Sailing the Farm - come join our sailing/boatbuilding coop.

[Newfie]

Six,

This guy is doing something very unusual. This is a very old design boat, Swedish life saving vessel, think coast guard cutter before diesel.

He is building it our of aluminum where it is essentially to the original plans and he is cutting the 'planks' out of sheet aluminum. When he is done he will have a very strong and sea worth boat, and never want to see a welding outfit again.

But, yes, way cool.

He also posts here. Check it out.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f92 ... post752487

[zeyang]

uSailing the farm tribe mid sept 2011


Dear wannabe seagypsies.

The first real frostnights have been visiting us, so winter is slowly
coming our way. we have had quite a lot of asian volunteers this month
and celebrated the full moon with moon cake some weeks ago. (chinese
tradition)

Last weeks have been mostly used to harvest and prepare for
winter. Jam-producion is up to full speed and hopefully we will have
enough homemade jam for the whole winter. The bees have got their
sugar so they are also ready for a long winter. Most important step
now is finish up the roof and also make a new shower/bathroom which
will be warm.

So until next newsletter, have a nice autumn!

Minutes from last weeks.

a. A seagypsy girl from Taiwain
b. two proud seagypsies just waiting to launch their home!
c. Apple harvest. We got 72 kg of jam!
d. Lingon-berry harvest. that was totally 26 kg sofar, and still more berries out there.
e. The roof had to be fixed. We are getting there!
f. Cleaning out the barn for making winter bathroom.
g. Wood cutting. We are not sure but we think we got around 20-30 m3
of wood ready for winter.

http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316286909
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316286915
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316286922
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316286927
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316286933
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316287007
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1316287013

[Newfie]

Zey,

Thanks for the posts. It is really great to see someone who is DOING something.

[zeyang]

Sailing the Farm Newsletter

October 2011

Dear Sea Gypsies,

The snow is almost here! September and October have been productive
months here on the farm, as we have been working hard to prepare for
the coming winter. The roof on the main house is nearly finished
(with lines so straight it is almost sea-worthy!) The trench for the
winter bathroom has been dug; once the pipes are in, these
hard-working WWoofers will have no more excuses not to shower! All
that’s left will be to install the wood-burning heaters in the
barracks, and then it will be so toasty warm it wont even feel like
winter. We even have a homemade hot tub, nicknamed "The Potato Pot",
and once the sauna is built, our luxury spa will be complete! What
better way to watch the Northern Lights, than steaming in a hot tub
(that was once a milk storage tank, heated by the magic of a Swedish
potato cooker)? Especially when (to the delight of some, and horror
of others) we discovered that it is possible to measure the volume of
its occupants. Maybe life is getting a little too easy on farm and we
have too much time on our hands?

Harvest season is over and we are enjoying the bounty of home-grown
potatoes, lingonberry jam and apple sauce. Our honey is jarred and
stored for the winter, and it makes a delicious accomplishment to the
morning porridge. There has been a spate of biscuit making, which is
definitely helping us to gain some well-needed winter insulation
around the stomach area! However we are already looking forward to
next spring, and are busy making plans, dividing the fields into
potential orchards, turnips, peas, maybe even pumpkins. There is talk
of installing both a greenhouse (for those of you who cannot seem to
do without a few tomatoes) and a heated space for growing mushrooms.
If you know anything about permaculture, we are very anxious to hear
from you, because we need all the help we can get!

Finally, we want to welcome six new babies to the farm. Chicks "
three white, one brown and two black" have arrived and are giving us
constant entertainment. Turns out, chicken TV is much more addictive
than the normal kind! Four of the chicks are currently living in the
girls' barracks, the last arrived this morning with the first snowfall
and we are calling him Tuff, in the hopes that he is tough enough to
survive the winter.

That's everything from the Sea Gypsy tribe this month. We hope
everyone out there is well, and enjoying the autumn! Please take a
look at our photos and remember, if you have some spare time, there's
always room on our farm for an extra WWoofer or two. The cold is
coming, and that means work is about to begin again on the boat. She
has been much neglected over the summer, and requires some
well-deserved attention!

