My Sailing Book Now Being Printed

The proof copy of my new book arrived by courier today. I have approved it and it is now listed on Amazon for pre-order, with a publication date of 30 April. It is a rather large book at 680 pages in an 8.5 by 11 inch format with 315,000 words illustrated by over 2400 colour photos, charts and maps. The Amazon.com link is: SEQUITUR - to Cape Horn in Comfort and Style and the book is now also available on Amazon.ca here.

The book details the 2009 to 2012 voyage Edi and I took from Vancouver down the west coasts of the Americas, around Cape Horn and up the east coasts.

The Floor Has Been Laid

We received another batch of photos this morning showing that Zonder Zorg's new iroco floor has been laid.

In this view, we see that the double-glazed windows have now been installed, but that the countertop in the galley has not.

This photo shows that the salon settee has been completed and that the galley cabinetry nearly so.

This view looking aft from the master's cabin shows the storage shelves beneath the starboard side deck. The sliding cupboard doors have been temporarily removed to ease the trim installation, which appears to have been completed.

The interior construction is nearly finished, and appears to be awaiting only the countertops, the gas cooktop, the sinks in the galley and heads, the lighting fixtures, the upholstery, the salon table and the new accommodation ladder. We are impatiently waiting for further updates and counting-down the weeks before we return to Zonder Zorg. Only five to go.

Update From Friesland

We remain in Vancouver, patiently waiting as our one hundred and five year old Zonder Zorg undergoes her mid-life transformation. We have received some more photos showing the progress. Here, most of the old paint has been stripped from the roef.

The roef now appears to have been primed.

The iroco planks are stacked on the top, ready for the installation of our new floor.

Looking inside we see the tools and signs of much activity.

Trim has been tastefully added, leaving a very bright and clean-looking interior, without the ponderousness of too much wood. While we like wood, too much gives a boat interior a sombre, coffin-like feeling. We're still too young for that.

Some nice detailing has been added to the area around the settee. Here we see the vent on top of the central heating radiator along the aft bulkhead of the salon.

Here we see that the shower basin and floor in the heads have been poured. Although we have not received photos showing the galley, I am assuming that the countertops there were poured at the same time.

Surface preparation appears to be in progress for the exterior painting. Yesterday we were sent the following work schedule:

• This week we are finished with the woodwork.
• Next week we start the interior painting.
• Next week we start the outside painting.
• Techniek we try to finish by the end of May.
• So I think you can come over the first week of June.

This is five weeks from now, one month later than we had initially planned, but we must remember it is a boat.

The Galley is Coming Together

Yesterday we received photos showing the beginning of the appliance installation in the galley. The oven and the dishwasher had been placed.

Today among the photos sent to us, we see that the cabinet doors have been hung. The dishwasher looks wonderful, and will allow us to cook and entertain to our hearts content, without concern about clean-up.

It looks like the timmerman is nearly ready to add the countertops.

Meanwhile, the workers are scraping the paint back to bare steel, getting Zonder Zorg ready for her appointment with the painters.

In the engine room we see that the installation of equipment has begun.

Up forward, the bed has been built and it is now awaiting its 160cm X 200cm mattress. We were in contact with the upholstery company yesterday, and they are scheduled to visit Zonder Zorg today to measure the bed and the cushions for the salon settee.

We are pleased with the pace of work.

Refit Update

We have received another bunch of photos of the progress with Zonder Zorg's refit. The first one shows a detail of the port forward corner of the galley and the bulkhead separating it with the heads. The line in the upper centre of the picture is the drain from the blackwater tank going through a very robust gate valve and thru-hull. Also shown are some of the electrical runs and copper plumbing from the hot water tank.

This shot shows that more of the freshwater plumbing has been installed, with runs for the dishwasher and the galley sink and continuing through the bulkhead for the shower, washbasin and toilet. Drains, traps, vents and valves are also in place.

This view shows two SaniVac systems, the one on the left under the galley sink and the other under the washbasin in the heads. Also in the photo are propane lines for the cooktop.

Here we see the installation of the galley cabinetry has commenced.

We are delighted with the larger side windows, and with their placement. The views while puttering in the galley will be wonderful.

Looking aft from the galley, we see that the construction of the salon settee is nearly complete. There appears to be huge storage space easily accessible beneath or behind the seat cushions.

