More Wharram Catamaran Fiction!

I may not be building a Wharram catamaran right now, but I'm still writing about them.  Some of you may have read my first novel, The Pulse, published in 2012.  If you did, you know that a 36-foot Wharram cat featured prominently in the action.  I have now completed the sequel to The Pulse, and Refuge After the Collapse picks up where the first book ended, with Larry Drager anchored aboard his 36-foot Wharram near the blacked-out and anarchy-filled chaos of New Orleans in the wake of a devastating solar flare.

Refuge will be shipping from Amazon and available at other retailers and bookstores on or before September 23.  I'm posting here to let those of you who still stop by know that I'm having a book giveaway of 10 signed copies to be mailed out as soon as I have them available.  All you have to do to enter to win is sign up for my new email newsletter:

Scott B. Williams Newsletter 

My current work in progress also features a big Wharram catamaran, but is an unrelated story.  I think all Wharram enthusiasts will find it humorous and highly entertaining.  Sign up for the newsletter and you'll be among the first to know when Sailing the Apocalypse is available:

Wharram Catamaran Featured in Novel

As many of you know, I've been writing books for years and now have seven nonfiction titles published, all of them related in some way to the subjects of boats or survival or both.  I have now written a novel, which has been published by Ulysses Press, of Berkeley, California, and has been released in print form this week (the Kindle and other E-book formats will be available on or before July 10).

I wanted to mention this here for those of you who may not visit my other sites, as this novel is a post-Apocalypitc tale in which a 36-foot Wharram catamaran is featured in much of the action.  Here's a look at the cover:

While part of the story takes place in New Orleans and later in the river swamps of south Mississippi, as  this cover image suggests, the other part begins in the Caribbean, where Artie Drager, one of the main protagonists is on an offshore passage with his brother, who is a yacht delivery skipper.  While they are still far from land between Martinique and St. Thomas, a series of powerful solar flares shuts down GPS satellites and all other communications, and destroys practically all complex electronic circuitry.  Artie, who was just visiting the islands on a short vacation, is now cut off from his only daughter, who is a college student at Tulane University, in New Orleans, and is frantic to get back to the mainland and find her after the pulse event.

They continue on to St. Thomas, where they discover that the power grid shutdown is widespread and complete, and leave the yacht there as Artie's brother, Larry, has contracted to do.  In his spare time between delivery jobs, Larry has been building a Wharram Tiki 36 catamaran as his own personal boat, and they make their way to the build site on Culebra to quickly ready it for launch, despite the fact that it is still in primer and most systems are uninstalled.  The big, shallow-draft Wharram cat will have many advantages in this new world of chaos and uncertainty, and confident they can reach New Orleans and find Artie's daughter, they sail for Florida and the Gulf beyond.  Here's a description from the press release from my publisher:

A Compelling Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid
When an intense electromagnetic pulse instantly destroys the power grid throughout North America, there's no guarantee of survival.  And that's what Tulane University student Casey Drager quickly realizes as desperate citizens panic and anarchy descends.  Surrounded by chaos, Casey must save herself from the havoc in the streets of New Orleans.  
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, her father, Artie, finds himself warding off pirate attacks and tackling storms on his Caribbean sailing vacation-turned-nightmare.  Using the stars to guide him toward the states, he wonders if he'll ever be able to find his daughter.  


The first novel from best-selling survivalist author Scott B. Williams, The Pulse is a thrilling narrative of survival amid the violence and disorder following the catastrophic destruction of America's power grid.  "The Pulse reveals what it would take to survive in a world lit only by firelight," Williams explains. "Where all the rules have changed and each person must fend for himself."

