Sailing the Farm tribe december 2010. Dear friends. Its been a cold november and december (coldest since 1919 they say) It feels more like january with temperatures down to -25 C but work goes forward as usual. We are still working with the sails model and still not really happy with the construction so some time to go before we scale up in real size and start to make it. 5-6 people have been here last weeks. We managed also to melt some hundreds kg of beeswax out of old beeframes which hopefully will be candles in future. Then we also are working on the boat as normal. Im sitting alone in front of the fire and writing up the last Newsletter of 2010. Looking back, 53 people from all over the world have been helping moving "Sailing the Farm" project forward in 2010. All more or less amateurs but they have all done a tremendous work both on farm and on the boat. This adds up to 836 working days or more than 6000 hours! Without this help this project will be impossible to finish.. Im very grateful for all who have been contributed, the laughter and jokes around the dinnertable and most of all the good memories. So when the fire slowly burns out and its time to go to bed, I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful christmas and a happy new year and hope to see you in 2011. Pictures from last weeks: The sailmaking model goes forward. Mr Cat and boatbuilding dog share the couch after a hard day. Boathouse in wintersnow. Peace and love from Sailing-the-farm tribe. <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59898&stc=1&d=1292968656"/><br /> <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59899&stc=1&d=1292968661"/><br /> <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59900&stc=1&d=1292968665"/><br /> -- If you want to join our sea gypsy tribe, please contact us. Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse If you want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
Sailing the Farm tribe january 2011 Dear friends. New year and new possibilites! I bet 2011 will be a good year for our dream project. More and more people are joining to help pushing sailing the farm tribe forward so sofar it looks good. Last weeks we have been working hard on the boat project and farm. Its 5 people here now from different countries from all the world. The farm has also got a few more permanent inhabitants - we found out that its time to get self sufficient on eggs so now we have chickens - hopefully there will be plenty of eggs in a few months time. The indoor garden is growing slowly and wonder of wonder we have now 2 red tomatoes! That is really a slow growing plant! Of more serious farm work we are cleaning 2500 frames in Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or better known as caustic soda which will be used for next years beekeeping project. We made a 2x1 meter box out of 1 mm aluminium for washing those frames, but suddenly found out that this stuff was extremely corrosive. That box lasted only 2 days! Thankfully there will be no NaOH on the boat! Pictures from last weeks: chickens under the green lamp, cleaning beekeeping frames, a boatbuilding girl in front of the boat. Peace and love from Sailing-the-farm tribe. <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61721&stc=1&d=1295653435"/><br /> <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61722&stc=1&d=1295653440"/><br /> <img src="http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61723&stc=1&d=1295653444"/><br /> -- If you want to join our sea gypsy tribe, please contact us. Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse If you want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
If the skipper wears his hat backwards,avoid him. Avoid him like the plague if he chews gum, uses foul languages or calls you "dude." If a white naval hat with gold braid there're old,quiet money. A hard-billed hat, like a baseball hat except that the bill is quite large and juts far forward they're wheel is chrome-plated. A woolen watch cap, there're wheel is almost certainly made of wood (or there might be a tiller). The fellow wearing a traditional yellow oilskin fisherman's hat, wanted to look like Old Captain Stormalong. The always efficient, practical and easy-to-repair Chinese balanced lugsail will serve you well and I highly recommend it for the prudent, lazy sailor.
