Shining Cassiopeia - varnishing finished

The varnishing stage is finished. I put 10 hands of varnish and I'm very thankful to those who helped. This phase seemed neverending - 10 times sanding the boat and putting new layer of varnish.

But the result looks fine and I'm more than happy 😊

I made an excellent job with the help of my family, friends, schoolmates and my new Perles's tools.

Feeling grateful

I feel very excited since I've received new tools from my sponsor. 😊
I'm sure I would  finish Cassiopeia one year earlier if I'd had such quality tools from the beginning.

Huge thanks to Perles! 

Using high quality tools makes work much easier

I'd like to share some thoughts about the beauty of the wood.

When you work with natural material as wood you can feel the life in it.  Different types of wood have a very partical smell and it's so different to plastics.  Many trees had to fall first, but during the work process the wood becomes alive again.

  

A lot of hand work, little details and love bring life into wooden products.

                                  This is the beauty of wooden boats - 
                                  you can feel they have a soul.






  

Cooperation with sponsor - PERLES tools

For those who didn't read all my blogs I 'd like to make a brief review of my work.
I started to build a unique wooden schonner four years ago and I invested around 6000 work hours in this project.
The schooner is called Cassiopeia and is almost ready. During the process I got a lot of new experiences and I had to overcome many challenges but the satisfaction is enormous.

I realised that making a boat on your own is even more difficult than building a house. A lot of hand work, stability calculation, irregular shapes, carving massive wood etc. 
I'm very grateful to all my donators, sponsors and friends who helped me realise my dreams. The most supportive was my family.





The past weeks were quite busy-  a lot of never-ending sanding and focusing on details. Also finishing the interior, electricity and little artistic details that will make Cassiopeia special.

 

Having good tools at work is very important.
I used the drilling machine that my mum gave as a gift to my dad when they were at my age and it's still working! That's amazing. And I'm so glad that the same company now called PERLES has become my main sponsor. I'm sure that using best quality tools will help me finish the boat faster.

The biggest challenges during the work process

One of the hardest works was fixing the topside and bulwarks, made up of massive oak wood.
 Follow the photos how I managed to curve massive wooden boards:

 

The next challenge was covering the deck with teak:

 

And finally the balance calculations and fitting the ballast. But first I had to lift Cassiopeia for about  60 cm using the hydraulic lift

 

Back again

Dear friends!

I'd like to announce that my beautiful Cassiopeia has been almost finished. I'm twenty now and I've invested around 6000 hours of work into this project.

First, I have to apologize to those who followed my blog since I've stopped writing it for a while.
I was quite ill last year and I had other challenges to deal with, but as soon as I got better I continue the building process. I'm stronger than ever and ready to put my beauty into the sea very soon.

Yes, I managed to install the new engine 😊, constructed the interior, put teak on the deck and finished a lot of details, everything handmade.
Today I'd like to share some latest photos with you and thank to all my friends who are helping me  at works. 

Can you imagine that yesterday I was buying the interior lights and the stove?

Cassiopeia - stages of construction

The following works will be my challenges and occupation in the near future:

• buying and installing the motor
• abrasion of the hull and fine epoxy application
• completion of the deck with teak wood
• mast erection
• equipment assembling
• inboard furniture
• making of sails

Thank you to everybody that is supporting me!
Slowly I'm raising funds for a new motor.
Indiegogo campaign looks a bit exotic for my followers but it's never too late to join and support wooden schooner building at  http://igg.me/at/dan-cassiopeia   

Oldtimer sailing event in Piran

During Internautica boat show, which was held at Marina Portoroz, I stopped with works for a few days. I exhibited Cassiopeia and promoted the project to publics.

After this event the working days continue. Latest news in the next blog.
Follow me at http://igg.me/at/dan-cassiopeia

And the most exciting news! I was joining "old- timer sailing regatta in Piran" as a crew member of Roberta. No need to tell how beautiful this sailing boat is, just see the photo. Living a dream!!

 

Roberta III, over 100 years old
sailing boat 
Juhuhu!

 
Sandokan on the right-
May sister Lara, age 16, helming Sandokan!
Bravo Lara, najmlajša krmarka na regati. 

      

Greetings from Piran - old timer sailing regatta 2015

For the first time joining this regatta when I was 14 with my Sschkrgha.
Prvič na regati starih bark v Piranu kot najmlajši udeleženec s svojo jadrnico pri 14 ih.
Schkrgha je sedaj naprodaj.