I've been wanting to write a novel with lots of sailing action for as long as I've been writing, and now I've finally gotten around to it.  If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it and that you will give me your feedback.  There will likely be a sequel as the ending opens the door for the next part of the story to continue.  Here's a review that was posted this morning on Boat Bits, one of my favorite sailing blogs, which is written by a full-time liveaboard cruiser and former Wharram owner: http://boatbits.blogspot.com/2012/06/pretty-good-book.html

A Few Photos from the Florida Rendezvous

I wouldn't have missed the 2012 Spring Wharram Rendezvous in Islamorada, Florida this year for anything. This was the best one yet, as James Wharram and Hanneke Boon were there to answer questions, talk about the Wharram cats in attendance, and sign copies of their design book and Two Girls, Two Catamarans.  Their visit was made possible by David Halladay, of Boatsmith, who hosted their trip to Florida and gave them a tour of his new shop as well as a day of sailing on one of the Tiki 8-Meter cats he built for a charter operation in Marco Island.  The rendezvous itself, of course, was put together once again by Tangaroa Mark IV owner and Islamorada resident, Dan Kunz, who works tirelessly to make these events the best they can be.

I won't do a full report of the rendezvous here, as I just completed an article for Southwinds magazine that will run in the July issue.  When it is published I will post the link here.  But I did want to share a few photos for those of you who couldn't be there.

This was the scene on the beach at the Lorelei Restaurant, where there were four cruising Wharram cats pulled right up the the shore, from left to right: Tiki 30, Tiki 26, Tanenui, and Tiki 31.

Two schooner-rigged Wharrams: Vince Cameron's Tanenui to the left and Thom delForge's Tiki 31.  I was excited to examine these boats up close, as the Tanenui and Tiki 31 are two Wharram designs I had never seen in person before.

Both of them were really beautiful boats:

There was also an exceptional Tiki 30 present: Ray Barkley's Mahiya, which he built in the Philippines at Andy Smith's yard.  This boat had lots of really nice touches that could be incorporated into other designs such as the Tiki 26.  I took lots of close-up photos of some of the more interesting details, but here is a shot showing how well-appointed this vessel is:

Shown here in front of Ray's boat is Gene Perry's Tiki 26 Inseparable. Gene, who sailed down from Hobe Sound at the age of 87, is a truly inspirational Wharram sailor.  He is without doubt James Wharram's biggest fan and supporter in Florida, having been an enthusiast since he built the first Tiki 21 in the U.S. right after the design won a Cruising World magazine award in 1982.

Gene was clearly having a great weekend hanging out with James Wharram:

I signed a few of my own books as one of the speaking authors on Saturday afternoon, but for me the highlight of the evening was getting new copies of both The Wharram Design Book and Two Girls, Two Catamarans, and having them signed by James Wharram and Hanneke Boon.

Below is the rendezvous organizer, Islamorada resident, Dan Kunz, with Hanneke Boon and James Wharram:

I first met James and Hanneke the Thursday afternoon before the rendezvous, at David Halladay's new shop, where he hosted a grand opening party that evening.  The most interesting project he has going at the moment is the construction of the first foam-core fiberglass composite Ariki 47, an improved version of the classic Ariki.  James and Hanneke were inspecting the work and pointing out small nuances of the design that make their hulls so functional.

This Ariki is a big boat.  Here David is showing James and Hanneke the galley mock-up.  The owner will complete the boat after the Boatsmith crew gets it to a certain point.  But I spoke with David earlier today and he told me they just started on the second Ariki they've contracted to build for another customer.  He's certainly got the space to do it in the new shop.

Planing Deck Lumber and Building Parts for Another Tiki 26

I spent the afternoon surfacing all the cypress lumber that will be used for the slatted forward deck and aft boarding ladder.  This is something I planned to do a long time ago, but just got around to it.  It was a big job with my little 13-inch bench-top planer:

It's getting hard to find clear cypress like these select planks that are 8 and 12 feet long.  Even this stuff has a few knots and splits, so I bought and processed more than I think I'll need to get all the support rails and deck planks out.

 

Good cypress like this is not cheap, but it's a whole lot less than teak, and while it might not look quite as good or last as long, it's also much lighter weight than teak and I think it will certainly make for a nice deck.

