[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by s4ch

What is the rope tied around the middle of the Yacht for? Purely aesthetic or does it serve a purpose? I notice that Sirion has it too.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Think of it as an all-round bumper. Although no-one would want to actually bump it. When moored or alongside another vessel, the fenders are hung over the side to protect it.

So, maybe the answer is yes and yes! Perhaps it has become more decoration than useful.

In Dutch it is called “kabelaring”. Google translate makes “cable fender of it. Not sure if that is the correct nautical term.

Originally these cable fenders were used as fenders on workboats and sloops. They found their way into yacht building. We still have a lot of sloops as p, measure crafts and most will sport one of these. But also on sort of rugged looking boats such as Sirion you will find them. These days more aesthetic, but they still working on it as fenders too. But when you moor in marina you will find that the jetty is usually well below the cable fender. So you need to use normal fenders. The cable fender is useful when you moor against a wall, such as in a dock for instance. It serves as a first protection against scratches and so.

Traditionally these were made of real natural fibres. These days most are made of various synthetic materials. This cable fender is exposed 24/7 to all elements. So natural fibres tend to degrade quickly, get mouldy and so on.

On some boats you will see the cable fender replaced with a very thick rubber bumper. For instance this Dutch Motorboat from North line.



Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Today I rode my bicycle to the shipyard at Heukelum to see how they were getting on with the Teak on Sirion.

They are still busy cleaning the teak. They are now working on it with three people, so they say Sirion should be ready on Monday afternoon to be re-launched.



Here you can clearly see the difference between the wood that has been cleaned and the bits that have not yet been cleaned.





As with all of these sort of jobs, cleaning and prepping is 90% of the work. The actual oiling of the done is a matter of a few hours work.

I also brought the new VHF antenna baseplate. I wanted to make sure it would fit on the antenna. Very happy to report it does. I just need to drill a few additional holes in the base plate on the mast. I will do that with Sirion back in the water.




Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

I looked at the first pic, and a brain cell bloomed, saying, "rubbing strake." Goggle suggests that it was right

Nice to see the work in progress on the teak.

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... "rubbing strake." ....

When I bought my last car the showroom guys tried to sell me a set of expensive and ugly rubber protectors that went on the side of the doors. I rejected them outright but if they had called them rubbing strakes I would have probably bought them.

[Jeroen]

On Friday afternoon I called Rien to hear how it was going with the teak on Sirion. Very pleased to hear he had all finished. He told me they had to use three coats of oil, because the teak was so dried-out. Sounds good.

The crane has been booked for this Monday 13.00 hours. So I should be back in our marina around 1500 hours. I also called the marina to inform them, Sirion would be back. When you leave the marina for more than a single day you are supposed to notify the harbour master. He/she can then use your mooring to accommodate visiting yachts. You let them know two days in advance when you are returning. Its important for a marina such as ours, which is just a society/club run by volunteers to have as many visitors during the season as we can. Brings in a lot of revenue!

But without a boat, doesn't mean no nautical adventures. Yesterday I took my bicycle on the train to Leiden. From there I cycled along the oude Rijn (Old River Rhine) to Woerden. Woerden had its annual harbour days. I had been there before. Nice event.

Just before I got to Woerden I noticed this Drammer 935 moored along a canal.



Nobody onboard. It is the same yacht as Sirion but without some of the features. (e.g. no mast, less teak and so on.). Still nice to bump into these sister ships.

The harbour days in Woerden always attract a good number of classic ships, mostly tugs, but they always bring in some of these gorgeous-looking yachts.



Lots of classic tugs!



There are also a lot of these little push/tug boats. We call them "opduwer". They were used to push barges through the small canals. They are proper workboats. No creature comfort. Just about indestructible!

You will see some more in action too.



I did not do a count, but there must have been about 40-50 tugs and about 30 of these "opduwers".





Along the harbour are market stalls. Some of them are showing stuff, e.g. models, and others are selling stuff.



They also have some old (stationary) engines. I liked this one, it was actually running. You can still see the stern of the ship. So it gives a good idea of how the engine and propshaft were installed. It's an old Danish engine, Hundested. It was built in 1954, 70HP, RPM 90-365. 27 liters. It weighs 3,5 tonnes



Some more engines



Another engine was positioned on a barge.





Lots of "opduwers".



Some more impressions





Here another well-known steam tug, "Jan de Sterke" from our local nearby town Gorinchem.