PHOTOS:

a.The epitomy of a Sea Gypsy farmer, wearing a stylish hat and riding
a 52 model Massey Ferguson tractor.

b.Making apple sauce with our steam heater.

c.The trial run of our machine of the month, an old-style food
processor (acquired for free and in perfect working order, although
there was a long evening of head scratching before we realized we were
using it upside down).

d.Two happy WWoofers, boiling in the Potato Pot.

e.Moving home the grass in the fields.


http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186087
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186091
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186096
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186145
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186152

[zeyang]

Sailing the Farm Newsletter

October 2011

Dear Sea Gypsies,

The snow is almost here! September and October have been productive
months here on the farm, as we have been working hard to prepare for
the coming winter. The roof on the main house is nearly finished
(with lines so straight it is almost sea-worthy!) The trench for the
winter bathroom has been dug; once the pipes are in, these
hard-working WWoofers will have no more excuses not to shower! All
that’s left will be to install the wood-burning heaters in the
barracks, and then it will be so toasty warm it wont even feel like
winter. We even have a homemade hot tub, nicknamed "The Potato Pot",
and once the sauna is built, our luxury spa will be complete! What
better way to watch the Northern Lights, than steaming in a hot tub
(that was once a milk storage tank, heated by the magic of a Swedish
potato cooker)? Especially when (to the delight of some, and horror
of others) we discovered that it is possible to measure the volume of
its occupants. Maybe life is getting a little too easy on farm and we
have too much time on our hands?

Harvest season is over and we are enjoying the bounty of home-grown
potatoes, lingonberry jam and apple sauce. Our honey is jarred and
stored for the winter, and it makes a delicious accomplishment to the
morning porridge. There has been a spate of biscuit making, which is
definitely helping us to gain some well-needed winter insulation
around the stomach area! However we are already looking forward to
next spring, and are busy making plans, dividing the fields into
potential orchards, turnips, peas, maybe even pumpkins. There is talk
of installing both a greenhouse (for those of you who cannot seem to
do without a few tomatoes) and a heated space for growing mushrooms.
If you know anything about permaculture, we are very anxious to hear
from you, because we need all the help we can get!

Finally, we want to welcome six new babies to the farm. Chicks "
three white, one brown and two black" have arrived and are giving us
constant entertainment. Turns out, chicken TV is much more addictive
than the normal kind! Four of the chicks are currently living in the
girls' barracks, the last arrived this morning with the first snowfall
and we are calling him Tuff, in the hopes that he is tough enough to
survive the winter.

That's everything from the Sea Gypsy tribe this month. We hope
everyone out there is well, and enjoying the autumn! Please take a
look at our photos and remember, if you have some spare time, there's
always room on our farm for an extra WWoofer or two. The cold is
coming, and that means work is about to begin again on the boat. She
has been much neglected over the summer, and requires some
well-deserved attention!

PHOTOS:

a.The epitomy of a Sea Gypsy farmer, wearing a stylish hat and riding
a 52 model Massey Ferguson tractor.

b.Making apple sauce with our steam heater.

c.The trial run of our machine of the month, an old-style food
processor (acquired for free and in perfect working order, although
there was a long evening of head scratching before we realized we were
using it upside down).

d.Two happy WWoofers, boiling in the Potato Pot.

e.Moving home the grass in the fields.


http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186087
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186091
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186096
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186145
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1318186152

[zeyang]

Sailing the Farm Newsletter
November 2011

Dear Sea Gypsies,

November has been an exciting month here on the farm. We've had
Americans, Australians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, English... all of us
wwoofers staring at the sky, waiting for the snow to come! It has
been unseasonably warm, and we are still working hard to finish all
the things that need to be finished before winter arrives. It's
already snowing on the mountains, so skiing, ice-fishing and igloo
building are just around the corner.