Sailing the Farm tribe march 2011 Dear friends. The coldest months are behind us thankfully. Daylight get longer every day and soon the springtime will be here. It has been maybe 10-15 very nice wannabee sea-gypsies here last 2-3 months and we have made good progress. We have been working hard on the boat and farm since last newsletter. Since last time we are more or less finished with the dieseltanks and watertanks inside the boat and also fixed the position of the small engine we plan to install. Making stuff for beehives is more or less finished. Cleaning and make wax-moulds for 200 bee-hive boxes took a lot of time but only a few days away finish up this step. Of less serious business, as tradition on the farm goes - we made another igloo this year and its a popular place to sleep during night. Even if its -20 celcius its cozy and warm inside the igloo. Skiing is also a popular pasttime. When spring is coming we plan to grow potatoes, carrots and onion to get more selfsufficient on food. Welding up the deck has also high priority so until then - have a nice early spring (or autumn/winter for those of you in the southern hemisphere!) If you are interested in joining sailing the farm project please contact us! Pictures from last time. 1. The ladies are making wax-moulds for the bees. 2. Cutting wood for next winter. 3. A nice Igloo, very popular indeed! 4. Our birds are taking sun-bath. 5. Out skiing in nice winter weather. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64302&stc=1&d=1300028959 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64303&stc=1&d=1300028966 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64304&stc=1&d=1300028970 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64305&stc=1&d=1300028976 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=64306&stc=1&d=1300028980 -- If you want to join our sea gypsy tribe, please contact us. Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse If you want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
Sailing the Farm tribe early april 2011 Dear friends. Spring is slowly coming and even if it is still snowing it usually melt a little every day. We are into summertime so sun goes down after 2000 so we have long days ahead of us thankfully. There has been many nice wannabee seagypsies last weeks on farm and everyone talks eagerly about the future life of roaming the seas. We have a huge stocks of sailingbooks on the farm so its easy to dream about distance shores and nice sunsets. The work goes forward as normal, we are melting lead for the ballast keel (totally around 4500 tonns). It will be in big V-shaped form, with average weight of around 60 kg. It makes it easier to take them out in emergency. Lead is quite poisonous so we are using masks and work outside. It melts around 300 degress, so easy to use a wood burning stove. The wax-melting process for the bees is finished thankfully. Now we have 150 boxes with clean organic wax. We started this process in october so it was a long and tedious work. If you are interested in joining sailing the farm project please contact us! Comments to the pictures. 1: 3 hardworking seagypsies taking a rest on the couch. 2. the girl with the rooster. Look at the matching colors. The rooster might think they belong to the same tribe. 3. Our Igloo got a nice shaped door. 4. Balancing on a line. A little cold without shoes. 5. Melting lead for the boat. Each weight 60 kg. 6. Time to hit the road again. Our professional hitchhiking girl decide to go south after many month on farm. Deeply missed. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65497&stc=1&d=1301815379 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65498&stc=1&d=1301815386 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65499&stc=1&d=1301815392 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65500&stc=1&d=1301815403 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65501&stc=1&d=1301815409 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65502&stc=1&d=1301815494 -- If you want to join our sea gypsy tribe, please contact us. Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse If you want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
i am notably jelous i would love to help unfortunatly i have no means to get there i am eager to hear of yalls progress
Sailing the Farm tribe late april 2011 Dear sea gypsy friends. Hard to believe but summer arrived early this year! it has been 15-16 degrees last days and we are still talking april! This looks good, our sea gypsies even complain its a little too warm in the boatshed. How fast we forget our frostbitten toes! We are still into lead melting. Biggest problem is actually getting scrap lead to a price we are willing to pay. It seems china is driving up the prices so much so its hard to get scrap metal cheap anymore, but we are more or less halfway through this process. Latest news on farm is: We are now almost selfsufficient on eggs!! we get one each day!!! just incredible. Will soon start to plow the field and start planting potatoes, pacelia (for the bees) and raspberries. Happy easter! If you are interested in joining sailing the farm project please contact us! And as usual some pictures from the last weeks: 1. this girl is a serious sea gypsy. even have a fisherman anchor on her left leg. so together with our 4 other fisherman anchor I think we have enough! 2. second batch of chickens.Its incredible how fast they grow - almost magic. 3. Yes, Spring time is here, cleaning and painting antofouling on the small sailboat. 4. Easter dinner. What else than chinese hotpot! For those landlubbers out there. this kerosene stove is stolen from the boat to simulate that we have a real hotpot table. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=66396&stc=1&d=1303641976 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=66397&stc=1&d=1303641983 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=66398&stc=1&d=1303641990 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=66399&stc=1&d=1303641996 -- If you want to join our sea gypsy tribe, please contact us. Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse If you want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
Got a chicken put on my foot when I was a child. Dad had a kerosene stove and heater on his boats. Give that first sister a hug and smile for me.