As I arrived they had just started a "bollard pull contest" for the "opduwers".

If you look closely at the image of "Jan de Sterke" you see a tug moored in front of it. With some guys handling ropes. That rope is attached to a device that can record bollard pull. All the "opduwers" got a turn. Here you see them, waiting for their turn.



Here one of them is doing its bollard pull run.



This guy had its engine belching out a lot of dark smoke!!



By far the smallest tug was this tiny, electric one! Dad with two of his kids, being out on the water, very happy!



I look forward to tomorrow. I hope the teak looks good! And of course, to have Sirion back in the water too.

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

Wonderful, as ever

What are these opduwers? These small tugs look almost like toys! But I would not be surprised to hear that they do or did have a serious working role.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Wonderful, as ever

What are these opduwers? These small tugs look almost like toys! But I would not be surprised to hear that they do or did have a serious working role.

These opduwers were made from about 1900-1940’s. This was also the time where (diesel) engines were introduced in barges. Owners of those barges had to decide to add an engine to their sailing barge or get an opduwer. Many choose for the latter. It had a number of advantages. No smelly fumes inside the barge, no vibration. (Remember whole families lived on those barges). Also, adding an engine and diesel tank would take up precious cargo space. Having a separate upduwer also meant you could use it as an icebreaker and so.

So most of these were owned by barge skippers, often with older barges for who it did not make sense to install a diesel engine.

Most of these opduwers were used in a push configuration. Because on canals it is the most convenient. But the could also operate as tugs.

They are usually between 4,5-6 meters in length and a beam of approx. 1.5m. Water displacement anywhere from 1-3 tonnes.

Always diesel engines, from about 6-50 HP.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Today I picked up Sirion from Rien and his team. They did a very good job with the teak!

I arrived at about 12.30. It was horrendous weather. Rain, lots of wind. But Sirion was still inside, so I could do a good thorough inspection. And I was very pleased.



Look at the swimming platform



The aft cockpit looks nice, including the ladder.





Rien had suggested not to clean and oil the decking itself. It looks in good condition, and as you walk across it all the time, it would quickly start to look worn in odd places.

The sides of the sliding roof have been treated, but not the roof itself.



This bit needed some repair and it was well done!



She is looking sharp again!



Not sure I mentioned this earlier. When we hauled Sirion out of the water, we noticed one of these little shells was missing. I bought a new one when visiting the Linssen Shipyard at a nearby ship chandler. Rien installed it for me with some sort of super putty/glue.



Sirion was the only boat left in the paint hall, so getting her out was a lot easier!

I readied all the fenders and the various lines. I also installed the new VHF antenna base. I will need to drill two holes, but for now it holds.



Back into the crane, with the guy on the Segway doing his magic thing!!





Checked a few things for watertightness. Pressed the shaft seal to suck in some water, so it is properly cooled. Ran my departure check list, started the main engine and sailed back to our home marina.

I am very pleased with the work done. And that it was all done in a weeks time.

Looking forward to taking Sirion out of some more summer sails.

Jeroen

[arnieshwartz]

All in all, this is indeed a fascinating thread! Great pictures to boot! I have enjoyed reading your posts, right from the pre-purchase inspection, the upgrades post-purchase, the walkthrough of the Linssen facility, all the way to the recent refurbishments on your yacht. I must say the wood looks great, with all the grain texture coming out nicely.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The wood treatment has made Surion look new!

[Jeroen]

My eldest sonLuc and his wife Maloeke and our grand son Ben had rented a little bungalow for a two week holiday in the Province of Overijssel.

Mrs D and I went to visit them. Whilst Ben was having his afternoon sleep Luc and I went for a little exploration trip. We ended up in Ommen, very nice little provincial town.

We checked out the marina and found, would you believe it, two Drammer 935!

The first one was a regular Drammer 935



We had a little chat with the owners.

The second ones was a Drammer 935 Classic. The very same one that was moored next to Sirion in our home marina a few weeks ago. Small world. We had another chat with the owner.



Very pleasant conversation! Luc and I also agreed on our next trip together. I will be sailing Sirion to Schiedam, just west of Rotterdam. The next day we will be sailing back and forth to Middelharnis. A nice old town in the province of Zeeland. This whole trip will be on the big rivers partly amongst BIG oceangoing vessels on the “nieuwe waterweg” in Rotterdam

Looking forward to it!

