Details for Manufacturer Identification Code ZEX

The “Oseberg” Ship - constructed approx. 800 AD

Ever think about how many “double ended” boats have been built throughout history. What did the designer of our boats (B.M. Mueller) look at for reference material? There’s an excellent article in the September/October (2001) issue of “Good Old Boat” magazine written by Robert (Will) Brigham called “The Viking Yacht.” There are tables showing comparisons between boats like this and newer pleasure craft of today. Our boats today may be more advanced in construction techniques and materials, but we’ve not moved too far beyond what might have been the original “cruising” ideas created by the Vikings of years ago. I guess you could say “it’s really hard to improve on a basic function of a round wheel.”

If you haven’t had a chance to check out this magazine yet then log on to their web site at [http://www.goodoldboat.com] and preview some of their features.  It’s one of the best magazines on the market today for providing variety, substance (like information you can actually use) and a healthy mix of facts, enjoyable stories and pictures.  They also have lots of advertisers that are geared towards the type of rebuilding and restorations that you won’t find in other publications. If you’re wanting to find 29 places for bareboating in Bimini, the get one of the others... these folks aren’t into that marketing approach.

This is a note of appreciation from me to the manufacturer... Seems that after I’d peeled the hull on Atlantis and was looking at the gazillions of blister pockets of various sizes and shapes, I wanted to open each one up and fair the surrounding edge to permit more drying and have the shape somewhat prepared when I go to rebuild the hull. I had to “suit up” with tyvek and respirator and gloves and glasses and by that time, I was still inhaling enough dust to afffffeccccccct my typpppping! So as an alternative, I found someone who had already done enough of that in his past and designed an attachment for small as well as large grinders that would permit you to still have good visibility and pull off that dust with a vacuum. It’s called a “dust muzzle” and they have a pretty complete web site at [http://www.dustmuzzle.com]  It’s a great addition to your tool box and even more to your health.

Challenge - Here’s your chance to prove to everyone that you can still do two things at once... Get a deck of cards and then log onto this site [http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html] - Now deal out the cards for a game of solitaire. If anyone asks what you’re doing, tell them you’re busy watching for a Nordica going thru the Panama Canal while you try to win a hand of cards. You should be able to accomplish both jobs if you’ve got a bit of time on your hands! Hope you enjoy it. - LM

Ever wished you could just type in one address and get some seriously good weather information... give this one a try! Their address is [http://www.wxadvantage.com] - It’s good to check out the options before you leave the shore!

Here’s a good question from an owner with a N-16 with some water below the cabin floor (not the cockpit area.) He’s not sure how it might have got there but has found a small drain hole in the forward end of the “footwell” in the cabin. He’s not sure if this was a “factory installed” feature or whether someone else has taken the liberty to add it later. If this rings any bells with you and your boat, how about sending a reply on what you know about it to the website and we’ll publish it for others to read. You can also contact the owner with the question directly at [htholman@pei.sympatico.ca]

I’ve received quite a variety of questions on the subject of water in the cockpit (and cabin) areas on N-16’s - everyone seems to have solved their issues in varying methods. Once the snow melts, some photos of how you solved your issues would be great to see for others who haven’t figured out their solution yet. Thanks. LM

It’s always great to hear from an owner who has resolved a common problem with some creative thinking, elbow grease or some other form of higher thinking... Jim (the owner of Tik Tak) wanted to replace the rub rails on his Halman 20 but couldn’t find any suitable material to do the job. The rails were still in reasonable shape but were very discolored. His neighbor (who is a commercial paint rep.) suggested painting them with an elastomer acrylic paint as a base coat and then using a plastic paint over the top of the first one. So he tried 2 coats of “Cloverdale” elastomer acrylic, with two top coats of “Flecto” plastic paint on top. So far it’s holding up well and looking good, plus it’s easy to do touch ups when you need to.

So your assignment (if you decide to accept this mission) is to do your homework in a web search for both “Cloverdale” and “Flecto” and find the local rep’s phone number so you can then find the local source (hopefully not too far away) and get your project started. If you like the results the day it’s done, that’s great.... if you’re still happy with it a year or two later... That’s downright amazing and we’d like to hear from you about it. Thanks again to Jim for sharing this tip.

You know how frustrating it is when you want to start a project and you just can’t seem to find the resources you need in order to get started. Seems that one of our readers has a real passion to build his own N-16 in a “strip plank” construction. He’s already asked very logical questions about where he could find plans, drawings or other information that might help him do some loftings, but has “hit the wall” due to the fact that we don’t know where this information might be.

If you have any knowledge of where any drawings or plans could be found or if you’d like to play a part in helping him get this project started by taking some dimensions off of yours, why don’t you send an email to [Thomas@ok.com] and maybe he would even consider making two of them... Would be a nice design to see done this way. C’mon and give him a hand.

