Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Peerie Maa
    Old Grey Inquisitive One
    • Oct 2008
    • 62422

    Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

    Originally posted by Dody
    That's it drying when I had it finished



    Sent from my SM-G900FD using Tapatalk
    That deserves a wooly board for drying.

    Dead easy ro make, each piece has a pin in its end made from a screw or nail that goes into a hole in the passing piece. You peg the hem/rib to the dowel near the base.

    from https://www.hazeltindall.com/jumper-boards#.Xeg3ctXgrcs
    It really is quite difficult to build an ugly wooden boat.

    The power of the web: Anyone can post anything on the web
    The weakness of the web: Anyone can post anything on the web.

    Comment

    • Phil Y
      Banned
      • Apr 2010
      • 21066

      Those sweaters look great.

      Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk

      Comment

      • Dody
        Tonga!
        • Jun 2017
        • 979

        Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

        Originally posted by Peerie Maa
        That deserves a wooly board for drying.

        Dead easy ro make, each piece has a pin in its end made from a screw or nail that goes into a hole in the passing piece. You peg the hem/rib to the dowel near the base.

        from https://www.hazeltindall.com/jumper-boards#.Xeg3ctXgrcs
        That is really cool Nick! I'm not very experienced with this kind of knitting. They said in the instructions (from Iceland) to lay it flat on a towel, pull it in form and dry. Now I didn't like the towel. It gets wet in the process and the whole thing takes ages to dry. That's why I started using a Fishing-Net for Sardine-Fishing I had in my workshop - air can get everywhere and it doesn't take on the humidity. For the second one (the blueish-greenish sweater) I used woodclamps to keep the net in place in the cockpit which made getting in and out a bit difficult. The red one for the little 6 year-old son of a friend of mine I didn't wash as he is in Vila do Conde and I couldn't try it on. With the last one, this jacket in dark and light ash, I installed two wooden bars in the net to tie it up with strings where ever convenient and inside for faster drying with this weather. Had to stretch the net with extra lines to get a bigger surface as it wasn't working like I wanted it. Then I realized just a single piece of 150 x 80 cm and strings to tie it up in the corners is more than enough to do the job. And it stows really nice. I will keep your wooly board in the back of my head and just for fun I might try it, thanks!!!!
        fair winds, Dody
        "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
        www.tongabonds.com

        Comment

        • Dody
          Tonga!
          • Jun 2017
          • 979

          Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

          Originally posted by Phil Y
          Those sweaters look great.

          Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk
          Thanks Phil! And they are super-lightweight, keep me nicely warm and they don't even want to let the water in - well drizzle and light rain so far. Can you imagine, once they are finished you're supposed to wash them in lukewarm water. Now, they don't want to drown, they just stay on the surface!!! I intervened and pushed them down and in the end I won, but this is very different to other wools I've been using in my life. Very happy about it, just the right thing for me!!!
          fair winds, Dody
          "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
          www.tongabonds.com

          Comment

          • Dody
            Tonga!
            • Jun 2017
            • 979

            Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

            Just got an email from a friend I haven't seen for a long time, I think I really have to pull my finger out now (translated from German):

            "Dear Dody,

            Yesterday we were invited to visit friends and in the course of the evening I learnt that a long time ago my conversation partner and a friend had sailed to Lisbon on their large homemade ketch. And you can imagine the surprise on all sides when it turned out that this ship is your good Tonga and that we know the ship and the current owner well!

            So small is the world! ...."
            fair winds, Dody
            "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
            www.tongabonds.com

            Comment

            • Phil Y
              Banned
              • Apr 2010
              • 21066

              How exciting! Will you be in direct communication with those guys? They may know the story of the extended stern, the build method and so much more!

              Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk

              Comment

              • Dody
                Tonga!
                • Jun 2017
                • 979

                Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                Originally posted by Phil Y
                How exciting! Will you be in direct communication with those guys? They may know the story of the extended stern, the build method and so much more!

                Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk
                I definitely want to try. Also about the whereabouts of the owners wife and his son and daughter and maybe who ever is left from this time of the Sailing-Association at the "Bille" where Tonga was built. He always sailed her with 6 or 7 people aboard, most of them interested in the sailing of course, not the construction. But who knows, maybe I'm lucky?
                The friend of mine who wrote the email was working at Abeking and Rasmussen as a Naval architect and he was always super interested in this construction since he saw Tonga. As luck would have it for him he had bought an aluminum-ketch he had helped building many years before as an apprentice and sailed her in 7 years around the world. He sold her when they came back and bought a Fibreglass-Boat (Swan) to play around locally and a bit in Europe. Now he's thinking of heading off again for another round the world trip. So, chances are good that the person he mentioned does know a bit fingers crossed!
                fair winds, Dody
                "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                www.tongabonds.com

                Comment

                • Dody
                  Tonga!
                  • Jun 2017
                  • 979

                  Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                  Done some long needed "x-mas cleaning/sortout", but that's how far I got. There is a lot of pretty rough stuff in the forecast for the next days, changing by the minute, so I decided I'll better set up the enclosure again to protect us and Tonga a bit more. But, it also means there's nothing really gonna happen the next days.