The other thing I've got going on out in the boat shed is a paying job building Tiki 26 parts.  These are for a friend who is refitting his Tiki 26 in preparation for extensive cruising.  I've contracted to build two new rudders, the mast and the three connecting beams.  Yeah, I know I said before that building these Tiki 26 style beams is a major pain because of the difficulty of glassing them, but here I go again - building another set exactly to plan.  Here are all the center webs:

The cutting and assembly of these goes fairly fast.  It's all the filleting, glassing, fairing and sanding that seems to take forever - just like everything else on these boats.  In a couple more days, I'll have all the basic assemblies done:

 

Here you can see I've cut the rudders out of a sheet of 18mm Joubert ply.  Since I still have not hung my own rudders, also shown, I was able to use one of them as a pattern.  

 This job will of course cut into my building time, but will also add funds to my project.  It's a welcome change of course, from all the book writing I've been doing.  I just finished up the final revisions for my latest book that will be released in October, but I have a deadline for the next one looming in less then 6 months.  My plan is to work on my own boat alongside the construction of these parts, and hopefully complete the cockpit and decks and get the mast stepped during that time period.  

Photos from the Rendezvous

I'm really glad I made the trip to Islamorada last weekend to attend the 3rd. annual Wharram Catamaran Rendezvous to be held there.  What a great bunch of people and an inspiring collection of Wharram catamarans.  Here are a few highlights, as well as a link to a slideshow of all of my rendezvous photos:

The anchorage near the beach at the Lorelei Restaurant is a perfect location for a gathering of Wharram cats.

Shallow-draft catamarans can come right in to the dining area, as David Halladay's Abaco did throughout the event, picking up and dropping off passengers interested in test rides.

There was a decent breeze all weekend, allowing for some fun Tiki 30 sailing with the spinnaker up:

One of the highlights of the show was this nicely-built Tiki 21 trailered down from North Carolina by Rick Hueschen, who built the boat, sewed his own sails from nothing but the plans, and designed and built a custom, expanding trailer that allows him to easily launch and retrieve the boat.  Rick and his wife and daughter slept aboard the boat using a custom deck tent he also designed and made.

Here's a comparison view that gives a somewhat distorted idea of the size difference between the Tiki 30 and Tiki 21.  I was using an ultra-wide angle lens, so the difference is not really this extreme.

And out in the anchorage, here's a shot of Greg Russell's Pahi 31 and Gene Perry's Tiki 26:

Greg Russell, with the help of his friends Paul and Matt Garcia, sailed the Pahi 31 down to Islamorada from Panama City, in the panhandle of Florida.  In light winds, the trip took 7 days.  They are somewhere out there on the way back now.

Gene Perry is an inspiration to us all, still sailing his Tiki 26 at age 85.  He sailed down from Hobe Sound with the help of a friend.

Dan Kunz, who keeps a Tangaroa Mark IV Plus in the marina at the Lorelei, worked hard to put this event together and organize everything so that it went really smoothly.  I hope this spring rendezvous continues as a tradition for many years to come.

I also got a chance to take a look at a Tiki 46.  This is Kitty Wake, sailed by the Kittles family, who built her in Michigan and now live aboard full time.  They did not make it to the rendezvous, but were moored nearby in Boot Key Harbor at Marathon.

To see all of my rendezvous photos, check out this slideshow hosted on my photo site:

http://photography.scottbwilliams.com/p102437205/slideshow

Insights from a Tiki 30 Delivery Trip

When building or outfitting a boat, it's always helpful to spend time actually cruising on similar vessels to get a better understanding of what works, what doesn't, and why. Taking David Halladay's Tiki 30 Abaco over to Nassau, Bahamas from West Palm Beach, Florida, was just such an opportunity. The non-stop 24-hour first leg of the trip, plus a couple more nights of living aboard both at anchor and at the dock gave me some new ideas about outfitting my own Tiki 26 and steered me away from certain ideas I had been planning all along.