Jeroen

[maheepgupta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Look at him, that's my boy. Driving Sirion the whole day as if he had never done anything else!!

Jeroen

I am looking forward to do it with my son some day

[Jeroen]

Yesterday I spent the afternoon fiddling on Sirion! Just several little jobs.

The first thing I did was fix the VHF antenna's base properly. Which meant taking out the tools. I repositioned the base slightly, which meant I only had to drill one additional hole.



With the radar mast in the down position, I could drill the hole easily, whilst standing in the cockpit. The radar mast is stainless steel, so I had brought my sharpest drill bits. Three new stainless steel bolts, washers and nuts. Bob's you uncle once again!



I am not happy with how the VHF coax cable is fed through the radar mast. Whoever installed it wrapped some insulation tape around it to prevent chafing. I took the tape off, no evidence of chaffing and wrapped some more tape around it. I really like to have a proper grommet installed. Not easy as you can't detach the coax from the antenna. I might just try and cut a grommet in half and see if I can somehow manage to wriggle it in.



The next job I had wanted to do for a while, but never got around to it. Sirion came with various tarpaulin and biminis. So I took them all out, spread them out as I tried to figure out which is what so to speak.



By far this one is the nicest:

It will do very nicely on very sunny days. Mrs. D grew up in the tropics and as many people from the tropics, do not like to sit in the sun!



It also comes with two sides and a mesh type of cover (against insects) on the rear.



Whereas it will be great for sun protection, I do prefer Sirion without it! Also, especially with the sides on, it is a real wind catcher. Something to consider when manoeuvring with strong winds.

Next was this tarpaulin. It is to protect the open cockpit when Sirion is moored. Might not be a bad idea towards the autumn perhaps?





Note: I did not install it correctly. One thing the frame for the biminis ought to be taken off so you can tighten it up better. As we are likely to use the biminis through the summer I want the frame to be in place.

We also had this little tarpaulin. It just covers the rear of the cockpit.



I also spent some time doing a bit of cleaning and trying out a few things with the radar. I am not a hundred percent happy with it. I have contacted Michael to talk to him about it.

Next week Friday I will be participating in a full-day Raymarine Workshop in Velp, near Arnhem. That might provide some more answers too.

Jeroen

[co_rubbi]

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[Jeroen]

We had our daughter Ellen, son-in-law, two granddaughters staying overnight. With them was also Hetty, the eldest daughter of our eldest friends Caroline and Philippe. Even though they grew up in different countries, Ellen and Hetty are very good friends.

Of course, Hetty wanted to see Sirion. So I took Ellen and Hetty on a little tour on the Linge. Hetty was a natural when it came to driving Sirion!



Caroline and Philip will be coming to the Netherlands in August. The four of us will be driving to Namur for the famous Temploux flea market. But I dare say, they will want to go out on Sirion too.

Yesterday I visited an oldtimershow in Lelystad. About an hour's drive north from our place. The show was around the main city marina. And apart from the classic car show, there were various other, nautical, activities taking place too!

The Dutch Lifeboat Association was out in full force! With all their new kit, but also a large number of old, classic, lifeboats.



You could go on a tour on these lovely old boats.



All of these old lifeboats have been restored to their original condition. They look good! Mind you, these are still small boats. It takes a lot of balls to go out in a force 10-11 onto the North Sea to rescue stricken mariners! Unfortunately, over the years, a lot of rescuers lost their life whilst out trying to rescue others.

I had not realised we had this many of these restored classic lifeboats. There must have been about a dozen of them. Coming and going all the time.

This one is named after a legendary Lifeboat skipper. Dorus Rijkers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorus_Rijkers ) In 48 rescue missions, he and his crew saved almost 500 people.



I also came across this apparatus. A line-throwing apparatus we discussed earlier on this thread!



They used these to get a line across from the dunes to a stranded ship on our coast. Next, they would get everybody off with this simple contraption. They set it up on the jetty so kids could have a go. But make no mistake, this is how dozens, if not hundreds of sailors were rescued from their stranded vessels on the North Sea coast line!



Some nice old sailing barges too.





Lelystad is also home to the Bavaria. A replica VOC ship that was handbuild here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(1628_ship)



Another replica VOC ship is being built as we speak.



It took less than 2 years to build the original Batavia, but it took 10 years to build the replica!

Jeroen