'De Grevelingen'

'Het Grevelingenmeer' or short 'De Grevelingen' is a former part of the North Sea. It became a saltwaterlake by building several dams after the flood in Februari 1952. By doing so the idea was to no longer be surprised in a nasty way when high tide and storm are joined together. November and Februari are well-known for heavy weather conditions. So getting saver was an still is the main purpose of the closure of several former sea-arms, south west in the Netherlands. Also known as 'De Deltawerken. Bycoming effect of the dams is the forming of a inland paradise for sailing with the salt-water charistics. But beware, once the wind gets heavy and the watersurface restless, the spirit of the sea is still there. More inland the result of the dams is also the lost of the diversity of live in the water, even of pollution by micro organism.

Decades ago I did it by cano, every now and than for half a day. Starting July this year we sailed on it. Twelve days on a row, our personal record untill now for staying on our small boat. Every minute of it well spent. Lovely small harbours and quiet places on small islands to moor.

To remember

A picture to remember my distinqhuist guest for the night, 'Rookierookie'. Although the bird had very little to say, did not eat or drink, I got very quick a kind of attached to it. It seemed so calm, so couregeous. Opposit to a crow so quiet. I picked the bird up from the street last wednesday after somebody noticed it was already sitting there for many a hour. The bird seemed so tame that I wondered wheather it ever had known what to do in wildlife. I 'diagnosed' it as extremely tired and let it in peace in the forecastle for a good nightrest. And yes, next morning it was a bit more alive but still not able to fly. After a day of maintanance on the boat I dicided that more care was needed and took it to an overhere welknown 'birdhospital'. What a pity to hear that despite they tried to feed him or her, it was all over by mondaymorning. No doubt in my mind, it took straight off to go higher than ever before. All ready used to be close to heaven!

The boat with no name.

For ten months now I'm around in the yachtharbour, almost my second home it seems and so there are boats that caught my eye. For example this 9 mtr Wharram Tanenui, for the reason that I like this kind of boats and also that I did not spot anybody to look after her. Another thing I noticed was that the boat had no name. By sheer coincidence I found out that the boat was put on for sale on the Warramsite this year januari and sold by now. And so a charming elderly French couple showed up in the port last week with a Renault Kangoo packed with gear and started preparations to the boat to sail oversea towards Bordeaux, the Bay of Arcachon. Since I had been sailing myself this weekend I was not able to see the actual leaving of the catamaran last saturday. The planning is that it'll take them harbourhopping ca. eight days to get home. So being mondaymorning I wonder about the whereabouts. The wind was in my favor for my weekendtrip, South, Southeast and took us in no time west on saturday to spend the evening on a small riverside surrounded by nature. Next day back east, again halfwind home like a rush. For the French it meant no doubt a good start westwards to the coast and out in the open to the North Sea. But Sunday was in their case less favorable. Lucky the winddirection this week is changing from North towards West and with a strength of 3 to 4 bft. Lovely temperature as well and that together with a really good buy. So far, well done, you admirable French.

Working my.....

'Working my butt off' on my boat and one thing done, the other comes up. It's a well known factor. But I'm not complaining, happy to be able to do what is needed. And there are nice surprices as well. Hidden away I found a ship's log made by Thomas Walker in Birmingham. As a 'newby' I first red about this instrument in the book 'Zeilend rond de wereld' (Sailing around the world) from the first Dutchman who did this with a pleasureyacht after Sir Francis Chichester. It's Bertus "Papa" Zijdenbos from Vlaardingen, Holland. It took him three years from July 1966 to July 1999 to complete his voyage.

Every picture tells.......

'Every picture tells a story', is what comes in mind looking at this once or even still beautyfull ship. But, what story goes behind her neclected maintenance? Again, a closer look at this ship will tell not only about her 'suffering' but also about the craftmanship that still shows as was it her soul. For now I will title the pictures of her simply 'Wonder 1, 2 and so on. But why not, Ghost, Spoke, Mystery?And that all opposite of my ship, as a warning, don't let in or as a sign to live by the moment, no past, no future, only now to keep on tungoiling!

tungo(i)led

New blogtitle is 'tungo(i)led' instead of the former 'china woodoil' along with a new head. The picture in the head is taken this week while staying overnight on board of my little ship. Opposit of my ship and seen on the picture there is a totally wooden yacht with wonderfull lines and beatifull stainless steel winches, mastfoot and hoistinstallation for mast as well as anker. The paintcondition is a totally different story, all varnish has vanished allmost! I'm around now for allmost a year in this harbour and spotted nobody that seems to care. And luckely it's spring now but winter tells this story best!

Getting nowhere

Getting nowhere with this blog or a slow start at least. After being active with motorcycles in real live and on the internet for more than a decade I'm probably tired of publishing. Getting an older semi wooden boat into a more or less good condition is a lot of work. Writing about it here doesn't do the job. Even in the winter I managed to do some work while the boat was out of the water but still in the open air. A specially tailored cloht protected her. A small heater on oil kept the boat dry and myself warm while fixing things. I cleaned the gallery by taking it apart, put on new varnish on things before reconstructing. It looks a lot better now. I fixed the electricity, interieurlights, depth- and speedmeter now functions.
I took the ruther and helmstick at home, cleaned it totally, stripped the antifouling, reglued losening plywood, revarnished the top, new underwaterpaint and antifouling completed the job. I sanded the helmstick an again revarnished it. The boat is back into the water now and we even sailed her this Easterweekend while in the last couple of weeks I revarnished the mast eight times, fixed several minor things on rigg and hull, put on a new layer of antifouling on the total hull etc. etc. And now, I started to take off spots of old varnish from cabinet and cockpit. In the meantime enjoying being on the water, sleeping, eating and finding my way on the boat. Enjoying life and talks in the yachtharbor along with the very good weather until now. And I'm still impressed by varnish with tungoil inside. Lovely smell!