For example, the bar-mounted sliding hatches shown on the Tiki 30 plans seemed like a logical modification to incorporate into my Tiki 26 build. They are slick in operation and offer several different opening configurations. In the real world, however, they become a royal pain and are subject to being torn off by the wind (this has already happened once on Abaco). They can also become head-cracking deadfalls in any kind of a seaway if they slip off the prop sticks that hold them in the half open position. In the fully open position, flipped back on the retaining cords as shown in the photo below, a gust of wind from outboard can also send them slamming down. It's clear to me and to David Crawford, who went with me on the trip and who has logged over 1,000 miles on Abaco that hatches that slide forward would be a better option. So, having learned this from experience, I'm back to planning hatches similar to the ones shown in the Tiki 26 drawings.

One feature on David's boat that I've always known I wanted on mine is the aft net beam and aft tramps on either side of a boarding ladder. I can't imagine being without this as it proved so useful while cruising. It's essential, however, that the tramps are made of good, solid material that can be comfortably stood on, just as those on Abaco are. These tramps become a perfect "back porch" for emptying buckets, washing dishes or whatever, as well as an extra margin of safety for anyone falling out of the cockpit.

Interior space is at a premium in all the smaller Wharrams, especially the Tiki 26 and Tiki 30. One thing that helps is having a place for everything and keeping everything in its place. I've never been a big fan of Wharram's "flexi-space" concept, as an empty hull without built-in shelves and other organization results in a pile of junk. Who wants to live on top of their clothes for days or weeks at a time, or have to move everything out of the way to get at something stored under a bunk? In my opinion, shelves are essential, and though I've already built in a few, after this trip I have begun making and installing even more.

The shelves on each side of the main bunk in Abaco's starboard hull can be seen here. They do not intrude into usable space, due to the shape of the hulls, but are infinitely useful for keeping stuff you need close at hand.

Other essentials that can be seen in this photo are the opening portlight on the inboard side of the cabin, and the opening deck hatch over the forward part of the bunk. In the tropics, getting some air flow into the boat makes all the difference in the world in liveability. Abaco is also equipped with 12-volt fans over each bunk and in the Nav. station and galley.

This view of the Nav. station shows the mounted DC circuit panel that controls all the onboard electrics, as well as other equipment such as an AC inverter, solar panel charge controller, VHF radio, and barometer. After we were offshore, however, I was dismayed to learn that there was no bulkhead-mounted clock onboard, but thankfully, I had my watch. Also lacking was a ship's logbook, but that's another story and has more to do with the racing versus cruising mentality.

Note also the opening portlight in the aft cabin bulkhead. Element II will be fitted with a similar opening port here as well, made possible by the 4-inch increase in cabin height that I built-in back in the early stages of construction.

Back at home this week with a couple of days available to work on the boat, I've been shopping for parts such as portlights and hatches, and working on the additions such as the extra shelves with high fiddles shown below. The portlight frames to the left in the photo are the inner trim rings for the fixed ports on the outboard sides of the cabins. This is the final coat of epoxy before they will be sanded again and varnished prior to installing the Lexan ports. I'm also working on pre-fitting the cabin roofs and planning the companionway openings. My major goal for the next few weeks is to finish the fairing, priming and painting of the decks and cabins, get the hatches and ports installed, and move the hulls out in the open where I can spread them to assembly width.

For photos and more about the trip to Nassau on Abaco, read my post on Scott's Boat Pages here.

Boatsmith Raises the Bar

I've just returned from four days of working for David Halladay at the Strictly Sail Boat Show in St. Petersburg, Florida. This time the job did not involve making sawdust or even picking up a power tool. Instead, we spent the entire time hanging out on Abaco, his Pro-Built Tiki 30, showing her to crowds of visitors who steadily streamed in and out of the cockpit and climbed down in the hulls to look around. Surrounded by gleaming production yachts such as Catalinas, Tartans and Island Packets, we spent a lot of time explaining the Wharram design philosophy to the many who were fascinated by this very different craft.

