It’s been a while now since I returned home to Zagreb and I am getting a bit frustrated because everything seems to be happening very slowly, but my friends are trying to help me.
It’s been a while now since I returned home to Zagreb and I am getting a bit frustrated because everything seems to be happening very slowly, but my friends are trying to help me.
Maja bought a new Croatian flag, info chart, teak oil, polishing paste for stainless steel and a cleaner for the water tank, Zoran was in Vrsar the other day and noticed that one of the stern lines snapped, so he replaced it and said that he will pump out the water from the bilges, I was in Rijeka with Elvis and we bought a new exhaust pipe for the engine, gelcoat filler and a new windex and we ordered a new stainless steel fuel tank.
I new from the start that after years of neglect, all the cables, wiring, connections, control panel and batteries had to be replaced. I don’t know much about electric installations, so I was really worried about that… until my good friend Kruno called me one day and offered to help!
I new from the start that after years of neglect, all the cables, wiring, connections, control panel and batteries had to be replaced. I don’t know much about electric installations, so I was really worried about that… until my good friend Kruno called me one day and offered to help! YES, PLEASE! 🙂
Kruno is an engineer who lives on a 10-meter sailing yacht that he refitted and equipped himself, so he knows everything there is to know about my problems. He anchored his boat in front of Vrsar and waited for me to come. It took him only 15 minutes to make me a shopping list, so he could start working. It took me a bit more than that to buy everything though. Mario who is a member of my ‘Dobro More’ Yacht Club sponsored me and his company ‘Kibernetika’ payed for the most expensive cables for the anchor windlass. THANK YOU MARIO!!
When I got back to Vrsar, Kruno started working on the new electric installation. He was incredible. Really fast and productive. He did everything himself in just a couple of days, including a complete wiring plan. He also saved me a lot of money by fixing some of the old switches and giving me recommendations on where to buy thing cheap. THANK YOU KRUNO!!!
The work is not completely finished. There is still a few more things to buy and install – navigation lights, VHF station, repair the fridge and anchor windlass… but everything else works!! 🙂
I finally decided that it was the time to start painting the interior. I just couldn’t watch the boat like that anymore, so I had to do it to boost my moral:)
I finally decided that it was the time to start painting the interior. There might be more important jobs to do, but I had to make the cabin more appealing. I just couldn’t watch the boat like that anymore, so I had to do it to boost my moral:)
I‘ve put on my working clothes, mask and gloves and then I started… First I put one coat of primer, which actually bleached the wood, and then another coat. After that I painted it and finally I varnished the wood.
It was really a difficult job to do, because even though I opened all the hatches and windows and in spite of the fact that I had a mask on all the time, I just couldn’t stay inside for more than half an hour at the time because of all the (probably toxic) evaporation from the paint. The only real joy was the swim I took at the end of every day.
It was a long and painful process, but it had to be done… The only problem was that when I was finished, it all looked much better, except the bilges that looked simply awful, so although I didn’t plan to do it, I then painted the bilges too.
I know that there is still a lot of work to be done, but I think she looks much better now… 🙂
The first time I checked the boat it was good to see that the original tiller made of solid teak was still there, so I took it off and brought it to my friend Davor for restoration.
The first time I checked the boat it was good to see that the original tiller made of solid teak was still there, so I took it off and brought it to my friend Davor for restoration.
Davor who is a great guy and runs a boatbuilding school for kids repaired a few holes, cleaned it and put some teak oil… and it looked great!! THANK’S Davor!!!
The time has come for the boat to go out of the water. It was actually the moment of truth, because I wasn’t really sure what to expect to find under the waterline which was covered in shells and seaweed.
At 8 o’clock two mariners came on a dinghy and towed the boat under the crane, but the moment we arrived, it started to rain, so I had to wait for a few hours… The whole thing took a bit longer than I expected, but when she was finally on the cradle I was relieved to find out that the hull was sound and that there is no sign of osmosis! YES!!
My friend Elvis came in the afternoon from Zagreb to help me and Maja was in the neighborhood, so we started scraping the bottom and then had a great pizza in Vrsar.
The next day, Elvis and I started early in the morning. First we sanded the hull, then sealed the keel to hull joint, put primer paint and at the end of the day we put the first layer of red antifouling. It was a lot of work for one day, so we rewarded ourselves with a steak tartar and a mojito later in the evening.
Elvis had to leave the next day, so I finished putting the second coat of antifouling and polished the topsides while the guys from the local yacht service replaced all the seacocks and valves, checked the propeller and prop shaft and installed new seals… and she was ready to go back in the water!!
I finally went back to the boat for a few days after a long period of waiting for a good opportunity. A friend of mine, Mario from my Dobro More sailing club borrowed me a great tool – Multimaster, so I wanted to try it.