Sailing the Farm tribe mid May 2011 Dear wannabe sea gypsies, Its been really nice weather for the last 2 weeks. The bees are busy collecting pollen, and we have been working out on the fields for the last days. The potatoe field is finished so now its just to wait until october to see the result. We found we probably needed mast for the sea gypsy community so we started planting 700 small spruce-trees. Then its just to sit down and wait - some 80 years. It is the sea gypsies of the future who will appreciate this step - but its good to think longterm. who knows. maybe it will be hundreds of boats roaming the seven seas some time in distant future? We are still working on the lead smelter, it will be some time until this step is finished, but goes slowly forward. Finding good lead is biggest problem. If you think you have some skills who could be useful to us and wants to become a part of our happy seagypsy community please dont hesitate to contact us. Minutes from last weeks: 1. two hardworking kiwi/aussie guys on their way to the field to pick rocks! 2. Cooling down the lead smelter with water. the obligatory safetymask is on. getting lead poison is no fun. 3. Preparing the potato field. quite good soil (you can see some beehives in the background there) 4. Planting 700 spruce trees. The seagypsy dog watch the process closely. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67207&stc=1&d=1305179959 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67208&stc=1&d=1305179965 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67209&stc=1&d=1305179972 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67210&stc=1&d=1305179978 -- Want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
Without a workable combination of skill and experience, boat and crew face the harshest and unforgiving of taskmasters.
Put pipe bunks down both sides and the galley in the center. With a junk most of the time you'll only be going four knots. I seriously suggest that you get her in the water and sail her. Sand bags will work for ballast.
And so are the days of cruising in boats that are cramped, dark, smelling of bilgewater, kerosene and crew BO. We've evolved and so have our boats. Big hanging lockers, big opening hatches, portholes, so the ventilation is great and there's plenty of natural light and great waterfront views. Even the kids want there own cabin.
Sailing the Farm tribe mid August 2011 Dear wannabe sea gypsies, Still pouring down, last night it rained 50 mm/m2, which makes the potato field a little wet, but still some time until we have a beachfront at 400 meter above sealevel Its been 5-6 hardworking seagypsis from Malaysia, New Zealand, USA, France and Sweden here now for a long time and . We have spent time painting the barracks which looks really cozy and nice, then we have been working out on the field and also slowly preparing for winter. When it comes to boatwork we got hold of 1 tonns more lead and will continue making ballast for the boat. If you think you have some skills who could be useful to us and wants to become a part of our happy seagypsy community please dont hesitate to contact us. Minutes from last weeks: a. Kiwi-girl painting the barracks inside. b. Directly arrived from Jordan. A mix of norwegian winterclothes and traditional jordan wedding costume maybe c. Biking to the lake to go swimming. Whopping 16 degrees C in the water. d. Painting the barracks outside. e. As usual on thursdays - swedish peasoup and waffels. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71519&stc=1&d=1313417403 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71520&stc=1&d=1313417409 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71521&stc=1&d=1313417416 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71522&stc=1&d=1313417421 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71523&stc=1&d=1313417429 -- Want to receive our newsletter on email: http://list.nett.org/mailman/listinfo/sailing-the-farm
Sailing the farm tribe mid sept 2011 Dear wannabe seagypsies. The first real frostnights have been visiting us, so winter is slowly coming our way. we have had quite a lot of asian volunteers this month and celebrated the full moon with moon cake some weeks ago. (chinese tradition) Last weeks have been mostly used to harvest and prepare for winter. Jam-producion is up to full speed and hopefully we will have enough homemade jam for the whole winter. The bees have got their sugar so they are also ready for a long winter. Most important step now is finish up the roof and also make a new shower/bathroom which will be warm. So until next newsletter, have a nice autumn! Minutes from last weeks. a. A seagypsy girl from Taiwain b. two proud seagypsies just waiting to launch their home! c. Apple harvest. We got 72 kg of jam! d. Lingon-berry harvest. that was totally 26 kg sofar, and still more berries out there. e. The roof had to be fixed. We are getting there! f. Cleaning out the barn for making winter bathroom. g. Wood cutting. We are not sure but we think we got around 20-30 m3 of wood ready for winter. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72873&stc=1&d=1316286909 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72874&stc=1&d=1316286915 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72875&stc=1&d=1316286922 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72876&stc=1&d=1316286927 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72877&stc=1&d=1316286933 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72878&stc=1&d=1316287007 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=72879&stc=1&d=1316287013