The roof is not quite finished, although we hope that by the end of
the week we will be eating "Roof Cake" to celebrate its completion.
Turns out a 100-year-old roof is hard to fix! But once all the tiles
are straight, we will move onto the winter bathroom and then the boat.
Other projects this month have included fixing up the chicken coop,
turning it into 5 star luxury accommodation. Only the best for our
chickens! We have also tried our hand at plowing, which is
surprisingly difficult. Maybe there's a reason farmers decided to
swap horses for tractors... although we definitely prefer the horses!
It might just take a bit of practice to get those furrows straight.

Other news... the northern lights have been putting on quite a show this
month. Wwoofers have been busy, hunting for trolls in the forest and
sending each other on scavenger hunts around the farm. One brave
wwoofer attempted to walk along the ancient pilgrim trail that runs
through the farm, back to Oslo.

If you are interested in coming to help us out here on the farm,
please let us know. There is always space, just send us an email if
you want to try your hand at roof tiling, giant igloo building,
welding, plowing... and of course boat building!

We hope all of you are well and looking forward to winter!

Check out our photos from this month:

a.Slowly scaling down the farm, this English girl worries about life
without diesel for our tractor... this guy works best on grass and
plenty of oats.

b.Wrestling with giant snakes in the trench!

c.Safety regulations are by the book. Everyone is wearing earmuffs
these days.

d.Happy sea gypsies feasting (Australia, France, US, England).


http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1320694322
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1320694327
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1320694332
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1320694337

[zeyang]

Newsletter December 2011.

Dear Sea Gypsies,

Things are looking very Christmassy now, as the snow falls and we
prepare to delve into the forest on the hunt for the perfect Christmas
tree. Snow isnt quite at head-height yet, since its been a tropical
December. Today shows a toasty -10 on the thermometer. Woofers are
holding their breath, waiting to see some proper winter-conditions,
thus facilitating giant snowmen, igloo-building, skiing, and perhaps a
model sailing ship crafted from snow and ice? Anything is possible on
the farm!

This month however has been a sad one. Our friend and one of the
seagipsy family, Casper, died a few weeks ago. At almost 14 years
old, he was happy, eating many waffles, until the end of his life. We
buried him in a peaceful spot overlooking the raspberry patch. He was
a beautiful dog with a beautiful heart; we know many of you loved
Casper and he will always be remembered.

Other news is that, after a much-needed trip to the Canaries for some
of us for some serious sailboat spotting, we are back and working hard
to...yes, you guessed it, work of the roof which is now thankfully
finished! Otherwise we have been trench-digging, honey-stirring,
shed-cleaning and wall-painting, trying to finish everything that
needs doing before our beards and toes start to freeze. All of us are
itching to get back into the boat shed however, desperate as we are to
start sewing the sails, melting the ballast, carving the mast and
welding the deck...only a few more steps until our beautiful sailboat
is ready for her maiden voyage!

If you want to join our happy sea-gypsy tribe, feel free to drop us a
line.

Have a good Christmas everyone, and remember to put out a big bowl of
porridge for the Fjosnisse. This gnome lives in the barn and he can
get cranky if he doesn't get his fair share at Christmas!

Pictures of the month

a: Finding a nice christmas tree in the forest.
b. two pretty mermaids painting the storage shed inside.
c. Casper, our beloved sailboat dog passed away this month.
d. and again, merry christmas to all of you from all of us!


http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1324226133
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1324226141
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1324226147
http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1324226152

[Newfie]

Z,

Saw you over on CF also. Good stuff.

Happy Holidays.

How's the boat coming? Launch date?

[zeyang]

hi,
if all goes as planned we will launch in 2012.

ze

[Newfie]

Good stuff, then onto something completely different.

Our plans keep going back and forth. Today's version calls for me to take a sabbatical (at least) and do an extended trip to Greenland this summer.