It was indeed the differences that drew all the attention, and Abaco showed very well with her superb fit and finish that far exceeds the typical homebuilt Wharam cat. Awlgrip paint, professional canvas, custom teak woodwork and top notch gear and fittings put this Tiki 30 in a class all by itself, and David has gone out of his way to insure that it can live up to the quality Boatsmith is known for.

I had not seen the boat in person since last April, when I built the mast and the hulls were just being turned upside down for sheathing. Needless to say, I was blown away by the finished results, which can only be appreciated when viewed as a whole package.

David has made a commitment as the first licensed U.S. Wharram builder to raise the bar when it comes to the quality of these fine boats in an effort to attract more people to the designs. While many homebuilt examples are also finished to a standard of excellence, there are also far too many on the other end of the spectrum that give these boats a bad rap among the general sailing public.

Seeing the final product, has of course, inspired me to get moving again on my own Tiki 26 build. David has incorporated many of the ideas I had planned to use on my boat and has come up with many of his own. In an effort to remember everything I saw, I took lots of pictures of the details. Since there are far too many to post here, I've put them in an online gallery so others who are interested can check them out. There are probably ideas and inspirations here for all Wharram owners, regardless of the size boat:

http://picasaweb.google.com/teaksmith/BoatsmithTiki30AtStPetersburgBoatShow#

Another thing that I found quite positive and encouraging about this boat show was the number of people who came to see it who were Wharram owners or builders. Over the course of four days we met folks who owned or had owned just about every popular size and model of Wharram cat. The Tiki 30 also appealed to sailing newbies who could just sense that it felt right when they stepped aboard, as well as quite a few old salts who said they knew a good sea boat when they saw one.

Sailing On Beat's Tiki 38 in San Francisco Bay

I almost made it to the launching of Beat Rettenmund's Tiki 38, Aluna, back on September 21, as David Halladay of Boatsmith had a big job going at nearby Bay Ship and Yacht in Alameda and I was invited to help. That trip didn't work out, but as it turned out there was some additional work to be done on the job a week after David took his crew back to Florida, so he asked if I could fly out and meet him to help out for 2 or 3 days. This time I was able to make it happen and I'm glad I did. Not only was the project last week at Bay Ship and Yacht an interesting learning experience, but I also got a chance to meet Beat and go for a sail on Aluna.

Aluna is the first Tiki 38 I've seen up close. It is a big boat compared to the Tiki 26 or even the Tiki 30. Beat has done a fine job of building her and Aluna is beautiful without the flashy high-gloss yacht finish many builders fret over. There are lots of nice artistic touches like the axe-shaped stemheads (see below) and the sunburst rays of non-skid applied to the decks.

Aluna has lots of slatted wood deck space and a protected steering station in the pod. Twin motor wells are fitted near the port and starboard hulls forward of the pod. You can see the open motor wells below. That's Beat sitting to starboard and David Halladay standing in the port motor well. At the present time Beat is using a couple of older model gas outboards for auxiliary power. He plans to switch to electric power as soon as he works out the details.

To go sailing in the bay, we motored out a long channel, straight into the wind and chop using the one functioning outboard. It sputtered and cavitated, but got us out to deep water, where at last we could shut it off and bear off on a reach under the unique crab-claw rig.

The crab claw rig requires a lot of fine-tuning and adjustment, and Beat still does not have the final version of the spars, which will be made of bamboo, nor sufficient turning blocks for adjusting the sheets. Despite this, Aluna quickly got up to speed off the wind, feeling much like the smaller Tikis I've sailed. Tacking and pointing into the wind did not go so well, but the rig is an experiment and will take some time to iron out.

It was a great afternoon sail and we were able to return to the dock without using the engine. I needed this, as it has been too long since I've been sailing and too long since I've been on the water anywhere besides the Gulf of Mexico. I'm back at work on Element II today, looking forward to that great feeling Beat must be experiencing now that he is enjoying his new creation finally in her element.

