Thread: GIS in Brazil - finding materials, ply, epoxy and building

Originally Posted by Boatmik

I could forsee that little moment of panic Steve. I would be pretty sure that they wouldn't line up as it causes a problem for the workbenches as well.

BTW it can be a good idea to either do the glassing or and epoxy coat over the foils if you are way off glassing so they don't warp while waiting. A couple of weeks in no problem, but a couple of months might not be good.

MIK

Finally, a sunny day. This has been the wettest and nastiest July in this part of the world since they started measuring these things - in 1943! Got out the camera and took some photos =, which I hope can be seen in the Flickr link below. I hope the tiller works, it fits nicely into the hand and there is plenty of wood below the hand grip to fix the tiller extension onto. I did not trust the 6mm plywood I had so laminated both sides double to 12mm. Feels plenty strong now. I know - a couple of bolts still missing there, which I will get on my next trip to the UK - much cheaper there. Phot from the top shows how I handled the extra width - I put a couple of fillets in to avoid too abrupt a join. My patented (!) approach to the dagger board also shown - hope it holds up. Felt strong enough when I put all my weight on it. I was going to fibreglass it and the rudder but the low temperatures make my epoxy blush horribly - I will try a new brand and wait for warmer weather. Dagger box also finished ( no photo - I want to re-finish it before showing it to the world), plus the stem. Not as pretty as some, but the dimensions seem right and the only person seeing it will be me! Buying the wood for the spars tomorrow. I am going to experiment with a couple of other lightweight Brazilian woods they use for spars in the North East of Brazil for the jangada rafts. Very exotic and ethnic! I will tell you how it works.

Slow progress - but progress all the same.

Steve

PS Also some photos of the Ilha Bela waters I will mainly sail in. Nice and protected, apart from the maniac power boat drivers with beer cans in their hands as they roar past. Oh - and the odd oil tanker and cruise ship to cope with. But really nice - honestly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4112716...7621801827691/

Hey Man,

Did you steal Van Gogh's chair?

Typical - trying to show the subtle curves of the tiller, carved with care by a master craftsman (in my dreams!) and it is the $%¨¨& chair that gets noticed. But yes, actually, I did paint the otherwise boring chair with yellow and ochre to try and get a bit of an impressionist look - inspired by a book photo showing Monet`s dining table and chairs - but my wife took one look at it and relegated it to my carport/workshop. So - well spotted! It now serves as my 'sit and think and look at the plans yet again before cutting the wood' chair - one of the first things I learned about carpentry was the absolute necessity of such a chair.

Steve

Otherwise known within the boatbuilding trade as a "moaning chair"

MIK

Beautiful sailing waters. What are the winds like?

Winds not bad - can be pretty variable but if a cold front come rumbling up from the Antarica via Argentina then they can strengthen quite a bit. But not as windy as the UK, in general. In the winter the norm is for a huge high to station itself over a lot of Brazil, including this bit, for days/weeks at a time so the winds can stay light for a while. This year the Ilhabela sailing week in July got a reasonable amount of wind, as far as I can see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoba/s...57603420288034

During the summer, you have to be careful about sailing later in the day because the thunderheads develop and some pretty hairy squalls can arise. That is when the climate switches from temperate to tropical and we get the equatorial-type squalls. Quite a sight to see a crowded beach with thousands of people running for cover as a white squall comes in with little warning. Brazil generally underexploited for sailing - which is surprising given the thousands of miles of coastline and the number of world-class Brazilian sailors in competition. A rich mans sport in the main - not like USA, Australia, UK. Mostly fibreglass but some valiant souls persist with modern wooden construction. Here are a couple - the first blog is in English and the guy has been doing some interesting things with sailing canoes, etc:

http://arpex.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

http://knol.google.com/k/edgard-batt...riais-e-Custos

Steve

Originally Posted by StephenR

Brazil generally underexploited for sailing - which is surprising given the thousands of miles of coastline and the number of world-class Brazilian sailors in competition.
Steve

I remember meeting one of Brazil's greatest, Jorg Bruder* in 1973 when he was a guest at the South African Games regatta in Durban, South Africa. He was such an amiable character and willing to part with his knowledge. I was doing national service at the time and had wangled a spot in the SADF (South African Defence Forces) team at that regatta. I can recall him wandering over to my boat on the beach and he spent a good hour with me tweaking my rigging. I was having trouble with a brand new Bruce Banks mainsail that was being a pig. Then that night at a regatta dinner function I learned more about tactics and the racing rules from him than I had read in numerous books. I've never forgotten that, and I think my mum still has a pile of beer coasters with his drawings all over them. Yes, his tips must have helped as we finished 2nd in that regatta which was sailed off shore in a mighty swell! Durban surfers know all about those swells

*Jorg Bruder won a hat trick of World Finn titles in the early 70s. His Bruder masts became the benchmark in Finn masts, and basically any Finn skipper who wanted to achieve anything in Finns had to have a Bruder mast. So yes, he is well and truly a Brazilian sporting legend

I know what Bruder was sailing Bruce.

