IS A TIKI 26 A COMFORTABLE BOAT?
The 26 is pretty minimal. Not much headroom and pretty much at the habitable limit when you stick two adults in a hull for any period of time. That said my wife, daughter and myself hung out for three continuous cold and rainy days on board holed up below. At times we were all in one hull reading or playing games. Condensation is a problem. I think that when I deal with the condensation problem, life will be easier. We dealt with it by sticking our sleeping bags in bivy sacks and going with it mountaineer style. Nobody is a complainer. It's mountaineer style. Feel cold, don your parka and fire off a chemical heat pack and stick it on your belly.
I've slept in a lot of dubious places and lived in some too. Once on a motor cycle trip it got so cold that I slept under the bike hugging the transmission for its heat. When it cooled down I fired it up to get it hot again. I like comfort but roll with it when it's not there. Being cold, wet and miserable is good. It makes you appreciate life and the comforts that are possible.
My whole ethic around this boat is that it's a camping experience. When I pondered what boat to build I drew cross sections on a wall of the Tiki 26, the Pahi 31 and the Tiki 38 all on top of each other. I also chalked out the boats at deck level in a school playground to get a feel for relative size. In the end I went with the smallest one I thought that could work. Why?
I wanted to be the builder and I wanted to be done in 9 months - it took me ten and a half.
I budgeted $25k US, I spent about 20 all told - 11 or so on the boat, 5 on crap and the rest on tools and sandpaper.
I wanted something I could physically move around by hand on my own or with one other person. I seem to be on the mark.
In the end the driver was the type of trips I'm planning and that I wanted to be able to walk from the boat if I ever got sick of it. You know just leave it where ever and not look back. $25 k felt like an ok number to throw away if I had to. One bad nights roller in Vegas for some.
On comfort here is what I've observed. You can be miserable on any size boat smaller than a cruise ship but if you are on a cruise ship go for the most expensive cabin - lots of windows. I want simplicity. On my last monohull all I ever did was fix stuff or maintain systems - I'm in it now for the sailing and the surroundings not the boat. I don't have systewms and I don't want them. Ok I have a battery, a switch box and a mast head light!
I've observed too many cruisers who blow their budget on a big boat because they get big boat-itisis and when they get to paradise sit on board hating it because they can't afford life ashore. I want to get there with little fuss and like the old AMEX commercials go ashore with my card and have a good time. Hotel room, drinks, a big meal. If the crew don't want to make the passage they can fly.
Right now I'm dreaming about sailing to Mexico for the winter. Hole up on the Sea of Cortes, rent an apartment, eat good food, sail, bone up on my Spanish and surf on the west coast of the peninsula. I'll ditch the boat on the beach with the fishermen's Pangas not in some American-style marina with security cameras. If someone steals anything, then they probably need it more than I do.
So is a Tiki 26 comfortable? You bet. My wallet feels pretty good!
The 26 is pretty minimal. Not much headroom and pretty much at the habitable limit when you stick two adults in a hull for any period of time. That said my wife, daughter and myself hung out for three continuous cold and rainy days on board holed up below. At times we were all in one hull reading or playing games. Condensation is a problem. I think that when I deal with the condensation problem, life will be easier. We dealt with it by sticking our sleeping bags in bivy sacks and going with it mountaineer style. Nobody is a complainer. It's mountaineer style. Feel cold, don your parka and fire off a chemical heat pack and stick it on your belly.
I've slept in a lot of dubious places and lived in some too. Once on a motor cycle trip it got so cold that I slept under the bike hugging the transmission for its heat. When it cooled down I fired it up to get it hot again. I like comfort but roll with it when it's not there. Being cold, wet and miserable is good. It makes you appreciate life and the comforts that are possible.
My whole ethic around this boat is that it's a camping experience. When I pondered what boat to build I drew cross sections on a wall of the Tiki 26, the Pahi 31 and the Tiki 38 all on top of each other. I also chalked out the boats at deck level in a school playground to get a feel for relative size. In the end I went with the smallest one I thought that could work. Why?
I wanted to be the builder and I wanted to be done in 9 months - it took me ten and a half.
I budgeted $25k US, I spent about 20 all told - 11 or so on the boat, 5 on crap and the rest on tools and sandpaper.
I wanted something I could physically move around by hand on my own or with one other person. I seem to be on the mark.
In the end the driver was the type of trips I'm planning and that I wanted to be able to walk from the boat if I ever got sick of it. You know just leave it where ever and not look back. $25 k felt like an ok number to throw away if I had to. One bad nights roller in Vegas for some.
On comfort here is what I've observed. You can be miserable on any size boat smaller than a cruise ship but if you are on a cruise ship go for the most expensive cabin - lots of windows. I want simplicity. On my last monohull all I ever did was fix stuff or maintain systems - I'm in it now for the sailing and the surroundings not the boat. I don't have systewms and I don't want them. Ok I have a battery, a switch box and a mast head light!
I've observed too many cruisers who blow their budget on a big boat because they get big boat-itisis and when they get to paradise sit on board hating it because they can't afford life ashore. I want to get there with little fuss and like the old AMEX commercials go ashore with my card and have a good time. Hotel room, drinks, a big meal. If the crew don't want to make the passage they can fly.
Right now I'm dreaming about sailing to Mexico for the winter. Hole up on the Sea of Cortes, rent an apartment, eat good food, sail, bone up on my Spanish and surf on the west coast of the peninsula. I'll ditch the boat on the beach with the fishermen's Pangas not in some American-style marina with security cameras. If someone steals anything, then they probably need it more than I do.
So is a Tiki 26 comfortable? You bet. My wallet feels pretty good!
posted by tsunamichaser at 7:56 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you for your comments Thomas. It is nice to be encouraged by someone who has made it! I hope you enjoy sailing with your beautiful boat. It certainly is an inspiration to me!
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