sail – Page 2 – Voilier 'HIR 3'

Gone Sailing… Finally!

On our first sailing trip from Kraljevica to Kornati and back to Poreč, we covered about 350 miles… and our adventure is only beginning! If you would like to join us, please contact me…

19/07/2016 sasa1 Comment

HIR has been in Kraljevica Shipyard on dry berth for almost three months now… I am a patient man, but even I became nervous and was thinking if I would ever set sail…. but then, finally… After we’ve put new antifouling, engine was fixed, mast step and all shrouds and lifelines were replaced, we painted the mast, put the new windex on top, roll system was serviced, new halyards were in place and mast was stepped and trimmed properly… we were ready to sail away:)!

There is still a lot of work to be done, but housing sails and first sailing on board HIR 3 after more than two years of refit deserved a proper champagne and whiskey that I opened after I’ve put a coin under the mast…

Gone sailing… finally! What a great feeling! 🙂

On our first sailing trip from Kraljevica to Kornati and back to Poreč, we covered about 350 miles… and our adventure is only beginning! If you would like to join us, please just fill out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/CTH1fivtGpAG2pPt1

Sails…

Sails are an important and quite expensive part of a boat. When I bought HIR, I got one old mainsail, one completely new mainsail that has never even been used, one old spinnaker, storm jib, storm mainsail and a genoa that has been rolled around the forestay for years without UV protection cover.

11/07/201511/07/2015 sasa2 Comments

Sails are an important and quite expensive part of a boat. When I bought HIR, I got one old mainsail, one completely new mainsail that has never even been used, one old spinnaker, storm jib, storm mainsail and a genoa that has been rolled around the forestay for years without UV protection cover. We took it down immediately and I have stored in in my basement in Zagreb and almost forgot about it.

Recently I decided to have a closer look, so I took the sail out and cleaned it a bit. T be honest, it doesn’t look great, but I decided to patch it up and use it for a while, since I really can’t afford a new one. I stored it in the forepeak for now and hopefully it will work well it light winds, since it’s 42m2… until we get a new and shiny one 🙂

My good friend Marko from Biograd recently got me a slightly used, great looking, big gennaker in a sock which I think will work great on HIR. I can’t wait to try t out!!! Thank’s Marko!!!

A Woman’s Touch

Now I’m sure that if you want to do something properly, in the end… You will always need a woman’s touch…

11/04/2014 sasa1 Comment

I was taking the water out of the bilges and disassembling the wooden elements in the interior, so I can take them out. After a while, Maja came inside and said: ‘This looks even worse now!’ It was really demotivating to hear that, although it was probably true. I wanted to work inside the boat because it’s really hard to bread, but Maja insisted that she also wanted to go in and when she decides something… well, let’s just say that there is no stopping her… She simply doesn’t understand the word ‘No’.

Maja slowly started to clean the galley, so I had no choice, but to let her do it… I tried to pull her out every now and then to get some air, but she just ignored me and kept on working. After a while, when I looked inside, I was amazed. She did an incredible job cleaning. The galley actually looked GOOD! I still can’t believe it. I know that it’s far from over. We will have to sand all of the wood in the interior and varnish it again, but this really gave me hope 🙂

When I finally convinced Maja to finish the job inside (it was time to go home already), she started to clean the deck and the cockpit. Again, she did it with care..

Now I’m sure that if you want to do something properly, in the end… You will always need a woman’s touch… 🙂

Getting closer…

I looked inside and entered in the cabin. I was shocked. I expected she was neglected, but I never could have imagined the horror inside… I decided to go back and have a second look. This time I was alone and this time I actually saw some potential and started thinking that there might be a chance for a restoration…

19/03/201419/03/2014 sasa1 Comment

Everywhere I go I like to look at boats, so when I came to Vrsar in November 2013, I went to see if ‘HIR 3’ was still there. When I saw her it was a bit disappointing because she looked in really bad shape. We stood in front of the boat for probably half an hour and commented on how she looked, where she has been and everything we knew about her. We discussed about how it was a disgrace that a boat of such a pedigree is abandoned, I took a few pictures and posted them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter later.

Next few months I would occasionally remember what we saw in Vrsar, but that was it. Until one day I spend more time thinking and I decided to try to find the owner. I have quite a few friends and colleagues that might be able to find out who he was, but first I tried google, of course:).. and I found an old ad from 2007 on morsko-prase.hr. Back then she was in top condition, but very expensive. After a while, I wrote an e-mail and sent it, but it came bel because it was an old address which was not used anymore, so I googled the name in the address and eventually found another e-mail and sent it again. This time it seemed that it went through. The next day I got a reply from a guy who said he was still the owner and that he was very sad that the boat was in bad shape and that he wanted to sell her.

We met next week in Zagreb and a weekend after that we went to Vrsar to have a look at the boat once again. We were there early in the mooring. It was a cloudy day with strong ‘Jugo’ (southerly wind), low pressure and everything looked very depressing. When we finally made it to the boat, he opened the hatch, I looked inside and entered in the cabin. I was shocked. I expected she was neglected, but I never could have imagined the horror inside. There was water all over the remains of the floorboards, everything was taken out (which was actually a good thing), all wood in the interior was wet and full of mould. Everything looked like from a horror movie. I lost the will to take pictures and my first instinct was just to get out of there and never look back.

We didn’t stay for long on the boat. I left the port and kept thinking if there is any way to save her. I decided to go back and have a second look. This time I was alone and this time I actually saw some potential and started thinking that there might be a chance for a restoration…