Rigging up the ama.


Iakos sticking way out past the hull.


Iakos cut down to length. Note blue tape - I blew out a hull-deck seam this morning and quick fixed it with 5 minute epoxy and tape.


Stern iako-wae detail.


Bow iako-wae detail. Note mast notch.


Iako pylon detail - I made them look like little submarine conning towers!

Lise and I went for a two hour paddle this morning. She claims I can't paddle and Ulua isn't fast but then she's the racer, paddles all the time and is use to 20 lb OC-1's and OC-6 full of burly women paddlers.

We tried out a number of different setting for the iakos and ama until it all felt right. One concern is with steering while paddling. This boat spins fast without a rudder/skeg which is a good thing unless you want to go straight and have both paddlers paddling. In the end we got things set up pretty well but I'm going to try adding a small skeg with an adjustable trim tab on it and see if that helps.

The waves were running 1 to 1.5 feet so we took on water going into the waves. Adding a splash board as shown in the plans should help some. When we got back to the launching ramp, I got out my Japanese pull saw and cut the iako's down to length. That will help with paddling on the side opposite the ama. I also think I'll move the bow seat (really closer to midships) back three inches. That will let us 6' tall paddlers with long reaches paddle without striking the forward iako with our blade.

Next on the list of activities will be getting the rig set up for sailing; after all if there's wind why not use it.