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Coucou Polar!
Meryl (@meryl270) a fait une dédicace en soutien de Polar Star:
"Coucou Polar!
Un maximum de force, un maximum de love de ma part, continuez, lâchez rien - et c'est ça comme qu'on y arrive.
Merci beaucoup pour tous que vous faites." - Meryl
❤️💜💙💚💛🧡
All hands on Deck!
We must change Polar’s leaky deck. If we have a waterproof deck, we can build a cosy interior and welcome lots of projects; from longer sails and voyages out of the bay of Douarnenez, to living space, to comfortable meeting space.. and much more!
If you would like to support this project, here is our crowdfunding page ‘ALL HANDS ON DECK‘. For all other support (physical, know-how, materials, kind words), contact us at seaurchins161@riseup.net
WINTER 2022-23
We go into winter mode – lots of ‘invisible’ work at the association’s headquarters: keeping the accounts, making the 2023 calendar, reflecting on how to do things better, congratulating ourselves and eachother about everything we were able to do until now, dreaming and scheming, drawing up plans and finding money to do...
POLAR STAR’S NEW OUTFIT
Is it a warehouse..? Is it a Space ship? No it’s Polar Star and their magnificent shelter! To celebrate this wonderful new waterproof structure, some great musicians come to grace us with their Irish tunes and melodies. Cups of tea and a roaring fire in the wood stove keeps the cold out.
AUTUMN 2022
A few core people announce their leave from the association to continue their life projects in other areas.
The few remaining people take stock and finish to tidy the active last season and continue to discuss the next steps. We would love to build a shelter to protect Polar Star from the winter months
AUGUST 2022
A brilliant sail between BIPOC (black, indiginous & people of colour). Four people in the crew and
nine passengers who learnt the ropes, released the mooring lines, getting the feel of the tiller, and
setting the mizaine sail.
JULY 2022
The stall was a great success. We were able to talk to lots of people about the project, who were very enthusiastic to hear that Polar Star exists. The public was invited to listen to a story teller on the deck of Polar, where there was a huge sail to make shade and a calm space away from the big crowds of the festival. Some money was also collected for the upcoming works.
Unfortunately the security guards of the festival did not want to believe that we were with a ship. Maybe next time, somebody could explain to them that you don’t have to be white, cis and in a sailing smock to have a boat?
Luckily we had the opportunity to sail around the bay, surrounded by dolphins and lots of flotillas of boats of all shapes and sizes
JUNE 2022
The cleat bench is fixed on starboard and we’re going to the print workshop to print lots of beautiful lino prints for the SeaUrchins stall at the maritime festival, ‘Temps Fête’, which will be taking place in July.
BACK TO THE WATER
After 13 days of non stop work, and a fair few all-nighters, we were able to change everything that we had set out to change, and a bit more. So we were at last ready to go back into the water!
Too tired to sail back to Port Rhu, we collapsed onto the deck for a slumber party in Rosmeur. What an adventure!
Thanks so much to all that made this possible
: the amazing cooks, without whom we would have only eaten crisps, to the carpenters for the great work and know-how, to all the friends who came from near and far and brought the good vibes, to the core organisers who gave a lot of love and energy, and the slipway for putting up with our dance moves
MEGA WORKSITE AT THE DRY DOCK
After a few hairy harbour manœuvres to refresh our memories that Polar Star can actually move, we got to the dry dock all so smoothly with a perfect manœuvre. How wonderful the Flimiou rock looks from the sea!
And an amazing crew of 20 people await to careen and make a diagnostic of the state of the hull. Meanwhile, the wood burning pizza oven is being heated, and delicious hot pizzas for all.. all thanks to mates from the Rade de Brest!
We have decided to change four planks and six frames on portside, and caulk mostly everything, everywhere. Let’s get to it.
PREPARATION TO GO TO THE DRY DOCK
Salt water sea cock has been replaced, some last pieces on the motor have arrived and changed, the deck and the bilges have been cleaned, bilge pumps checked, tools tidied and sharpened, friends and specialists are on their way!
