Category: Refit

Posted on

Wood is a wonderful material but grinding and painting never ends…

Two masts, two booms, a wooden cockpit, sliding hatch, the bowsprit and much more is made of wood and oiled in wood look. It looks beautiful but requires a lot of work. This time we want to make a full refit, so everything needs to be grinded and painted later. All the wooden parts are oiled with two layers of Sikkens with pigments and four layers of Osmo UV-protection oil, the masts get two additional layers of Osmo, because they can not be re-oiled that easy. The use of oil for onboard wood has the big advantage that it is more stretchable. Therefore it has less problems with the never stopping movement of the boat.
The grinding is hard work and the painting afterwards requires a lot of patience. In contrast the satisfaction is even bigger after achieving a good result. The cockpit needs to be completely overhauled. René is working on it but it is going to take much more time. It will be made of mahogany wood again and I am excited for the result.

Posted on

One year in the shipyard and still much work to do

She is more than one year ashore now. I am 16 years old now and do have my license to sail pleasure crafts as Sindbad. So it would be my dream now to not only borrow boats from friends for weekends. I want to have my own boat to sail anytime and everywhere the wind takes me. Therefore I decide to help René and we will try to get the boat fit together from now on.
The actual condition still looks frightening if we consider it has been one year in the shipyard now. There are things that happened and we do not have to worry about, just as the hull condition and the engine. The diesel is a Perkins 4.108 and it has been overhauled by the engineer of the shipyard. We only need to install it onboard again. Nevertheless the To-Do-List is still long and after finishing one step you find the next two to add to the list.
I am able to spend my christmas holidays to work on Sindbad. There are endless things to grind and paint, many things to repair and exchange. Especially the masts are subjected to a proper and precise work.
Rigged as a ketch Sindbad has two masts. The main mast measures about 13 meters and goes trough the deck to its mounting above the keel. The mizzen mast is much smaller and its sail serves primarily to stabilise the boat and keep it on course.
Posted on

A winterly trip to the shipyard in Rødbyhavn

Nov. 2018
Sindbad is going to Rødbyhavn! The engine is leacking oil and cockpit needs to be worked over. We decide to make a full refit. Thus it definitely makes sense to crane Sindbad ashore. In the traditional shipyard in Rødbyhavn in the South of Lolland, Denmark Sindbad has a place to stay on a trailer for a longer time.
My father, René, works at this shipyard and can work on Sindbad after work.
He also sails Sindbad from Travemünde to Rødby.
First of all Sindbad needs to pass the River Trave and two bridges to reach Travemünde. Unfortunately the engine does not start at the bridge appointment due to a blocked fuel line. We tow her out of the harbour by the Tender of Regina Maris and so it can start its trip to Rødby in winterly temperatures and wind conditions.
Sindbad waits in Lübeck for a dreamer and offers a lot of work to do
Sindbad, towed by the port-owned Tender
Leaving Travemünde course North to Rødby at night
After a restless trip and a close call with a freight ship in the Fehmarnbelt René reaches Denmark. A few days later Sindbad is craned and the works starts.