Showing posts with label R. Show all posts
Showing posts with label R. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
R I P Dora the Explorer
July 5 2015
When we arrived back in Oz after nearly three years sailing in South East Asia and Europe, we had visions of just getting by with our motor bike for transport but soon decided we really did need to buy a cheap car. Karen found us a 1998 Ford Explorer on a Facebook garage sale page for just $2k. Quickly christened "Dora" for obvious reasons she has been an integral part of the family for almost two years now. Not only has she transported us all over the place, she has been a fantastic shed on wheels as we have done all the work getting “Our Dreamtime” ready to cruise and our rental property sold.
At different times, she’s been loaded up with anchors and chain, full wardrobes of sails, outboard motors, pallet loads of line, all sorts of assorted parts and provisions and towed trailer load after trailer of ‘stuff’. In fact her back seats have rarely been in the up position as she was normally to packed to allow that luxury. In all that time she just kept on keeping on and never required anything more than two new tyres.
Dora’s version of air conditioning may have been to wind the windows down, her armrests may have been replaced with unique pine versions hand made by the old farmer who owned her previously and she may have been a bit noisy but she really has provided outstanding return on investment through her loyal service to us. Karen became quite fond of Dora and despite the fact that in our pre-cruising days we have owned a number of ‘nice’ cars including Porsche, Nissan Z car, Range Rover and HSV Commodore, came to describe her as the best car we have ever had.
Then last Friday, just weeks before we are due head off cruising the Great Barrier Reef and Dora was due to be given a well earned rest she broke her heart. A loud noise indicated a problem which was followed by a fairly rapid loss of power. Karen was fortunately able to will her to keep going a short distance longer and made it into a nearby shopping centre car park where she was left for the night.
Starting up the engine the next morning revealed absolutely ZERO oil pressure and awful noises under the bonnet. No doubt about it. Dora’s condition was terminal. It took quite a while to actually empty everything out that she was carrying and cart it back to the marina in a small hire car. The next task was where in hell to put it all on the boat.
Sadly she’s headed for the wrecking yard where she’ll be an automotive version of an organ donor and hopefully parts of her will live on in others.
Thank you Dora for your awesome service. We would of loved it if you’d just kept going for another four weeks and why couldn't you blow up just before we filled your fuel tank with $100 worth of fuel instead of just after.
All is forgiven though. We'll miss you.
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| Dora's final parking spot. So sad! |
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Thursday, 7 June 2012
More Curly Douglas Fir Paddles from R C Cross
Blog reader R.C. Cross has submitted more photos of some paddles made with curly Douglas fir. The first one on the left was the paddle previously featured in a post back in 2012. The remaining two are new creations.
R.C.'s curly Douglas fir paddles
The material for the paddle on the far right was from a 2x4. It was joined with a spline of black walnut to make the width. Lovely contrast and stunning grain patterns! Below is a closeup photo of the blades. The grain pattern on the middle blade is very much like the banding patterns on Damascus steel blades. Wow.
Blade Closeups
In addition, R.C. acquired a curious set of paddles along with a 1917 Old Town Charles River wood canvas canoe. Each paddle has a very large 9 5/8" width blade. R.C. notes that they appear to be factory made but research has turned up a blank on the origins. They are apparently not from Old Town Canoe Company.
The paddles are available for sale and R.C. is accepting offers. If interested, check out his classified ad on the WCHA site with more details, additional photos and contact info.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Design 1401 C1 C2 37 R O R C Auxiliary Sloops
Just when we think we have identified all S&S built by Carlini of Italy, we find these two addition builds. The two boats were built in 1960. They are simple boats designed to rate under the R.O.R.C. Rule. Construction is of conventional scantlings: white oak backbone, steam bent white oak frames and single planked in mahogany with Everdur fasteners.
Please find below an updated list of Carlini built boats. We have added these two projects and we now find a total of 20 boats built by Carlini between 1956-1984. Many have been posted on this blog site. You can simply do a search in the field provided at top by either design number or boat name. Looking at the list I would hazard a guess that the boat built for Dr. Combe may have been named Kiwi, based on his second Carlini boat built two years later.
Here's the list. Please double click for zoom.
Here are the plans.
Principal Dimensions
LOA 37'-3"
LWL 25'-5"
Beam 10'-0"
Draft 5'-0"
Displacement 13,291 lbs
Ballast 4,200 lbs (outside) 200 lbs (inside)
Sail Area 590 sq ft
LOA 37'-3"
LWL 25'-5"
Beam 10'-0"
Draft 5'-0"
Displacement 13,291 lbs
Ballast 4,200 lbs (outside) 200 lbs (inside)
Sail Area 590 sq ft
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