We are ready for our first move since we arrived to Doauarnenez in October 2019!
Are we going to manage to get Polar Star out of her nice cosy mud bed at the bottom of Port Rhu
SPRING 2022
The bowsprit is almost ready, but the sampson posts need some TLC.. Or a scarf! One of our carpenters (who happens to be a twin herself) gets down to it! To be able to moor the ship properly, we will be needing some new cleats: so we will be replacing the two at the bow. And we tan Polar Star’s sails at the harbour museum
WINTER 2021-2022
Lots of activities at the sail making workshop to repair Polar Stars sails, at the wood workshop to make the bowsprit, and down in the motor room for the repairs and maintenance!
We have also taken the decision to go to the drydocks in Spring 2022 to change some tired planks and frames. So let the preparations of the big worksite begin
Calendrier 2022
We made a beautiful 2022 calendar with photos of Polar Star and the team.
Contact seaurchins161@rispeup.net if you’d like one for your wall to plot and scheme the year ahead!
Concerts aboard
Three music groups played on the deck, printing workshops, a kitchen and bar in caravans and trucks on the quayside and a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Thank you to Drache, Osilasi (Brussels) and Parcours Santé (Nantes) for coming to make us listen to their beautiful songs and to make us dance!
Stall atTemps Fete
We printed a lot of beautiful engravings, there was the photo album of the site, beautiful meetings and exchanges with other craftspeople.
Servicing the stays
Three people flying in the masts! To brush the shrouds and coat them. The pulleys were regalvanized, the last pully was attached and the rigging was retensioned.
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Caulking the deck
The deck has been recaulked and the joints redone with tar. Thank you to the participants and the caulking irons!
Digny for Polar!
We did a week of work on the Polar dinghy! A nice apprenticeship with a home-made steamer, how to make a jig, use the planer and hand planers. Thanks to Kergavaz for welcoming us!
Workshop without cis men
Busy summer in DZ
With a group of friends arriving from all corners we got busy on deck, inside the hold and up the mast, many new skills learnt and plenty progress made...
Ready for the ropes
The new rail was fitted in place, the pins reconditiond and oiled and ready to go, just need some sails in a breeze to try them out
We are not
all in the
same boat...
Solidarity to all those stuck in real confinement in prisons, detention centers and at the frontiers.
The workshop continues under con19, staying together as a tight crew and planning for the future.
The new spars ...
The logs we cut and brought back from Denmark begin to take shape into the new spars for Polar, first the boom take formwith just the use of an axe and an adze chipping away 2 sides, the 4 to 8 and then the planner rounding it off, now we wait and see how the wood transforms in the next months as it drys and hope for not too many cracks. Next the spar for the mainsail and soon one day the bowsprit ...
Seaurchin for oak
We spent lots of time this winter searching out and getting our heads around the world of buying and sourcing the dry oak we will need for the future work on polar.
An all consuming job that requires planning for years in advance and taking lots and lots of measurements.
With each plank costing several hundreds of euros we make sure to think out and plan to get the little wastage as possible and no mistakes..
(ok well not too many mistakes!)
New frames ...
After a lot of planning and spending lots of time working out the order of the workshop, we start the work of replacing some of the frames on the port side of Polar, essentially where the rigging supports the mast.
The rainy months of febuary were spent taking out the old rotten frames which surprisingly strongly attached and quite a job to take out. We also stripped out everything from inside and took away the kitchen structure on deck, leaving everything easier to access and to work on. Meaning we also had enough old bits of wood to put in the stoves and to keep us warm and dry inside.
Then in March we started to make the templates and cut out the new oak frames, figuring out the ways to fix, and most importantly put in place without taking away too much of the surrounding deck structure! 10 new frames were put in place also the covering board and stringers inside were prepared.
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Polar Party
The 31st of January, the Polar star's crew welcomed the douarnenist in l'abri de la tempête for a supporting event to get some euros to help getting Polar shipshape.
