KAPITEL:
Building and Sailing Thlaloca Dos
Thlaloca Dos' deck plan is straight forward. Looking at the majority of today’s boats, a cutter rig seems the most preferred by far. It wasn’t always like that. In former days, a ketch rig was more prevalent. Not so in Europe, were cutters are abound, and from where I got the idea early on. The advantage lies in the simplicity of the rig. And this means essentially: only one mast, therefore a lot less rigging and number of sails required–not to mention the saving of muchas dineros! The second mast, the mizzen, also restricts the cockpit and aft deck areas. Having said all that, one should not discount some solid advantages of a yawl or a ketch. And the main I judge to be its ability to carry small sails for and aft in heavy weather. The occasional gale may not justify carrying a second mast, but the ability to spread an enormous area of sail in light winds does. Also, a mizzen keeps a boat much more staple at anchor. Like all things in life, everything is a trade-off. We are happy with what we have, and the person with some other rig is likewise.
We
carry our hard dinghy on davits over the stern. Very few hard dinghies are seen
nowadays. Inflatables are easier to handle and raise less hell with topsides.
But they are expensive and vulnerable–meaning
a lot more
attractive to be
stolen!
We put a sailing rig on ours, and this gives us enormous latitude in exploring
while the big boat is at anchor. During extended crossings we lash it on the
foredeck.
The
foredeck sports a solid and substantial piece of teak, functioning as a
bowsprit, which supports a 45lbs. CQR anchor. 200 hundred feet of 3/8 chain are
stored in the forward bilge. In general we anchor the boat with a chain/rope
combination. The stored chain is for heavy weather, for which we have additionally
a 75lbs. stock and an 85lbs. Danforth
anchors. The windlass, unfortunately, is suitable only for rope.
The
mast is stepped on top the cabin in a tabernacle. We wanted it that way for easy
removal
because our aim was to cruise the French and other canals extensively.
Siggi and I are able to do it in about three hours of work. We did it
twice, but since came to the conclusion that the money spent having it done
professionally (or
at least with the help of a crane) is
“peanuts” compared to all that work and worry. Still, with some improvements
in the setup it could be a money saver, and a safety factor in case of
emergency.
The
mast is made by Sound Spar and is 47 feet long and tapered. Required clearance
is 52 feet. Solid steps facilitate easy maintenance. Two Furlex®
roller furls take care of the fores’ls.
The deck is laid teak. Most of it was replaced in the middle 90ties. For many years we tried to keep it protected with Cetol, but eventually found it a futile effort--not that it failed to protect, rather the unsightly appearance of the deck after many application. Also, it made the deck much too slippery.
A
few words about Teak decks; properly laid it is a delight to look at. How to
maintain it that way is another story. What is prevalent for most people,
included myself, we chose the easy way—trenching it with chemicals which
promise wonders, and initially it does. However, after treatments of that kind
over several years, the downside is shock and disbelieve because the chemicals
has nibbled away the soft mass between the yearlings (the hard core). To make it
smooth again one has to sand it and in the process expose the fastenings. The
next step it removing them and sink them deeper (if enough “meat” is left)
re-bung the lot until the next time. If one has not learned then about how to properly
maintain a teak deck, the final answer is replacing the entire
decking—a bitter and costly experience. From that moment on, we only maintain
our deck scrubbing it with Scot-pads moving about on our knees.
During
an Old-Timer-Treff in the Baltic, we inspected 100+years old sailing vessels with teak
decks in perfect condition, so everything is possible with the right care. True,
in those years when the vessels were built, the teak was certainly of much
superior quality than what it is today.
Photo by Giny Adcock