I finally went back to the boat for a few days after a long period of waiting for a good opportunity. A friend of mine, Mario from my Dobro More sailing club borrowed me a great tool – Multimaster, so I wanted to try it.
As soon as I got there, I started sanding the wooden interior and stripping down the paint with it. Works great, I really liked it… The only problem is that there is solo much wood, which means there is a lot of work to be done.
I was sanding the inferior for almost four days, but there is still a lot more waiting to be done next time.
Summer has arrived, so it was hot and the pontoon next to the boat was full of Italian 20+ meter motor yachts every day. It felt strange working next to these guys, but I have to admit that I really wasn’t jealous at all. I can’t understand why would anyone want one of these motor yachts.
At the end of the day, a skipper from one of the big motor yachts recognized ‘Hir 3’ and was interested if she will sail again. It’s a nice feeling when other people recognize what I am doing 🙂
One of my biggest worries is the fact that the boat is leaking everywhere – next to the mast, hatches, portholes… It will probably take me a long time to fix everything, but I guess I have to start somewhere. I decided to fix one problem – new hatches.
One of my biggest worries is the fact that the boat is leaking everywhere – next to the mast, hatches, portholes… It will probably take me a long time to fix everything, but I guess I have to start somewhere. I decided to fix one problem – new hatches. My friends Andrej & Jelena were going to Trieste to buy some equipment for their boat and I found hatches that I thought would work in the Motomarine catalog, so I asked them if they could buy them form me there. They weren’t exactly cheap, but I have already made the decision to buy them. It was quite a big job to take the old hatches down and to install new ones, so I decided to leave it to the professionals and hired a local boat service company to do it.
They look great and more importantly, they are watertight!! 🙂
I was cleaning the bilges with a sponge which was a really dirty job, but someone had to do it. Water was brown, it wasn’t pleasant and it seemed like it would never end with the water coming from all over the place. There was a lot of small rotten plywood parts inside the bilges, but I came across a round object that seemed a bit different, so I stopped and had a quick look. It seemed like a coin, but it was covered in dirt and I couldn’t really see what it was. I showed it to Maja. She immediately went to the pontoon to clean it so we could se what it was…
It was really cool to see a coin which actually turned out to be a medal from 1981. Adriatic Regatta for 2nd place in category IV!
‘Sailors and shipwrights have been putting coins under masts of ships since the ancient times. The ceremonial practice is believed to originate from ancient Rome. One theory is that, due to the dangers of early sea travel, the coins were placed under the mast so the crew would be able to cross to the afterlife if the ship were sunk. The Romans believed it was necessary for a person to take coins with them to pay Charon, in order to cross the river Styx to the afterlife and as a result of this, coins were placed in the mouths of the dead before they were buried. Another theory for this practice is that the insertion of coins in buildings and ships may have functioned as a form of sacrifice thanking the gods for a successful construction, or a request for divine protection in the future (Wikipedia)’.
Now I know what I have to do with the medal. I will keep it safe until we put the boat in better shape… and than we will organize a ceremony to put the it in place under the mast. I can’t wait! 🙂
Ever since we started working on the boat, the weather doesn’t really want to cooperate, so every time I plan to go to Vrsar, forecast predicts rain, but I now decided that stormy weather won’t bother me. If I can’t go to the boat, I will work in front of our sailing club on the wooden parts we took out from the interior.
Ever since we started working on the boat, the weather doesn’t really want to cooperate, so every time I plan to go to Vrsar, forecast predicts rain, but I now decided that stormy weather won’t bother me. If I can’t go to the boat, I will work in front of our sailing club on the wooden parts we took out from the interior.
There’s a lot of work to be done. First I have to sand everything, than I will try to fix the holes and scratches and finally paint & varnish it all…
Last weekend I started sanding and fixing the drawers. My friends Davor and Mario borrowed me a sanding machine and a multi master tool, Elvis helped me a bit, but it’s still going very slow… and the stormy weather in Zagreb isn’t helping. Patience…
Patience is the word of the week… People think that I am a very patient man, but when I think about HIR, it seems that I just can’t be myself. I wanted to go to Vrsar again this weekend, but the weather forecast was really bad, so I had to give up on that. Instead of working I spent the weekend browsing catalogs and ebay in search for anything that I might like to have on the boat.
I realized that having too much time is dangerous. I have found so many cool gadgets that I liked. Now the difficult part is to restrain myself from buying anything I don’t need right now, so I don’t spend little money I have left. I need it for much more essential things, like crane and dry berth, antifouling, marine plywood for the interior etc.
However, I am trying to do as much as I can, even when I am not on the boat. I have contacted the original owner, Mladen Šutej to tell him about my plans. He was very supportive and I think he is pleased that someone is trying to restore the boat. He told me about a few items I have found on the boat and sent me a cool photo of ‘HIR 3’ in Torres Strait with Australia in the back from 1989. We’ll be back! 🙂
Voilier 'HIR 3' 