early in 2008 I bought a little, old wooden Folkboat called Valmik. I was going to spend a few months on repairs and begin sailing her around Europe, with Australia being the final destination. As my knowledge of boats improved, so did the thoroughness of the restoration. I decided to become very involved in every aspect of construction, doing almost all of the work myself: making my own sails, doing the fit out and all woodwork, splicing my own rig and wiring in the 12 volt electric circuit. Self-reliance, I suppose, is the goal. Follow the link to my photo albums for a detailed documentation of the work and some videos.

For a long time now, I have been striving to achieve my goals and begin an adventure. I had planned to complete a circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2015 with my wife. Unfortunately, this will not be possible and I went back to work. Valmik is ready to sail, however, and I am finally in a position to start enjoying her for what she was designed for. Of course there is a never ending list of modifications and enhancements with a small section for repairs. I will be sailing as much as possible and documenting my adventures on this blog.

My plan is to build up to a epic solo sailing Adventure.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

BACK AFLOAT


Well I will start by saying that I am very happy with my full survey:-) and Valmik is now back in the water where she belongs. I have corrected all of the problems found.


The Keel bolt washers were a very quick and easy fix. The nuts were starting to get rusty anyway and I had planed to paint them properly, whilst out of the water getting this survey. Cutting up some steel plate and drilling out the holes, then fitting and painting took up one full day and two evenings.

The planking issue which was found took me about two weeks to sort out. I had to remove some planking and replace with three planks. This was because there was some short planking, and the butt joints where these planks met where all too close, creating a weak point in the hull. A bad repair was done in the past and it was not recognised by me. It is very skilled work to replace planks on a clinker boat, and I managed to make one silly mistake. The first plank went in very smoothly and I scarfed the joint this time. It is much harder to do a scarfed joint than a butt joint, but it is much stronger. I wanted to test myself and enhance my skills, and it is quite challenging to avoid gluing the two planks together when gluing the scarf joints. I ruined the second plank and two days work because I assumed the angle of the land, where the plank touches the one above it, would be the same as the first. I had only a small discussion with a shipwright about it all before I started the planking, so was mostly teaching myself. It is a good lesson to learn, as the angle of these lands gives the boat its lovely shape in a way. The second attempt on the second plank went very well as I had the failed attempt to use as a template. I unfortunately destroyed the third plank removing it, and couldn't use it as a template for the replacement plank like the first two. But made a separate template up for it which worked well. I need to thank my three helpers for their assistance with the fastening of these planks. Thanks Olly, Ewan and Chris for your help with the copper clenching, much appreciated!



Also during Valmik's short time ashore I managed to get some other jobs done.

Antifoul, Which is much easier out of the water than in. Thanks Kate for helping.

Painting of the bilge, Which is always wet when afloat, being a wooden boat :-)

Rudder steps, Two steps on my rudder for climbing aboard easier.

 I also have a new paraffin heater which my mate sold to me. It is really neat and runs off the same pressurized tank for my stove. Got the cabin up to 25deg C in an hour from 6deg C. I had to turn it off at this point, as some things need insulating to prevent them from over heating.





It was also just really good to see all of the work I have done is holding up under the water.

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