We have two boats; a 44'er here in Philadelphia area, and a 33'er in Newfoundland. I was going to take the 33, which is pretty much kitted out for single handing. But events have shifted to cause me to take the 44 from Philadelphia, a longer trip.

So I have been going through the kitting out process. Autopilot, radar, ais, bigger winches, drifter(?), pactor modem, etc.

It all adds up to quite a bit. Much of this because I will be solo, so I need the additional help.

We will haul in March, do a bottom job and some welding. I need to stiffen the radar arch, move the radar, do some work on the sprit, etc.

Then splash and go.

Yesterday I bought a 12lb (4kilo) roast beef and 'canned' it (put up in vacume glass bottles in a pressure cooker) for the trip. There is a lot of work in prepping for a voyage.

[SeaGypsy]

Make sure you have plenty of drogues Newfie, a 44 foot keel boat will smash most drogues the first tim you really need them. I suggest the only unbreakable version/ lots and lots of knotted ropes. Mate of mine got 5km of climbing rope from an army auction for a few hundred dollars, made 5/ 1km draglines, knotted every meter/ worked brilliantly for his 44 steel schooner.

[davep]

Make sure you have plenty of drogues Newfie, a 44 foot keel boat will smash most drogues the first tim you really need them. I suggest the only unbreakable version/ lots and lots of knotted ropes. Mate of mine got 5km of climbing rope from an army auction for a few hundred dollars, made 5/ 1km draglines, knotted every meter/ worked brilliantly for his 44 steel schooner.

Ooh, that's a great idea.

[Newfie]

Make sure you have plenty of drogues Newfie, a 44 foot keel boat will smash most drogues the first tim you really need them. I suggest the only unbreakable version/ lots and lots of knotted ropes. Mate of mine got 5km of climbing rope from an army auction for a few hundred dollars, made 5/ 1km draglines, knotted every meter/ worked brilliantly for his 44 steel schooner.

Galerider + one other. Thanks.

[SeaGypsy]

Man that sounds like some serious fun, I'm more than a tad envious.
Currently I am utilizing my boatbuilding skills in a wood rot repair business doing renovations work on old houses, it's great coin, but it's keeping me out of the water (and off it).

3rd year and second (last) baby into a marriage where my wife swore to sail anywhere with me..... you know how that tends to go...
But it's not all dried up for the old SG, a business partner just leased a large industrial shed nearby and is keen as I to build a certain kind of boat.

You may think I'm barmy, as this is about as far from ....
Think
Proa/ L 38' (LH 22') W 18' Pacific alignment (main hull to lee)
Under the water inspired by Phil Bolger/ sharpie/ long chine.
Rigged w/ double windsurfer style, fully flexible stayed at boom. (Patentable bamboo laminate masts)
Cabin alignment inspired by http://www.proafile.com/archive/article/teh_pookie
Constructed from bamboo fibre laminate vacuum moulded in a steel mould.


Nobody has ever done anything like what I'm talking about, so it's the exact opposite of working from a set of plans. I'm looking at about 12 sets of plans and trying to build a hybrid. If it works it should average 80% of maxi speeds and keep 6 people alive on journeys along the western Pacific coast.

[Newfie]

Ambitious man.

My wife will go anywhere in the world on two conditions....
1) She can walk to work and
2) She does not change jobs.

!@$#$%

[SeaGypsy]

The only real motivation to get my wife on board has nothing to do with her sense of adventure, more wanting to keep an eye on her husband's, if you know what I mean.
She loves 40' bridgedeck catamarans and super yachts, out of my league for the time being, but accomodations need to be ample.
The main journeys we are planning are antipodal to yours, lots of tropical island hopping in this part of the world, SE Asia/ Australasia and the Polynesian archipeligo. We need to be light and fast with shallow draft. In lattitudes outside about 40 I would not consider a light multi, but Melbourne's Bass Strait is my scariest ocean stretch and it's only a day or 2 sail. Beyond Eden up the NSW coast is SW then SE trades all the way to PNG 9 months of the year, then some very random wind areas crossing the equator, with some of the stongest ocean currents in the world and cyclones/ typhoons etc.