Sailing the Farm Newsletter October 2011 Dear Sea Gypsies, The snow is almost here! September and October have been productive months here on the farm, as we have been working hard to prepare for the coming winter. The roof on the main house is nearly finished (with lines so straight it is almost sea-worthy!) The trench for the winter bathroom has been dug; once the pipes are in, these hard-working WWoofers will have no more excuses not to shower! All that’s left will be to install the wood-burning heaters in the barracks, and then it will be so toasty warm it wont even feel like winter. We even have a homemade hot tub, nicknamed "The Potato Pot", and once the sauna is built, our luxury spa will be complete! What better way to watch the Northern Lights, than steaming in a hot tub (that was once a milk storage tank, heated by the magic of a Swedish potato cooker)? Especially when (to the delight of some, and horror of others) we discovered that it is possible to measure the volume of its occupants. Maybe life is getting a little too easy on farm and we have too much time on our hands? Harvest season is over and we are enjoying the bounty of home-grown potatoes, lingonberry jam and apple sauce. Our honey is jarred and stored for the winter, and it makes a delicious accomplishment to the morning porridge. There has been a spate of biscuit making, which is definitely helping us to gain some well-needed winter insulation around the stomach area! However we are already looking forward to next spring, and are busy making plans, dividing the fields into potential orchards, turnips, peas, maybe even pumpkins. There is talk of installing both a greenhouse (for those of you who cannot seem to do without a few tomatoes) and a heated space for growing mushrooms. If you know anything about permaculture, we are very anxious to hear from you, because we need all the help we can get! Finally, we want to welcome six new babies to the farm. Chicks " three white, one brown and two black" have arrived and are giving us constant entertainment. Turns out, chicken TV is much more addictive than the normal kind! Four of the chicks are currently living in the girls' barracks, the last arrived this morning with the first snowfall and we are calling him Tuff, in the hopes that he is tough enough to survive the winter. That's everything from the Sea Gypsy tribe this month. We hope everyone out there is well, and enjoying the autumn! Please take a look at our photos and remember, if you have some spare time, there's always room on our farm for an extra WWoofer or two. The cold is coming, and that means work is about to begin again on the boat. She has been much neglected over the summer, and requires some well-deserved attention! PHOTOS: a.The epitomy of a Sea Gypsy farmer, wearing a stylish hat and riding a 52 model Massey Ferguson tractor. b.Making apple sauce with our steam heater. c.The trial run of our machine of the month, an old-style food processor (acquired for free and in perfect working order, although there was a long evening of head scratching before we realized we were using it upside down). d.Two happy WWoofers, boiling in the Potato Pot. e.Moving home the grass in the fields. http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73755&stc=1&d=1318186087 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73756&stc=1&d=1318186091 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73757&stc=1&d=1318186096 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73759&stc=1&d=1318186145 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=73760&stc=1&d=1318186152
Sailing the Farm Newsletter November 2011 Dear Sea Gypsies, November has been an exciting month here on the farm. We've had Americans, Australians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, English... all of us wwoofers staring at the sky, waiting for the snow to come! It has been unseasonably warm, and we are still working hard to finish all the things that need to be finished before winter arrives. It's already snowing on the mountains, so skiing, ice-fishing and igloo building are just around the corner. The roof is not quite finished, although we hope that by the end of the week we will be eating "Roof Cake" to celebrate its completion. Turns out a 100-year-old roof is hard to fix! But once all the tiles are straight, we will move onto the winter bathroom and then the boat. Other projects this month have included fixing up the chicken coop, turning it into 5 star luxury accommodation. Only the best for our chickens! We have also tried our hand at plowing, which is surprisingly difficult. Maybe there's a reason farmers decided to swap horses for tractors... although we definitely prefer the horses! It might just take a bit of practice to get those furrows straight. Other news... the northern lights have been putting on quite a show this month. Wwoofers have been busy, hunting for trolls in the forest and sending each other on scavenger hunts around the farm. One brave wwoofer attempted to walk along the ancient pilgrim trail that runs through the farm, back to Oslo. If you are interested in coming to help us out here on the farm, please let us know. There is always space, just send us an email if you want to try your hand at roof tiling, giant igloo building, welding, plowing... and of course boat building! We hope all of you are well and looking forward to winter! Check out our photos from this month: a.Slowly scaling down the farm, this English girl worries about life without diesel for our tractor... this guy works best on grass and plenty of oats. b.Wrestling with giant snakes in the trench! c.Safety regulations are by the book. Everyone is wearing earmuffs these days. d.Happy sea gypsies feasting (Australia, France, US, England). http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75065&stc=1&d=1320694322 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75066&stc=1&d=1320694327 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75067&stc=1&d=1320694332 http://weldingweb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75068&stc=1&d=1320694337