During this event, there was music, tombola, a potography workshop, a fortune teller, a killer game, a buffet, pizzas, cokatails, and lots more...
Thank you to you all for coming and sharing this time with us ; we have got 1800 € which will be used for buying some oak to repair some of Polar's old frames and allow us to start the workshop and get learning together.
Thank you to l'abri de la tempête and its inhabitants, cookers, musicians and technicians, storing team, to the artists, craftwomen, restaurateurices and merchant for their gift for the tombola : Bernad, Lucie, Baba, Greg, le Bar à Tribord, Les Mauvaises Graines, Julien, Hyppo Julie, Pleine Mer, Baptiste, Chez Janine, Lolie Chose, Fulup, le Chasse Marée, Pierre, Maria, Mimi Caroff, L'Ivraie, J.P., Astragale, Lü, Eric, NPA, Elisabeth, Jean, Nono, Charlène, Telenn Mor, Sterenn, Sac et Ressac, Angela, Marine, Mathilde, Micheline, Steven
The workshop continues
After a week of meetings to discuss the future plans with all the crew here in Douarnenez, we continue the workshop on Polar.
We discussed many things from horizontality in the project, non mixite, transmission of skills, the order of the workshop and cooked, argued, laughed, danced and shared lots of ideas.
This winter we found storage, built a stove, took down the topmast, the bowsprit and all the spars, the trees were craned off the deck and the boat was made ready for the work ahead.
Now in the mornings the stove is lit in the galley and if we are lucky the sun shines and melts the frost on deck, or more likely we put on jackets to shelter from the rain.
We are making detailed plans of what needs changing, what frames, bulwarks, stringers and deck planks can be repared or need replacing. Searching for good supplies of wood and planning how we can share all the responsibility of restoring the boat and continue our projects here and in the surrounding area.
If you are interested to be involved, have skills to share or up for learning something new, get in touch and we can share our calendar of events and plans for the workshop.
There is all sorts of things that need doing, from paperwork, cooking, planning events, carpentry, metalwork, electricity..
The idea is to share as much as possible and learn from each other in an empowering way in an inclusive environment. We wont be moving so far for a moment, so you know where to find us.
Brittany!
Looks like we made it! After a month at sea, days in canals and nights in numerous ports, Polar Star arrived in L'Aber Wrach followed a few hours later by Astragale.
The mist gave way and our friends on Rose of Argyll came along side the same day from their trip to Scotland. A welcome back, a homecoming for some and new waters for Polar Star fearing well after the rough seas and swells on the sea.
We headed to land for a hot shower, see friends and maybe a drink or two.
Just one more day sail to Doaurnenez where the workshop will continue after maybe a little rest for all the crew and chance to dry some clothes and find our land legs for a moment.
Into the North Sea...
Out into the unforgiving sea, cargo boats, rolling seas, winds and industrial coastlines. We get out some of the sails, although with a few spars to replace we have to wait to get out the top sails and jibs for the future..
We take some respite in the standing mast canals in the Netherlands and take every weather window to head south towards France.
The occasional stay in a port gives us a chance to discuss together how things are going, how we want to shape the project together and fix all the inevitable problems that spring up.
Changing crews between Astragale and Polar Star, learning the ropes and plotting the course...
Setting Sail!
Still tying down trees, sails, supplies and making sure everyone aboard we let go of the lines and headed out into the Baltic sea. A week of hard sailing for Astragale straight into a southerly gale and a time for Polar Star to get her sea legs.
We headed towards the Kiel canal stopping along the way, practising maneuvers and skillsharing as we go, old hands, new accomplices and first time sailers all together sharing the life at sea. A learning experience for us all and little time to reflect on the past months of over 50 people that have passed by and taken part in getting the boats ready for the voyage. How long to arrive in Douarnenez and what adventures are to come?