For more about Aluna, visit Beat's website here: http://web.mac.com/mobeyprod/iWeb/Alunatheboat/Welcome.html

Build Comparison: Tiki 26 and Tiki 30

In my last post here I mentioned that I was going to Florida for a few days to help my friend, David Halladay and his company Boatsmith in the intial assembly of a new Tiki 30 he's building as a spec project. Most of you who follow this blog have probably been following his progress on Pro-Built Tiki 30 as well, and have seen the photos I posted last week while I was there. If so, you know we made remarkable progess in the four days I was there, and I'm sure this pace has continued today as I was back here in Mississippi, working on my Tiki 26 again. With the right crew, a spacious shop to work in, and lots of machine tools to handle parts, building a Tiki 30 is not that big a deal. But for one person working alone as I am doing on my Tiki 26, I think there is a significant difference in the ease of construction between these two models. Remember that the 4-foot difference is just an illusion. A Tiki 30 is a lot more boat to build than a Tiki 26. Although I have no doubts that I could build one singlehanded, I knew from comparing the plans back before I made my decision to go with the Tiki 26 that choosing the 30-footer would have considerably delayed my launching date.

Below you can see the two hulls and the eight of us that put them together and completed all the keel filleting and glassing as well as bulkhead fillets and fabrication of many of the other parts in just four days. For one person working part-time and alone, the amount of man hours we put into the project to get this far would stretch into weeks. As you can see here, the hulls are much deeper than those of the Tiki 26, and will look even bigger with the topside panels on.

Another photo that illustrates the depth of the hulls and the height of the bulkheads. The Tiki 30 is a deep boat, but in this size there is still not standing headroom in the cabins, and the Tiki 26 offers full sitting headroom, so there's not much you can do in between sitting and standing when you're down below.

From a construction standpoint, one thing that makes the hull assembly and set-up much more difficult is the addition of the long, low aspect keel that has to be fitted between the lower edges of the hull panels. This keel assembly must be lined up just so or the hull panels will not open correctly when spread for inserting bulkheads. The keel backbone is also slotted to receive the bulkheads, and getting all this together while it's held together with wire and temporary screws requires some patience. Lots of tweaking and adjusting is necessary to get everything to fit correctly, and then once the hull is upright and bulkheads are in place, it has to all be locked down with braces to keep everything lined up and level until the epoxy fillets can be made. This was hard enough even with several people, but would take awhile to do alone. As James Wharram states in his design book, the Tiki 30 and 31 are about the largest hulls of this shape that can be reasonably built in the stitch and glue method. That's why in the initial phase the Tiki 38 is built upside down, so that the lower hulls are easier to line up and keep straight.

So did I make the right decision to chose the Tiki 26? Yes, I think so. It will give me most of the capability of the Tiki 30 for less money and for a smaller chunk of my life dedicated to building it. If I could just write the check and have a crew like David's put together a brand new boat for me, I might consider going larger, but as one who will be mostly singlehanding anyway I will be able to do what I want to do with the Tiki 26. But working on another Wharram design was certainly interesting, as was doing this as part of a professional boatbuilding team. I certainly look forward to following David's progress and to seeing the finished boat. At the rate it's started, I won't have to wait long.

"No necesito un Tiki 30 - un Tiki 26 es suficiente! Let's see if we can knock this thing down to a reasonable size!" (That's me with the hammer - clowning around with the guys) As usual, I had a great time working with the Boatsmith crew, and building a boat in Spanish is a good way to learn new words in a second language.

Back from Oklahoma

I spent most of three days on the road delivering Element, my Tiki 21 to the new owner, who met me at Calumet, Oklahoma, the approximate halfway point between Biloxi and his home in Ft. Collins, Colorado. I left late Thursday afternoon, driving all night to avoid pulling the trailer through heavy daytime traffic in cities along the way like Dallas and Oklahoma City.