What were you sailing. If it was Finns I am glad you let Bruder come first after he helped you with the coaching.

What a nice experience (and story for us)

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

I know what Bruder was sailing Bruce.

What were you sailing. If it was Finns I am glad you let Bruder come first after he helped you with the coaching.

What a nice experience (and story for us)

MIK

I would have loved to sail Finns MIK, but I didn't have the "gorilla" physique for it! Bruder was of course sailing in the Finn class but I was still sailing Sprogs at that stage. Actually, I think that regatta was the last time I sailed a Sprog. Went on to Fireballs after that, but always wished I'd kept the Sprog. It was a much more exciting boat to sail than the Fireball.

The Fireball can be pretty exciting downwind in a blow (but by OZ standards they are considered pretty heavy - well over the 10lbs a foot average) ... I guess though that the Sprog spends more of its time planing? What was the hull weight and sail area of the Sprog.

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

The Fireball can be pretty exciting downwind in a blow (but by OZ standards they are considered pretty heavy - well over the 10lbs a foot average) ... I guess though that the Sprog spends more of its time planing? What was the hull weight and sail area of the Sprog.

MIK

yes, you're right MIK, The Sprog planed very quickly and even without a spinnaker could hold its own against a Fireball downwind. Upwind, the Fireball was quicker in a blow, except in very rough water. The Fireball was hmpered by quite a large wetted area I think, as even when it planed it never seemed to properly lift out of the water. I cannot remember the sail area of the Sprog but length was 14ft in the old measurements. Having rebuilt one, it was quite lightly built with framing cut from the same size ply as the skin. Very similar to the GIS actually. The designer was an architect so I guess he had a good handle on weight and strength! A friend and I used to car-top one and put another on a trailer so I'm guessing it would have been 60-65kg, maybe 70kg with the rather large shark-fin-shaped pivoting centreboard fitted?

Maybe you can guestimate sail area from this pic?

In the bendy mast and boom era, our booms used to touch the deck Finn style when close hauled. My "old" boat's sail number was 261, which was usually the lowest one in the fleet, but the hull was up on the plane quicker than the newer ones. "Old and stiff" she was, like me now!

Steve, exactly where in Brazil do you live? I am currently in Campos, Rio de Janeiro State and will soon be moving to Atafona at the mouth of the Paraibe river for the next 12 months or so.

You are correct about sailing being a rich man´s sport here but today I saw a small "tinny" being towed along the highway here.Wasn´tmuch of a boat, or car for that matter. Still, in all my trips to Brasil and all my tripping around over here I have only seen cars towing tning on 4 ocassions, one of them this morng being that tinny.

I looked everywhere for info about the Sprog .. they seem to very carefully leave details off the official website. But I think that SA sailing went the same way as OZ sailing.

Not enough market volume to allow glass boats to truly dominate.

MIK

Originally Posted by artme

Steve, exactly where in Brazil do you live? I am currently in Campos, Rio de Janeiro State and will soon be moving to Atafona at the mouth of the Paraibe river for the next 12 months or so.

You are correct about sailing being a rich man´s sport here but today I saw a small "tinny" being towed along the highway here.Wasn´tmuch of a boat, or car for that matter. Still, in all my trips to Brasil and all my tripping around over here I have only seen cars towing tning on 4 ocassions, one of them this morng being that tinny.

I live just outside São Paulo - not quite the same as Atafona, from what I can see by googling. You should be able to get some sailing in while you are there. Your comment about towing tinnies reminds me of when I was towing my Mirror round the countryside here. Always, absolutely always, got stopped by curious highway police. Became a family joke - but I had to make sure the car and documents were always in order. Wierd foreigners who speak Portuguese badly generally get waived on, fortunately. Sorry about the off-wood excursion, but Amir Klynk is testing the ultimate tinny in Parati - heavy duty aluminium, 800 mile endurance for him to use in Antarctica. The strange pulpit is for him to but up against icebergs, apparently!
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