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THE BOOK

The book with famous navigators and me has arrivied.

Below two pictures.

So its true that I have a chapter in the same very expensive book as Chichester, Heyerdal, Costeau, Moitessier, Hemmingway, and many more, still my thoughts are with Exlex Minor and the development of small ocean going cruisers. We need to save the world and not build big boats.
The picture shows me on my first small cruiser that was my home and sole possesion on which I for the first time I could see my country disapear below the horizon and to make a landfall on a foreign port. True not an ocean passage but the beginning of a new life. The year was 1962 and yachting was very different then.

Regards Yrvind.

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A BOOK AND MORE MOCK UP

I have done more mock up, now in the saloon. I now have a pretty good idea of the finished boat. Exlex Minor have turned out very roomy despite being only 4 cm longer and 19 cm vider than Exlex that was indeed very cramped. Exlex Minor have definitely place for two persons friendly persons to cruise long distances a boy and a girl.

Edition Paulsen did 11 of October publish a book titled 100 Marin. Its a selection of famous yachtsmen from the last 150 years including Jules Verne, Bernard Moitessier, Francis Chichester, Jack London, Naomi James plus 94 other equally famous person and me. Its a mystery how I got included, but I am proud to be included in that crowd.

Below are some pictures click on them once or twice to enlarge.

Me in the Captains Cabin flanked by water jugs batteries and other stuff.
The saloon. I am sitting on the anchor box containing anchors chains and rope about 15 cm high. On Exlex port side, to my right is a box containing food 38 cm high. Its counter is 35 cm wide and 54 cm long. On the starbord side is a smaller version. There will be windows aft and on on each side giving  a good 180° vieuw.
There is also a place to sitt on the flour for a secound person or if you just feel like a change.
The book is big and heavy and comes in a box. It is also at 99 € very expensive.
The langueage is French but there is plenty of pictures.
Here is to order.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind

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DOING THE HULLSIDES

I have started to build up the hullside from the stern. Two sheets on each side are now in place. Aft is the easy part, like building a box. Simple structure, but nothing is gained by making it more complicated.

Below two pictures.

First placing the Divinycell in a good position. Important when you are working alone. Adding the NM-epoxy. Clamping it on trying to get as good a fit as possible.

The piece in place.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind

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FAIRING THE MOULD

I am now building up the mould. The plywood has to be faired to fit. First I do a rough fit with the help of a spline and some lead weights of the sides. After that the bottom sheets is put on. Now I am fairing with surfaces instead of lines. That is far easier.

The aft part of Exlex is ready for the Divinycell. The spoon bow will be much more difficult to get a good shape on. I will take my time to do good work on that.

Below some pictures.

First me with one of my favorite splines. I have had it for many years and faired many boats with its help.

Below a close up of the same spline or batten.

Below, aft end of Exlex ready to take  the Divinycell sheets after first being insulated with plastic film to prevent them from sticking to the mould from epoxy that finds its way there.

The page “Exlex Minor the Idea” is uppdated 25 August 2018

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind

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MY STUFF

My stuff, what I managed to salvage from Exlex has arrived from Madeira and is now in the workshop to be used on Exlex Minor.

Thanks to everyone who has donated making the expensive transport possible, including the airplane ticket for myself.

Picture below.

I am still trying to get plywood. I am hoping for next week when more people are back from their hollidays. In the meantime I am cutting out bulkheads and moulds for Exlex Minor and doing odd jobs.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind

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Sailing report 7

Yrvind is now on Porto Santo. He has decided to restart with a new boat. ExLex, which is basically an experiment, has some issues that must be solved. For example is the boat too heavy, which affects both speed and stability. There is a serious problem with the stering control that causes the rudder to lock. It is too cramped inside and it has not been possible to handle the sail from the front hatch as it was intended. All in all, this means that Yrvind decided to make an restart and design a new boat where these problems is corrected. Yrvind now needs to rest and comes when he feels ready with a status update here on the website.

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Sailing report 6

Yesterday was a difficult day with grey skies and much wind from the side which is the worst. Many times I had to go on the wobbly foredeck to work the centerboard and sails. This is not how it should have been done. It should have been done from the safe position of the fore hatch. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. At first everything looked fine, then in the last days when the timetable was set, came a rush. The forepeak got filled up and its intended use as a safe place to handel the sails and centerboard was temporarily sacrificed. I eat myself to more space was the idea.

Surprisingly even after eating for now more than a month it seams as if I have as much provisions as when I left Ireland. I still have to work from the outside from the foredeck. Unfortunately because I do not feel completely safe there in the dark when the boat is healing rocking and yawing. Then the night was difficult to but in a different way. I am now in the really shipping lines for traffic to and from the Gibraltar straight. Some was coming very close. It is difficult to know if the crew is seeing me or not and I hate to bother them by calling them on the VHF. Everything went well and I awoke to a wonderful day. The wind had calmed down and the sun shone brightly from a clear blue sky. It was wonderful and very nice and warm. Then the horror of it, the port rudder did not work. It had jammed and was blocked in a position. I tried everything but to no avail. What to do? I did some thinking. I was sailing south. The hot morning sun did strike the port side. I have inside steering and no wind-vane or autopilot. The pipe steering lines goes to my bunk. I do not want any water there, specially not seawater. The trough hull connection consist of a piston mobbing in carbon fiber. To each end of the piston the steering rope is attached. Thus breaking the wicking effect and making it waterproof.

My boat is very narrow only 104 centimeter. She floats to deep and is very tender and rocky. I therefore use a lot of antislip tejp. They come in two varieties, black and white. To my yellow boat I thought black looked best. Black do get very hot in the sun, in fact it is uncomfortable to touch it. The heat produced by the black antislip tejp had so heated the piston that it had expanded and jammed in the pipe. I have now pealed it of. Now the piston is cooled and it seams as if the steering once again is a working construction. I have wanted to mention this as an example of how two things at first not connected to each other can interfere and cause big problems. One can not new things without testing them. Problem is here at the latitude of Gibraltar the sun is much stronger than in Sweden

I have a nice time out here. I spend my time working on Next Design which is coming out most satisfying.

Regards Yrvind

Update to sailing report 6

I still have a problem.To day again the sun is shining brightly. Again the port rudder is blocked. I was happy yesterday. I thought I Had solved the problem by removing the black anti slip tejp. I hope I can come upp with a solution.

Regards Yrvind

Update 2 to sailing report 6

The rudder problem gets worse and worse. Now in the afternoon when the sun comes in from the other side also the starbord rudder is blocked. I cannot steer my boat. Its a bad thing. If a ship is heading for me I cannot move out of their path. I try to find a solution.

Regards Yrvind

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Sailing report 5

Today I have been at sea for 4 weeks. I have now left the gloomy weather up north and it´s sunshine all day with a flat sea. Wonderful. This is what I like. The only problem is progress. My average speed so far is in the order of 1.4 knots. I had hoped for a minimum of at least two knots average speed. The last days have been even slower, probably not more than a total of 5 nautical miles in the right direction. It looks as if today is going to be the same. I enjoy my time out here and spend the time designing Next Design and yes – she is going to be faster and have a lot of innovative features.
Regards Yrvind.