The trip went smoothly, with no problems with the trailer and I arrived at the meeting place, which was little more than a bend in the road, at about 6:30 in the morning. The new owner, Bill Cotton, arrived shortly after and we transfered the trailer to his truck and drove off in opposite directions. Although I will miss sailing for awhile until I get Element II in the water, I was not sad to see Element go because selling her has provided the means to complete the Tiki 26, which I know is the right design for my needs. I was fortunate to find a buyer knowledgeable about multihulls and eager to try a trailerable Wharram design, so it made sense to go ahead and sell while I had the chance rather than wait until later in the Tiki 26 build and run the risk of not finding a buyer when I would need the cash the most.

After completing the boat delivery, I was anticipating doing some camping and possibly hiking in some part of Oklahoma, but having stayed awake all night I was running on caffeine and decided to keep driving that day, working my way to the southeastern part of the state on backroads. I managed to keep going all day, until about 4:00 in the afternoon, when I reached a state park at a lake and pulled in to camp at the tent site and get some much needed rest. It seemed fine when I got there, a scenic lake in the midst of rugged, rocky hills, but the tent camping area was unfortunately located just above the boat launching area. I turned in before dark and managed to get a couple hours sleep before all the commotion started. In disbelief, I listened as trucks came and went, people yelled and played loud music, and launched and retrieved boats. This began around 11:00 that night and was still going on at 3:30 in the morning, when I gave up on getting any sleep and broke camp and hit the road again. This experience and the last road trip I did before this one reminded me again why I like sailing so much. Just by the simple act of leaving the mainland, you leave behind the overwhelming majority of the population, and especially the ones that act like that. I used to really enjoy road trips, but mostly out West where one can drive far enough down a forest service or BLM road to get away from almost everyone. It's just getting harder and harder to do so these days in most places. That's why for me it's either backpack into the wilderness, paddle a kayak or canoe, or sail away to remote coastlines and islands. I can't wait to get back on the water in Element II.

Tiki 21 Element on the plains of Oklahoma enroute to meet her new owner.

My not so tranquil tent camping site at a state park in southeastern Oklahoma

Tiki 21 Sold

As I mentioned in my last post, someone recently expressed interest in purchasing my Tiki 21, Element, so I've been busy getting in some last sailing trips before he came to look at it and go for a demo sail this past Wednesday. The wind has been strong and steady for the last few weeks on the Gulf coast, so after my 4-day trip to the barrier islands conditions remained great for taking my girlfriend and her daughter daysailing, and for the demo sail for the new owner. The deal was done after this sail, and Friday I went back to the coast with my trailer and hauled the boat out from a beach near the marina with the help of my monohull sailing friend, Artie.

In the photo below, as you can see, Element is parked on the trailer in front of my Tiki 26 building shed. Although I would like to be able to continue sailing from time to time while building Element II, it's not really practical and by selling the boat I will save on slip rentals and not have to worry about hurricane season this year, which officially started on June 1st, the day we hauled the boat out. Like Segundo Vez, my Hitia 17 I sold last November, Element is going to Colorado, where she will be safe from hurricanes but a long way from the sea. As Thomas Nielsen said, I could be the exclusive supplier of Wharram cats to Colorado! Later this week, I'm meeting the new owner at the halfway point, near Oklahoma City, to hand over the boat to him. After that trip is done I'll be getting back to work on the Tiki 26, ordering supplies and making progress in the long days of summer ahead.


Element ready for the road trip west.

The port hull of Element II, with Element in the background. A long road of hard work lies ahead before the Tiki 26 will be ready to load on a trailer and move to the Gulf.