Here’s a great question that I’ve received from quite a few readers. Seems that there’s several ways to skin a cat, but how many ways are there to rig your N-16? The question centers around the issue of attaching your main shrouds (as in from the top of the mast) to the aft most chainplate... this doesn’t seem correct at first glance, however if you have the “swept back” spreaders rather than the “straight” ones, it does appear that the tension might be going to the best location. I’d like to hear from both of these groups - ones with straight spreaders and those with the swept back versions. If it’s something that was done at a specific timeframe (i.e. maybe before 1978-?) then it would be good information to pass along. Let’s hear from you - and if you’ve got some good detailed photos of your rigging, that would be useful as well. Thanks. - LM

I’ve had several readers inquire about spare parts for their “Renault” single cylinder diesel engines. Seems that somehow in the design .... some of the parts simply wear out, so if you own one and want to keep it purring along, you’ll eventually have to find a source for parts. In trying to find some reasonable resources for help, I did find a couple of probable sources (one in Texas of all places) and “Jim” (the one who couldn’t find the water pump impeller) found another source at [ http://www.renaultcouach.com ] - They helped greatly to solve his problem.... maybe they can solve yours too. - Thanks Jim

Received an interesting email recently from Cap’n Jim... Seems that he made a discovery about the small round forward ports on the N-20... He thought they opened in some way but found out after fooling around with them for a while that the actually “screw in from the outside”... Some of you may already know that but in case you didn’t, you can check it out. Jim wanted to get some air in the V-berth and was looking for a way to get a screen there in place of the port. Still sounds like an option if you can figure how to make a frame (with screen) that could be replaced for the evening once you’ve settled in to your anchorage!

Here’s a “heady subject” ... to say the least! Cap’n Ken has managed to wear out the “porta-potti” and has been looking for a replacement that has the “controls” (as in knobs, levers, push buttons, etc.) located on the top side of the unit. Seems that most of them he’s finding have controls mounted on the sides or back somewhere and with the limited space available in the N-20, it would require some additional carpentry work to make it usable. If you’ve located a good replacement candidate and wouldn’t mind sharing your discovery, send an email to me on the “Feedback page” and I’ll publish the remedy for all to enjoy. Thanks-LM

Over the past few years I’ve received quite a few inquiries about where to find either parts (as in replacement ones cause mine just bit the dust!) or documentation for the RC-8-Renault diesel engines. Thanks to Cap’n Bernard, he told me he found an “on-line operators manual” at this site... give it a try! [ http://www.motoren.boten.nl/cgi-bin/index.cgi ] - I’m just taking a wild guess that you might have to read some other languages, but when you’re sailing, you’ve always got time! Good Luck.

Seems that Cap’n Woody sails his Nordica 20 off of Amherst Island (Kingston, Ontario) and is in the process of restoring her to the original condition. She didn’t have a trailer when he bought her, but has since acquired one worthy of a retrofit to her hull. He’s wanting to know if anyone has some form of “trailer specs” that might show something about the location and height of the support pads. Even a good photo of your N-20 on her trailer might help. Send him an email at [Woodiwiss@aol.com] and see if you can help him out. Thanks.

Would you like to see what a 144 year old sailboat looks like.... she really looks pretty darn good! Check out the website by the name of [http://www.bertaut.com/sail1854.html] - it’s a nice bit of history about the boat called “Petit Corporal” and if you do as much maintenance on your Halman or Nordica, someday I’ll post the link for your boat when she’s that old! Enjoy.....

Another nice find recently is this site... [http://www.twogypsies.com/index.html] - a terrrific opportunity to read and see some great sailing photos,geography lessons and perspectives of how our lives compare to those in other parts of the world. It’s a real treat to find someone who has documented their travels so nicely. Thanks for sharing with the world. - LM

I’m not sure exactly who said “patience is a virtue” but I always liked this one better - “The secret of patience is doing something else in the meantime” - so Cap’n Valerio and I have been doing other things while this photo and text was out there in space to be read by someone - and it’s finally happened after a little more than three years!

From a reader in the Germany, comes the information that she’s a “Condor-7” - and was probably built in about 1970 in a Bavarian shipyard near the well known lake “Cheimsee.” The builder was Hulmuth Stoberl and this boat developed a certain following in the circle of bluewater sailers. A Bavarian single handed his boat (like this one) called “Solveig III” around the world two times in 1967 and 1979. Later versions ended up having a much more flattened stern.