                  I might drive up to Figueira da Foz to have a look at this boat that went on the beach. So far, at least for me and what I found out till now, a bit of a weird story. It happened the 1st of December. For more than 4 days in advance the forecasts were predicting southerly winds in the 40+ knots range and wave heights around 6+ m. As normal under these circumstances, most of the ports on this coast got closed. Or conditioned to boats longer than 35 m. Leixoes and Nazaré - as always - being the only open ports. The news (paper and TV) said they were coming from Spain (North) and heading to Cascais (South). Needless to say: conditions out there were a bit rough. For some reason they were heading for the harbour-entrance of Figueira da Foz, which was closed for ships unter 35 m. The authorities continually tried to contact them on VHF channel 16 to inform them that the port is closed and they are heading for danger, but no reply. So, they sent a jetski with a driver trained for Nazaré-conditions through the surf to tell them. Whatever went on then I don't know, but the boat ended up in the surf, they dropped anchor, jumped into the water and tried to swim ashore. Both got rescued with hypthermia, injuries, and the wife with cardiac arrest. They managed to revive her with uncertain prognosis, the husband seems to be out of danger. Wishing them well of course! However, the boat ended up on the beach some time later.

                  We always had around 5 yacht-accidents with fatalities every year on this coast. Since the accident in 2013 (Meeri Tuuli, a german school-ship) the Portuguese authorities were working hard to improve the circumstances for the future, and I have been publishing several articles to help prevent further accidents. I've also got an article on Internet to explain the dangers of navigation on this coast, noonsite having a link to it, Cruiserswiki, and a lots of blogs. All of this did help. For a time. But it can't help if people don't read it. Please, if you know of someone sailing this coast soon - especially in wintertime - could you please please please give them the link to this article: https://nazareboatfestival.com/saili...uguese-waters/
                  Thank you heaps in advance!
                  Last edited by Dody; 12-14-2019, 04:31 PM.
                  fair winds, Dody
                  "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                  www.tongabonds.com

                  Comment

                  • Dody
                    Tonga!
                    • Jun 2017
                    • 979

                    Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                    The cover aft is leaking. The main cover leaking in places. The joint between the two. Alot of rain and a lot of water coming in. Nothing I can do tonight, lucky I've got a "leaky" boat as well, so some of it can get straight out. And I charged the battery I'm using for the bilgepump last week - the only electrical stuff in 12 V I've got wired up right now. Never mind, as I took the skinfittings out it would overflow at a certain stage anyway. But, lucky me, it doesn't come into anywhere in front of the cockpit - talking of my cabin, the inside where I am. There were times that were very very different. I remember having all my pots and pans, buckets and plates out in the cabin to catch water and still getting wet feet on the carpet that was on the floor. So, big improvement :-D!!!
                    Got to try doing some temporary fixes tomorrow - no chance to take any of the covers off entirely, maybe Tuesday for a few hours or so.
                    fair winds, Dody
                    "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                    www.tongabonds.com

                    Comment

                    • Phil Y
                      Banned
                      • Apr 2010
                      • 21066

                      That doesn't sound like fun. I enjoyed your article about the ports around there. The East coast of Australia is similar, although not usually with such big swells. River harbours with breaking bars.

                      Sent from my CPH1851 using Tapatalk

                      Comment

                      • Dody
                        Tonga!
                        • Jun 2017
                        • 979

                        Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                        Thank you Phil!
                        Yes, and the West Coast of New Zealand - Greymouth and Westport for example. But the US also have quite some terrific bars on the Pacific-Coast. There was an instructional documentary in several installments from the Department of Fishery (or something like this) of New Zealand called "crossing the bar". Nicely done with impressive little videos. They had it on YouTube a long time ago.
                        Last edited by Dody; 12-16-2019, 06:11 AM.
                        fair winds, Dody
                        "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                        www.tongabonds.com

                        Comment

                        • Dody
                          Tonga!
                          • Jun 2017
                          • 979

                          Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                          It's still there!!! Just google "crossing the bar 1" and they all come up. Awesome!!! Right, here's a link just in case this should work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a44Zdp38iM

                          Some of my mates had trouble getting into port when coming back from fishing. Not in Nazaré but in Figueira, Aveiro, Povoa and and and. They were lucky coz in the end they made it back alive. That's when I started to dig a bit more into it. But, well, the yachties sailing along this coast are not professionals, for the most part at least (although apparently the skipper in the 2013-accident in Figueira was), so it's even more dangerous for them because they don't expect it, and the places they are used to go sailing are different. And of course, some just have hardly any experience at all - nothing wrong with that as long as one keeps eyes and ears open.