Sailing Inspiration

Today is my first day back to work on the boat in over a week. Last weekend I took a four-day sailing trip on Element, my Tiki 21, cruising to the Gulf Islands National Seashore just south of where I keep her docked. It was a great trip and provided some new insights on these designs that I will apply to the building of Element II. I'm really looking forward to doing the same trip in the Tiki 26, but I was quite comfortable on the Tiki 21 and spent each night sleeping aboard in one of the single bunks, even though I had expected it to be too hot to do so this time of year. There was a nice breeze each night though, and no rain in sight, so I was able to sleep in the starboard hull with the hatch open, which is much simpler than having to pitch an tent on deck each evening. I cooked on deck using a portable two-burner stove, washing dishes in a bucket and keeping food and other supplies in dry bags on the bunks while underway.

I'm going sailing again tomorrow, to take my girlfriend and her daughter out on the boat for the first time, (and possibly the last). The reason for cramming in all this sailing all of a sudden is not only because of great weather, but because I have a possible buyer coming to look at the Tiki 21 next week, and if he likes it I won't be sailing again until Element II is launched. This is okay though, because if it does sell I will have much more time and money to devote to getting this build finished. It really is hard to divide time between two boats, and selling the smaller one will help me get the Tiki 26 finished much faster. The Tiki 21 served it's purpose, that's for sure, mainly in helping me make the decision about which boat to build and also the complete refit of it taught me a lot about potential problems that can be built out of the new boat by starting from scratch. The man who is buying it needs the trailerability of the smaller design, while I need the extra range and load-carrying capacity of the 26.

I found a new supplier of clear Doug fir lumber this past week and brought home some nice 16-foot 1 x 8 pieces. Today I ripped and scarfed the upper topside stringers for the port hull and when the glue cures these will be ready to glue to the upper topside panels, which are already joined up. I've also spent many more hours sanding bunk fillets and finishing up everything in the lower hullsides in preparation for installing these topside panels, which will hopefully be done in the next few days.

Another Tiki 26 on the Gulf Coast

I was on the coast for a couple of days last week, for a book signing in Pascagoula, and a day of sailing on my Tiki 21, Element. The turnout at the book signing was not great, and the wind was light and variable the next morning when I went sailing. But the interesting part of the trip was that I discovered another Tiki 26 that was built right here in Mississippi that I had no knowledge of. A friend had emailed me a couple of times, saying he had seen a Wharram in the area, so I drove along a riverside road where he thought it might be docked, and sure enough, it was a Tiki 26. I stopped and took photos, then got the owner's phone number from the owner of the dock it was tied to, and talked to him a couple times on the phone. He said the boat has been finished for about a year, and he was unaware of my Tiki 21 or other Wharrams in the area. I'm looking forward to meeting him and seeing the boat again in the near future. He said it sails really well and he frequently takes it out to the barrier islands. Below is one of the photos I took when I first spotted it. It is built to plan and I like the simple, workboat finish that blends right in with the local commerical fishing craft and fits the Wharram philosophy so well.

Preparing the Boatbuilding Shed

Now that I have completed the fabrication of all the parts required to begin building the hulls, with the exception of finishing the second coating of epoxy on some of them, I have turned my attention to the next necessary step - putting a new roof on the shed that I will build them in.
I built this 16' x 28' shed several years ago, but in my haste to throw it together took some shortcuts that eventually resulted in a perpetually leaking roof. No amount of patching would do any good at this point, so back when I decided for sure to build a Tiki 26 earlier this year, I knew that I would be facing the task of tearing all this old tin roofing material off, replacing rotten framing and putting on a new roof with better materials and methods.

After several weeks of working hard for other people, I took the day off Monday and sailed Element, my Tiki 21 out to West Ship Island, one of the barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi. See my post about this trip here: http://tiki21element.blogspot.com/ This much needed break was quite refreshing and the perfect sailing conditions on board a great sailing design was just what I needed for motivation to attack that old shed with determination. I put in 9 hard hours today, getting all the old roof removed and the new framing on. Tomorrow all that remains to do is to add a few more framing members and then screw down the new sheets of tin roofing. Then, I'll clean out the work area and get it organized, and hopefully I will soon begin to assemble the hull panels for the first hull. I plan to post some photos of the shed project after it's all finished tomorrow.