In the time since Cap’n Valerio first sent me the photos and questions about the “identity” of his “Allegra” it has been a task that I took on first out of curiosity but after finding nothing and then nothing again, it became more of a search to see if the internet really had any information stored out there that it wasn’t offering to me - so now I’m relieved to find how nice it is when information connects you to people and people connect you to information! Once I read the name and did a Google search for it, the first item that showed up was a listing on Yachtworld.com with one for sale. Yep, it’s a small world isnt’ it? Check into [ http://www.yachtworld.com/yachthandel24/ ] and learn something more than either of us knew yesterday. My personal thanks go to Cap’n Fuerle from Germany for solving of this mystery. Now I have to figure out how we’re going to solve this “pizza deal.”

Seems like there’s all kinds of “dobbletenders” around yet. Some are well known and some are simply “lesser known” due to their area of manufacturing or distribution. In any case, here’s a link that I found very interesting and rich with details about this line of boats. If you’re a previous Capn’ of one, let’s hear from you.

                         [http://rexhenrik.se/AHolmersSpace/Havsfidra/havsfidra.htm]

Here’s a subject that has been asked about many times from owners wanting to refurbish the molded rub rails on their Nordica sailboats. It’s been asked by both the N-16 and N-20 owners....

“Where can I find some replacement rub rail stock for my N-XX - The old one looks so cracked, chipped and poor that I need to solve this quick or the other owners on the dock will be pointing fingers at me!”

I don’t think it’s that bad for other owners to have something to do, but these boats were built from 20+ to 30 + years ago and the source for “new rub rails” just might not be in business yet - most likely we can say he’s retired on some humongeous powerboat in the Bahamas - just so there’s no false illusions here.

Anyway one of my e-mail contacts (for many years now) wrote recently of his unique situation - maybe some of you have already experienced the same issue but if not, and you’re wanting to fix that “rub rail.” issue this weekend... think again! Cap’n Ernie was pleased to find the time to remove only one side of his while he continued with work on sealing up the deck to hull seam (hidden under the rail) - looked like a good thing to do and all went well until he started to reinstall the rail. Seems that this almost 20 ft length of extruded shape - had shrunk! Not just a little but by almost 12 inches. This isn’t something many of us would have worried about but now there’s little choice to replace anything and that foot long gap isn’t going to look too good on one (or both) sides of the boat, so he tried heating it, baking it in the sun which seemed to have little or no effect. Finally out of frustration and keen insight (happening at the same time) - he managed to stretch this darn thing with the use of friends and a “come-along” - better known now as a “rub rail stretching device” - you CAN get them at the local hardware store.

The moral of the story is simply to “plan on being surprised when you work towards refinishing your favorite boat” - there will always be something that “jumps out of the woodwork” just when you thought you had life (and your boat) all figured out. My reply to Ernie included my sympathy and my general “non-surprise” at finding that the material would shrink that much, but it was based on my theory that many rub rails are extruded in long semi-molten strips, they get cooled in a bath of water and go on to live somewhat normal lives in the same place, bolted down with the same screws for 30 years - while the sun, rain, heat, cold and more sun, etc.... continue to bake the ingredients (plasticizers) out of the material that were put in to keep the rail soft and somewhat pliable for the original installation. When they’re gone and the full rub rail has a chance to shrink further... it’s going to happen and almost with irreversible results. Don’t count on this working for sure because every rub rail will be different simply due to it’s “weathering history” - some boats live in the barn half the year and overall have seen 50% less sunlight. You might want to consider removing it as a section at a time and working around the general inconvenience for clear access to the hull and deck seam - it would not be a pretty sight to see your come-along snapping violently against your neighbors new car when the rub rail simply breaks from being too brittle. As I said before - be prepared and expect surprises in the strangest of places.

If you’ve also had some experience and exposure to working with your own rub rail issues, send in your story and let’s share the solutions with other. Thanks Ernie for sharing yours. - LM

Here’s a link that someone may be interested in checking out. If you’ve got a VIRE inboard, then this will absolutely be of interest. [ http://gofree.indigo.ie/~vire7/ ] Hope it’s of help to you. - LM

If you’re one of the owners of one of the Halman 21’s - and would like to exchange information about your boat and find out about Cap’n Al’s boat as well, send him an email at [akh@conestoga.net] There’s bound to be some useful clues swapped!  And if you’ve had any experiences (good or bad) with “The Marine Cradle Shop” in Markham, Ontario - send a note as well. He’s doing his homework in trying to find out more about them. Thanks.

If you’ve ever measured the actual headroom in your Nordica 20 or Halman 21 - and remember where you wrote it... find it now and send an email to [ michaelcarman2000@yahoo.com ] - He’s going to appreciate hearing from you.

We all need a grin or two once in a while and I found this photo and the one on the “front page” on a site by the Sacramento Yacht Club - they’ve got enough to keep you rollin’ around for quite a long time. Some will make you think about giving up boating all together and others will simply encourage you to pay attention - so you don’t get on their list. Either way it’s a good deal.

[ http://www.sacyc.com/funny/index.htm ]