Richard
Wed Sep 23 10:37:38 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

Locking pin added to bowsprit to hold Raya 2500 anchor.

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Richard
Tue Sep 22 0:00:00 EDT 2009

Issuma is the red boat behind the white-and-blue fishing boat, Adamantina. Adamantina has the kind of anchor (Northill style) typically seen on Brazilian fishing boats. These anchors are made to order by boatyards.

I had wanted a bigger anchor for a long time. I tried to buy a Rocna, because their 55kg (120lb) model seemed the size I wanted, but Rocnas are not really available in much of South America. In Florianapolis, quite near to where I am now, Ancora Latina makes their Raya anchors. While the very helpful Ancora Latina folks did not have an anchor size that was as heavy as I wanted, their 40kg (88lb) anchor seemed like it would work well for my boat, AND they were willing to bring the anchor over and put it aboard to see if it would fit. Fitting a new anchor can be a big deal, so I took them up on their offer, they drove over with their Raya 2500 and we put it aboard and saw that it would fit with some work.

The boatyard added another anchor roller beside the existing ones, made a lock mechanism to hold the anchor securely in place, and made a cleat (in Brazil, cleats tend to be made, not bought) to tie the anchor down for additional security (it is very important not to have a heavy, sharp anchor ever get loose at sea).

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Richard
Mon Sep 21 0:00:00 EDT 2009

The picture is looking down into the forepeak. The white rope (polyester) is wound onto a stainless steel reel that was built for this space. There is 70m of anchor chain in the chain locker, and not really room for any more chain.

The purpose of the rope is to attach it to the anchor chain, so when anchoring in deep water, 70 metres of chain and up to about 100 metres of rope can be used. This should make it reasonable to anchor in up to about 50 metres of water. As the anchor winch is not designed for rope, anchoring in water that deep is expected to result in good exercise bringing the anchor up :).

Comments [2]

Richard
Sun Sep 20 0:01:00 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

After the sting-like stuff has been put between the planks, a thick, hot liquid called asphaltum is poured into the space between the planks by the ever-smiling grandfather in the picture. The asphaltum is prepared by melting it in old paint cans over a wood fire.

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Richard
Sun Sep 20 0:00:00 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

To stop water going between the planks on the deck of my neighbor's wooden fishing boat, string-like stuff which expands when wet is pounded between the planks.

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Maggie/Richard
Sat Sep 19 8:35:32 EDT 2009, Parati, RJ, Brazil

Just to break up the boat maintenance pictures, here is a church (igreja) in Paraty.

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Richard
Wed Sep 16 11:06:59 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

The windows in the pilothouse were old and getting hard to see thru (polycarbonate fogs up after a few years of exposure to sun), so they were replaced with thicker ones, and reinforcing bars were added to the middle of the window to make them stronger.

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Richard
Tue Sep 15 12:00:00 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

To cool the exhaust, seawater is pumped into the exhaust system. It is done at a piece called a seawater injection elbow (since it is usually bent)--the odd-looking stainless steel piece in the picture of the back of the engine.

When I got the boat, there was a tiny leak in the seawater injection elbow, which really wasn't a problem...just put a small amount of water in the boat, but eventually it would rust out enough to put a lot of water and fumes in the boat, so I wanted to replace it at some point. It is hard to import parts into Brazil, and people are used to making more than ordering, so they made this one for me (and also a spare one, because the hot exhaust gases will eventually corrode this one also).

Comments [2]

Richard
Mon Sep 14 19:32:26 EDT 2009, Navegantes, SC, Brazil

Now that I've been in this boatyard over a week, I can tell that I got lucky with the choice of boatyards. The boatyard I am in, Soldex Estaleiro, is great at getting stuff done correctly and on time. Communication is interesting, as I can barely speak Portuguese, but my neighbor kindly helps out with translations of many things.

In the picture, a new cleat (built from the stainless steel pole the old wind generator was mounted on) is being added.

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Richard
Sat Sep 12 19:30:37 EDT 2009, Angra Dos Reis, RJ, Brazil

Besides being a transportation hub for the area around Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis is also an active fishing port. Each fishing boat seems to own its own truck.

Comments [2]