                          Last edited by Dody; 12-16-2019, 09:04 AM.
                          fair winds, Dody
                          "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                          www.tongabonds.com

                          Comment

                          • skaraborgcraft
                            Banned
                            • Jan 2010
                            • 12824

                            Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                            I find that shocking someone would be coming from the North into that lot. I been in the same situation heading South late in the year on deliveries, but it really is a coast to avoid in those conditions unless you head right offshore. Been stuck in Figueira for a couple of weeks due to the bar, been in Peniche when cars were being washed off the sea wall and a very long night anchored off the beach in Sines with a broken engine. I dont think it gets as much carefull scrutiny as that coastline deserves, but most pilot books are pretty clear about the dangers.

                            Hope your not getting too wet. Have had about 20 mins of sun in the last 4 days, im sure you at least are getting a bit more than that......you could knit me a woolly hat if you get too much time on your hands....

                            Comment

                            • Dody
                              Tonga!
                              • Jun 2017
                              • 979

                              Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                              I find that a bit heavy too Ian, but we don't know what made them go do it in an 11 m boat. Although it was very obvious that it would come, maybe they simply didn't trust the forecast to become true? Or there might be other reasons. I left port in a force 10 and years later in a force 9. Not because I really wanted to. The force 10 was the second time in my life I had set foot on a sailing-boat. It was in 93, don't remember I think it was March, in Tazzacorte on the Island of La Palma/Canary Islands/Spain. The waves were crashing over the 17 m high harbour-wall and flew over the 40 m space for trucks to load and unload. We were not safe any more. We battened down the hatches and with first light around 5 in the morning we were fighting hard to get out. Turned out one other boat made it too after us, all the rest got destroyed and by 10 o'clock the entire port got smashed to pieces. They re-built the port 4 Miles down the coast some time later.
                              The force 9 one was with Tonga in far less dramatic circumstances but unavoidable. I knew what I was doing and Tonga was happy and prepared for more to come.

                              I don't see the being out there as the worst problem. In 99 % of the cases one can hove to or lay at sea-anchor or drag lines behind or whatever - and the situation out there was far from life-threatening. And the beauty of this coast is that, at least just before the latitude of Madeira, you've got at least 800 Miles of clear sea-room to play with. What I find shocking is that they were heading towards the port entrance of Figueira da Foz with the intention of going in, and that they jumped into the water to swim ashore. They must have been completely terrified by something. And if both are terrified there is no way out.

                              You are right, the pilot-books do mention it. In a gentle way. At least "Atlantic Spain and Portugal" does. But you will be very surprised to hear that many people today don't have the patience to read it all and, even worse, use Apps to "replace" their "need" for Pilot-Books. I'm old generation. In terms of seamanship this is a typical no-go for me. But who am I? And who am I to judge? The world is changing rapidly and I might be lucky if paper-charts won't be banned in the future because of cabon-footprints etc. Welcome to the new world Dody!

                              Bugger with the broken engine anchored off Sines. This anchorage (and the Marina) is a tough place to be in a Southerly, congrats your anchor held!

                              By the way: I had another look at photos, but no. There was one photo from 2008 I took from Vila Real de San Antonio Marina facing out to the river and a small black sailing-boat with cream-colored deck and a telegraph-pole mast was heading downriver, but it looked much smaller than 27 ft. And I don't remember now, but 2008 wasn't when you were in the Rio Guadiana anyway, was it?

                              20 minutes, grrrrrrr!!!! I have the sun out today :-D!!! Just a little break before the next sh... hits the fan.
                              Last edited by Dody; 12-17-2019, 08:34 AM.
                              fair winds, Dody
                              "They did not know it was impossible so they did it" - Mark Twain
                              www.tongabonds.com

                              Comment

                              • skaraborgcraft
                                Banned
                                • Jan 2010
                                • 12824

                                Re: Re-building my Ketch Tonga (1960)

                                Dody, I have a real bad memory for dates, so i would need to check my logs, and they are in storage in London. If that boat had a yellow dinghy under the boom, then most likely "Runestone". There was a yellow self steering vane too, but that wasnt always rigged.

                                Not really a surprise that many use "tech" rather than paper. But you dont usually find the problems that can occur on that coast when looking at a Tripadvisor review. And though i have most of the planet on a C-Map disc, its always prudent to have up to date pilot books/almanacs.

                                I came into Torbay one night, and confess my almanac was a year out of date, i couldnt find the leading lights listed, but did spot a red and flashing orange, and used those as a transit. Turned out the red and flashing orange was a road stop light and an amber pedestrian crossing light. Fair to say picking out mav-aids against a busy town can be extremely tricky; i did something similar coming into Vigo/Galica and actually crossed over the top of a single shallow rock, that i noticed the next morning at low tide.....cold sweat! I have been very fortunate in my cock-ups.......so far......

                                Comment

                                Working...