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October the 4th 2008 is a big day for my diary! It is the kickoff of the Volvo round the world ocean race. I was very very lucky to have a friend who invited me to see the launch of Ericssons 2008 bid (thanks Kerrin!) and the uncovering of "Ericsson 4"; their newest boat. Oh my God! What an amazing creation. It is designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian and built by Killian Bushe whom built the last (2005/2006) winner; ABN AMRO ONE. Here are some of the pictures:
I'm going to be watching this race closely. On the 14th June 2008 they get to Gothenberg and the 25th Stockholm so I will definately be here to blog about it then.
In theory you should be able to find out more about the boat and team at http://www.ericssonracingteam.... except the site is down. If you want to get some insight as too how they are built then there is a fantastic picture gallery at Killians' web site http://www.killianbushe.com/AB... ... Killian started with wooden boats so there is hope for me yet - I wonder if he has any apprentiship places available;)
The race is at http://www.volvooceanrace.com -
I spent yesterday fitting the engine surround box. Here's how far I've got...
If it is sunny next time I'm on her I'll sand the box and finish it, else I'll start the wiring and electrics. -
Renovating and painting the wheelhouse on Pärlan; a 1958 wooden sardine trawler.
Part 1... Preparing the wheelhouse for paint.
Part 2... Painting the wheelhouse.
Before....
... and after...
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Fixing the fuel tank and exhaust into Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden. Putting in the stern flooring.
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Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden. Putting in wooden beams for flooring.
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Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden. Today I cleaned the engine and continued to clean out the bilge - nasty oily work:)
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Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden. I removed the last of the interior wood today, pulled a load of rubbish out of the bilge and cleared up.
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Pärlan; a 1958 sardine trawler built in Gothenburg, Sweden. First spring day on Pärlan and it's time to tidy up the bow section and remove the last of the pine wood that will stop her from drying out.
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I've just spent three days on Pärlan with the sole aim of getting her as dry as possible.
There are two aspects to this; stopping rain water getting in and getting airflow through the hull to dry her out.
I started with taping over the cracks you can see in her wheelhouse. This is very ugly, but it will hold out the water until the Summer when I can re-fiberglass and paint it.
The bow (front) of the boat has a sleeping area which has been lined with polystyrene foam and pine stripping. All that has to come out to let the air circulate around the hull.
After several hours I got the floor up and was able to take a look in the bilge (the middle bottom of the boat).
After removing about 9 buckets of water we can now see the bottom of the boat!
Getting to the engine was difficult (it is green and to the left of the white wall) so I needed to remove all the old woodwork around the engine to give me plenty of room to service it.
Here everything is stripped out and the engine is more visible. I sat down after this and realized that Pärlan is actually a very spacious boat!
She has a fantastic curve which I hope will show up even better with some new flooring in her.
The engine is now visible and easy to work on. Before I do that though I have to clean out a huge amount of old wood. I have a bicycle trailer and hopefully if the weather is good next weekend I'll take the good stuff back home to dry out and find a Valborg (May day) fire for the rest of it.
More soon.
About me
Tom Calthrop, Stockholm
Smudge blog
Activities and thoughts outside of my work with Barnraiser. Read my CV for professional information.
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