There is nothing so wonderful as a journey by sail in a ship built by hand, no more serene a purpose, no more peacefull a dream...
Best wishes on your journey me hearty'

[Newfie]

Thanks,

Never been below 40.

Boats are antipodal also, this being a 44' cutter @ a reported 44,000lbs.

[zeyang]

Newsletter February 2012. .

Dear Sea Gypsies,

Spring is slowly coming our way, This winter has been really nice
compared to last winter. It has seldom been below -15, which is quite
out of normal.

We had a really nice christmas on the farm, with lots of friends and
seagypies. This year Santa Claus had an australian accent. We tried to
teach him the only one and important centence in norwegian - "Are
there any nice children here" but in last minute he forgot - but the
"kids" still got their presents. The small ones got proper
vikinghelmets and dress of course.... What else for seagypses?

Else we have been doing regular winter maintainance on the farm and
been looking forward to the spring. The boat project is going forward
working on small and big pieces on the boat. We have been doing some
work on how to make a furnace to melt all that scrap aluminum into
more useful stuff like portholes. Casting is not something new. People
have been doing thise for ages. Hopefully we manage to make something
out of brick run on propane or better firewood which we have plenty of
up here. Any foundry and casting experience out there?

Anyway, its quite busy up here now but dont forget to enjoy the early
spring folks! .. and if you want to join our tribe please contact us!

Pictures.

a. Enjoy christmas dinner with friends and seagypies.
b. A young seagypsy quite happy whith his christmaspresent - proper
viking helmet!
c. Out walking the mast. Even a mast need some fresh air these days!
d. We want to duplicate these guys! Anyone with casting/foundry
experience out there? We want to learn!


a: http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1330274085
b: http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1330274091
c: http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1330274096
d: http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1330274103

[SeaGypsy]

Hi Z, I have done a lot of smelting, mostly in glass, then brass alloys and tin mine fining. What you will need is an air drive burner to suit the scale of pot/ furnace you want to run. The cheapest way to build a furnace/ crucible is to use high temperature glass fibre and high grade kalin. You will also need bicarbonate to cook out impurities and you will need to do some test runs to work out your ideal temps and timing. Being in China, you shouldn't have much trouble sourcing off the shelf casting gear? I know it's more fun to do it yourself, but having built a lot of furnaces and equipment, I would suggest the less efficient option for small scale casting. The last set up I built cost me about $400 in materials and could heat up 4 liters volume to 1300 Celsius over about 8 hours. That doesn't count about 3 days work. It is not easy even if following a formula. Fine tuning burners on such apparatus is an art in itself and if you don't get it right, you never get anywhere near temp.
I would look into an electric hobby scale furnace and forget doing any large smelts unless you luck in with your woofers and find one who has done a lot of this stuff before.

[zeyang]

Newsletter April 2012. .

Dear Sea Gypsies,

Still some time until we are ready to put the seeds into the soil. Its
more or less -5 degrees C during night last weeks but daytime is above
zero.

The days have been spent welding and welding and when we havent done
welding we have spent time troubleshoot welding machines. They have a
tendency to break down unfortunately. So we bought 2 more big
machines. We also got hold of another ton of lead. There seems to be
no end to how much lead we need for ballast.

Ahh yes. We got more chickens on the farm. one of our hens found out
we need some easter chickens this year and she missed by 2 days. Not
bad. The small one is a little shy so its hard to take a picture
without getting attacked by the angry mother.

Today it will be traditional easter-dinner here on the farm with
people from near and far. Wish you all fair winds and following seas
and hope you all have a peacful easter.

picture from last weeks.

a: our chickens are enjoying longer and warmer days.
b: two more welding machines arrived on the farm.. It seems we cant
get enough welding machines.
c: Our easter chicken arrived 2 days before easter.


http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?at ... 1333813538
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