The old rear window has been removed and it will be replaced with a new double-glazed version. Through the window is a crane hook and sling, lowering the engine into place for a fitting session and to more accurately map-out the remainder of the engine room. Klaas told me that the engine was then removed so that they could begin the installation of the other engineering components: generator, inverter, battery banks, furnace and hot water heater.

Zonder Zorg is scheduled to be hauled to the paint shop on 30 April and we are impatiently waiting for her to be ready again to play on the canals.

Progress on Many Fronts

We have again received photos showing the progress of work on Zonder Zorg. The first one gives a general view of the interior looking aft through the framing for the bulkhead between the galley and the heads.

Looking aft, we can see that the bulkhead between the heads and the master's cabin has also been framed, and beside the worker's head, we catch a glimpse of the toilet.

This has been mounted on the bulkhead and we see beside it the Saniflo, the automatic pump, which will take the wastes to the blackwater tank. Marine toilets have certainly come a long way from the days of clunky fixtures, hand pumps and the attendant complexity of levers, valves and clogs.

Further forward, in the master's cabin, we see some finishing details, with a set of shelves installed in the kick under the foredeck, just aft of the mast step. To port, the space has been nearly completed for the installation of the washer and dryer. To starboard is the access to the former crew accommodation, the large space under the foredeck.

Here, in what we will be using primarily as storage, we have decided to leave the original woodwork. It appears that the workers have built a box to house the additional freshwater tank.

Moving aft into the salon, we see that the sliding doors have been installed to enclose the shelving under the side decks. The window frames have been removed, and we assume that this is to have their double-glazing installed.

The hot water radiators for the heating system are being installed.

The framing of the salon settee has begun. The interior work appears to be progressing well, and with a little over four weeks to go to the end of April, it appears that it is on schedule. Boating again in early May seems a distinct possibility.

There has also been progress on other fronts. Last evening I completed the second editing of my book: Sequitur - to Cape Horn in Comfort and Style. It is a big book, 680 pages formatted on 8½ by 11 inch paper with the 312,860 words illustrated by 2422 colour photographs, maps and drawings. I have now begun the final proofreading, and will begin discussing the fine details with the publisher next week.

Also, Edi has begun a blog, posting a daily photo with caption: A Day in the Life of Zonder Zorg
Her aim is to illustrate the day-to-day happenings as we move into and enjoy the next phase in our lives, canal boating in Europe.

Continuing Refit Progress

We have received another set of photos showing the progress of work on Zonder Zorg. The salon side windows are in, though nothing has yet been done with reworking the aft window nor the steps.

The interior sheathing has been installed above the kick of the side deck, and it is nearing completion on the lower faces.

Looking forward, we see that the portlights have been boxed-in.

The new Fischer-Panda generator has arrived and is being unpacked and readied for installation. It is one of the new Hybrid Power models and it is rated at 6000 Watts DC. It is designed to be interlinked with battery bank, inverter and shore power through intelligent controls so that the most efficient power source, or combination of sources, is used to meet changing power needs. Most of the time the smaller amounts of 240V power will come from the batteries through the inverter. The battery levels are automatically monitored and recharged from shore power, or when not connected, then automatically by the generator. By intelligently monitoring the battery bank, the generator’s operating time is significantly reduced, reportedly by more than 70%. In reading through the manual, I see there is an available easy override of the automatic system.

To celebrate the progress on Zonder Zorg, we continued to draw down the cellar. As a desert after dinner last evening, we started into a bin of half bottles of 1976 Karl Joh. Molitor Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Beerenauslese.

The cork had just made it through its three dozen years of use, the wine having permeated to within a few millimetres of the end. It was seized in the neck, and needed a push inwards to get it moving, and even with slow, gentle extraction with a Screwpull, the cork was so mushy that the bottom half centimetre separated and threatened to remain in the neck. Fortunately, I had anticipated this, and managed to keep it all on the screw, without a crumb in the wine.

After the drama of drawing the cork, we were rewarded with a wine of light golden colour with very slight paleness at the edge; truly remarkably bright for its age. It had a subdued honeyed nose with hints of botrytis and smoke and aromas of butter, figs and apricots. In the mouth it was delicate and slightly oily, with flavours of buttery caramel and apricots, very clean and well balanced with a lingering finish of dried fruits and hints of spice. It was a remarkably vigorous wine, still rather fresh after more than three dozen years. Delightfully, there are more of these in the bin.