Farewell to Denmark
2 months of hard graft, fun times, friends and life in a shipyard, we tie up loose ends, tidy up the workshop and load PolarStar and Astragale ready for the trip south. A couple of quick test sails and with the engine running smoothly, a few larch trees loaded on and a crew of 14 ready for what the sea throws at us.
Motor mission
After a days of looking into the depths of the motor, repairing, changing filters, oil and finding lost screws, the gear box and engine were reunited (after a new lick of paint) and craned back into the hull ready to be wired up and tested in the days to come...
Oil and tar
The days start to get a bit shorter and the rain keeps us on our toes, but we keep going, friends come and go, new energy, tired hands. Tar,motor oil and sawdust follows us around. The long process of caulking the deck gets underway and the electricity is checked and repaired along with new batteries installed and wired in.
A new frame and stanchion are added and we start to look inside the boat to create some kind of temporary living quarters for the voyage to France.
All hands on deck!
August 2019
We start the re-caulking Polar Stjernens seams, starting under the water line. An intense 3 weeks getting the hull ready to put her in the water, including putting in a last minute plank with hours to spare. Still caulking and putting in tar as the crane rolls in.
Now back in the water we start looking at the deck, electronics, rigging and the never ending list of things we need to do. The motor we craned out and hopefully be getting fixed before the end of the month.
Summer 2019
One stormy day in June, Astragale was hiding out from the big seas and shouting winds in a tiny island harbour in the south of denmark, when another sea urchin contacted us with this message: "check this boat out, looks interesting and in the fjord you had a good feeling about, you'se can email them?"
Many of us sea urchins had gone to look at many boats over the past few years. They were often either too expensive, too wrecked, or both. But everytime our tiny hearts fly at the thought of a new possibility.
We checked the link.
Polar Stjernen (Polar Star). A 20m wooden gaff rigged ketch from the northen most point of denmark. Precisely what we had been searching for.
So the scissor sisters, (Since Svendborg we've sailed without cis males.) with the wind filling Astragale's sail, put our heading towards Aalborg and the Polar Star. Via Sweden of course!
After many a sea mile, in all weathers, the scissor sisters came alongside Polar Star in the beginning of July, and the two sister ships finally met :)
And we began the long process of making a decision, based on the condition of her hull. Fun stuff like tearing out the beds and cupboards, workin on the motor, putting a tug boat in the water to pull her across to where she could be put on the dry and craning her out.
Now we plan to continue the work needed to get her sailing, with a big workshop here in Aalbourg during August and September with the aim to get her across to Brittany this winter to continue the work needed over there.
If you want to be part of the adventure of getting her ready to mission down to brittany before .. winter is coming (and it comes early in denmark) get in touch!
2018
A year of sailing with Astragale, voyaging around to cornwall, Bristol and back across the channel to Douarnenez. Taking part in maritime festivals like Temps Fete, Moushole 'Salt and Sails' and Falmouth Classics. We sailed up the North Sea, ending up in Autumn in the Baltic sea, searching around Denmark, Sweeden and Germany for freinds, contacts, boatyards and a bigger sister ship.
Winter, 2019 we passed in Greifswald germany, making new frames, motor work, hull repair and lots of other maintenance needed. Now the voyage is under way and you can check our route with Astragale for the summer/autumn 2019 here...
2017-18
In winter 2017-18 we met the owner of Astragale, from Douarnenez in Brittany, France. He was looking for a group of young, motivated and responsible people to look after his boat and make her sail. In exchange for working on and maintaining his beautiful 1950s 7.60m wooden double-ender sloop, he gave us 2 years of complete autonomy with the boat. Astragale was his project boat, he had rebuilt her during 30 years, but she had not yet been sailing.
We finished the works such as the anchor chain plate, we sculpted new cleats, installed the winches, plumbing, electricity, gas, and finished the running rigging: everything to make her sail again for the first time in 30years! Since we have been sailing France, England, Ireland, Holland and the Baltic Sea to continue our search for a longer term and larger ship which is more sustainable and suitable to house all our projects and energy.
