Galley trigonometry

We were out to the boat today to collect the last of the things on the boat before the winter.  At the same time I took the chance to measure up inside.

At some time the stove has been moved from by the door to a new location just aft of the forepeak on the port side.  Cooking in the boat is a pain - no headroom and nowhere particular for the steam to go.  So, we plan to put the stove back in the locker by the door to be able to stand in the entrance when cooking.

The stove is an old Origo twin burner spirit stove.  In principle we could just have it stood straight on the drop down flap on the locker - but right now it's gimballed so I'm looking to build a frame to hold it that can be slid in and out.

The locker is not as tall as the existing suspension points so we need some re-engineering for the stove to fit...  so I'm sat down this evening with notebook and laptop to look at the geometry.  It's a long time since I needed to play with sines and cosines!

The first thing I find is that the existing solution is designed to just clear the surface below - it will work in principle with any heel angle. Nice!  With less height to work with we don't have that luxury, unless I make it height adjustable.  But - we never run the stove with the boat on the move - so that's unlikely to be a big problem.  Gimballing is to keep supper safe when we get waves coming in when we're anchored up.  How much is enough is hard to say, but 20 degrees maybe? 

Like most things the solution is going to be a compromise:  for a given pivot height, as you move the stove up to get more clearance (to tolerate more heel) but the result gets less stable. 

And you need to think about the pots as well.  Within the height available, more clearance quickly means the pots will be above the pivot.  Weight high up reduces the effective length of the pendulum - making it quicker -and too much weight too high is simply unstable..

So... a quick spreadsheet later, and the answer is.... 

Well not 42! 

The pivot moves down from 210mm today to circa 170mm. Then losing 5mm from the clearance should give me those 20 degrees of tilt and still keep stable operation.

Feasibility study: Check. Done

Autumn sunshine

Last trip of the season... Nothing ambitious but lovely to be out on the water... Or sat in the cockpit with a beer :)

Sailing away...

At the end of a fantastic week, with plenty of rain, good food, good company, and not least dance it was time to set sail and head off south again.  We were three boats travelling together (well almost), heading round the south side of Runmarö weaving our way amongst the skerries and islands heading for Nämdö.

It was a super sail.  Light southerly winds, the sea was calm and the sun warm, sinking slowly down towards the horizon.  It wasn't quick, but what's the hurry when the scenery is so great?

The clip below is us reaching down towards Nämdö and Långviken; Karin at the helm.

Great - and a great evening grilling on the cliffs, admiring the stars and enjoying a last night in good company.

Fjärdlång

It was one of those days...  Hot...  light winds, and just enough lee from the islands to leave us windless and sun-fried. 

Not completely without wind, but slow enough that we dropped sail and motored in to a bay on Ängsholmen somewhat short of our destination.  ..which sadly proved to have no decent spot to come to shore, so we ended up hoisting sail and continuing on to anchor at the north east side of Fjärdlång.  Well sheltered with plenty of different spots to choose from. 

If it was better placed from Karlslunds we'd be here more often for sure...

Dawn...

Another beautiful morning...

Långviken

Inspecting the forest on Nämdö

The wind changed.. and a bit like Mary Poppins it was time for us to go.  With a forecast for strong westerlies by nightfall we wanted a spot with good shelter in the west - so we plumped for Nämdö.  Not such a long sail but a pleasant one, a broad reach most of the way, with a beat up to come in to the bay.

We found a spot all to ourselves...  taking our time to find good depth close in.  And then of course as soon as we were settled three more boats turned up. 

We arrived quite early and had plenty of time for a look around - at least this end of Nämdö.  About ten  minutes walk north along the coast is a sopmajor - composting toilet and rubbish room.  It's not so easy to see from a distance, and not well signed on the trail, but persevere round to the small headland and it's easy to find.

Walk the other way, out of the woods and through the meadows and you eventually come to a pump for water - and soon after a sauna.  Wood-fired it's open to the public.  Just book a time, and remember to cross in if you are happy to share.....

Sunrise

We have reached Trollkobb - as the name suggests, a magical place tucked in among islands on the eastern edge of the archipelago.
If you are awake you also get a really fine sunrise..

Gone with the wind

Holiday, and fairly unambitious plans to potter round the local area going where the wind takes us...
After a brisk afternoon 6-7 knot sail we arrived in Mörtö Bunsö in good time to grill.
I looked out this morning and was surprised to see a neighbour boat slowly dragging by. What do you do at 7am in a busy anchorage? Fortunately heads appeared not so long after...

Midsummer by sea

Midsummer, as every good Swede knows is a time to disappear off to the country to be among good friends and celebrate the year's longest day - which I can tell you is loooong.  But if you are going to the country why not sail???

So three of us set off bright and early for a five hour sail - and much against tradition we had sunshine all the way , and not bad winds withall.

And, having arrived and slung the hook off the end of the jetty...  Lunch onboard - silltårta (herring tart), what else - and a little nubba,  a swim to cool down and freshen up, a quick change and then it's off to the party....

Cliffhangar

Grill lunch on Ornö. One of those bays we've been past lots of times, but perfect today when its blowing 9m/s and you want a bit of lee...

New wave

Sailing it may not be, but a canoeing course was still a perfect way to get out in the archipelago. :)

Widget wanted

It's a fine evening, and with great foresight I left a few things on board I need at home. So, after work, I caught the bus out to the marina to sit and enjoy a bite to eat at the bar on the waterside.
To while away the time before the bus back I set to on one of those small jobs that didn't make the winter jobs list Some time ago one of the handles on the floorboards broke. No big problem. I'll just swap the broken one for the one on the board with the spare anchor under.
As it happens it was not just a case off screwing it loose and screwing it back again. Strange but true, on the back they are not the same. So now, before I take a chisel to the floor I might as well see if I can get a new one.
Any tips?

In the fog

Five knots... To somewhere...
Listen to that foghorn blow..

Back in the briny

... or not so briny! The Baltic is not that salty.
Work over and the lady slips lithely back into the water. And, unusually we got the mast up the same day. Of course the windex got blatted by the crane... Are we the only one's in the marina with a wonky windex ?

Ready for the off

Not the sunniest of weekends.  We got rained off yesterday, but managed today to get the last of the 'must do before we launch' jobs done...  touching up the white waterline on the starboard side.

Somehow it's always the starboard side.  Think it's because with the engine on  that side the boat is never fully even and the paint ends up underwater at the bottom.  Toplac is for above the waterline....

Apart from that the cockpit got a clean, the cupboards got sorted, the cabin woodwork got oiled, and some of the deckhouse got polished.. plus I made a quick and not so very tidy job of renewing the silicone on the hull/deck join in a couple of places.  And then to finish off... a last coat of 'nanopolish' - in the hope that it will keep her looking good for ALL of the summer.

Wash and brush up

After cold and clammy yesterday it was nice to be working in shirt-sleeves today. The messy past is done, sanding the bottom, and the rest of the day went on washing down the deck and top-sides. Out with the scrubbing brush to get rid of all the grime fast after the winter...

On a grey day

The covers are off and the door and frame are back in place.. It's just a shame that there are big stripes of glue on the boat from the tape that I used to fix a binbag over the entrance. Duck tape don't like the cold it seems...

Square

The snowy winter has delayed the start of this season's work programme out in the boatyard. At home in the cellar though things are starting to look more like they should.
Is three coats going to be enough?

Getting an early start

It's still january, but the sander is out stripping back the varnish on the frame from the entry. Plan ahead.. .