TIKI 26 - Tsunamichaser

Testing mobile blog app

2011-05-22T08:37:00.001-07:00

So which one is the best with blitzing?

2010-09-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

I've been asked where all my photos went. Try this link for the build and other stuff! http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeitgeistsurfer/

2010-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

My new carbon fiber board is done except for the leash loop and a bit of buffing. If I'm lucky I can get to the beach next week for a day or so. I'm look'in for a ride!

2010-03-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

I have not done much boat stuff in awhile. Laid low for a bit so no helping out on Scott and Mike's Tiki 21 project. I did build a shed in my backyard while the flu set in or just prior to it and I'm getting ready to plant the early garden. I do have a fine surfboard coming out any day now - cardon fiber with a burlap fin. Last coat of resin needs to cure up hard and then a little buff with the wheel and it'll be water ready. Now I need to et to the beach with my new "old" wetsuit. Tomorrow with any luck will be a paddling day! Spring is here.

2010-01-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

We had a good race today. Maybe I should train between events instead of just showing up and trying to muscle my way to the finish. A second place in the mixed masters isn't bad until you realize there were only two boats in that class! But he says there were boats behinds us we weren't dea last... The new ama performed great giving Lise the reach she needed and the boat the trim I was trying to achieve. I really like Gary Dierking's design even if it isn't competative with the ultra light purpose built race boats but then like I tell everyone; "we can carry more fish!" People like it too. Everytime we are at an event we get plenty of lookers who want to know about it. I need to make up a card with Dierking's blog site on it. One of the things I should do is stretch it. Four more feet would give it a longer waterline and better glide. It could use to loose a few pounds too. Lise and I will have to try a race OC-2 one of these days and see how we do. Any way mid-race when I was getting into the groove and looking to pass the boat ahead, pull away from the paddle board on our tail (those are fast) and was digging for my reserves, I started thinking about how I could use this one as a plug for a carbon fiber and foam hull ultralight and stretched Ulua. It definitely has me thinking. ....now where my copy of Gary's book? I need to check the center cross section dimensions!

2010-01-29T17:58:00.000-08:00

Did a little work on the 7-0 carbon fiber surfboard I'm building Fun photos with Ulua.

2010-01-29T15:40:00.000-08:00

Ulua is now race ready. We are entering the PNWOCC Winter Series races. Last time we race we were squatting in the stern as the front seat was pushed back so you didn't hit the front iako with your paddle. I built this iako in four days around all the other things going on. hopefully it holds and hopefully it'll make us more level and therefore faster.

2010-01-28T21:43:00.000-08:00

We are entering ULUA in a six mile outrigger race on Saturday. During our last race we discovered we were down by the stern. To correct this we need to move the front seat forwards. That requires a new iako. I've been at it in the evenings. We dryfitted it today and I made the modifications. Built out of scrap from around the shop as it's a fast and dirty!

2010-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

I found a new eco-foam that seemed like an opportunity. Having had fun on the 6-0 fish I built, I thought that maybe I should make another board. This is a 7'-0" x 22" fun board. I've been dying to do something bigger than a paddle in carbon fiber so what the heck, I shelled out the money for three yards worth. I'm getting the hang of shaping foam - go slow and don't bang it around. I like working with CF it's different than e-glass more flow to it and you can make it stick when you need it to. I came up with this easy way of weighting down to by sticking 16 penny nails through the weave along the edges to get it to hang down. Should be ready by the end of the week if I can find some time.

2010-01-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

Quick sketch of a Tiki 21 crabclaw ketch

2010-01-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Winter Paddling event that I entered Ulua in.

www.vimeo.com/8711166

2010-01-07T22:30:00.001-08:00

Here is link to the Tiki 21 i have been helping on. It is quite a gathering and some interesting folks have been dropping by including Michael Schacht of Proafile.com. The goal is to launch this summer.

http://econscience.org/tiki

2010-01-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

Making Tiki 21 lashing blocks

Foam vs Bamboo and the twin vs quad

Twin and quad in profile

Side by side tops

Side by side bottoms

..................a long absence however I have not been doing noth'in. Oh and I have work again so maybe I'll start being able to refill the sailing kitty. In the meantime I've been helping out on a Tiki 21, building and surfing surfboards and on Saturday paddled Ulua in a 6.5 mile open class race, survived the 3-4 foot running waves in 20 mph winds and finished pretty decently even against the ultra light carbon fiber OC-1 and OC-2's. Out of a pack of 61, two boats sunk (recovered) at least one boat was paddled by an ex olympian and the time spread was 51 min to 144 min. Ulua was in at 74 min just behind an OC-6. Results are at http://www.paddlingdynamics.com/challenge/default.html Eventfully there should be pictures up on their site.

The Tiki 21 project is pretty interesting and its great to see what a bunch of beer fuels boys can hammer out one night a week 8pm until 12midnight or beyond. This boat has been long in the making - started 2001 and just might be done for this summer if everyone does their homework. mine this week was to make lashing pads that I finished tonight so they'll be ready for tomorrow's session.

On surfing what can I say. I've been staring at rentals in the hawaian Islands dreaming of a warmer climate!

2009-10-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Clean up time - I'm clearing stuff out of my garage/workshop so I can get on with a bunch of winter projects. There was a couple of sheets of 1" thick pink rigid insulation tucked in between my plywood supply so I figured I could make a surfboard out of them. I gluded them to a stringer yesterday and shaped them today. Now I just need to find some glass cloth and I'll be on my way to having another board. I don't think I'll leave it pink though...........

2009-10-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

I got this video from my friend Alan Goto who is a big time outrigger paddler. The video is an interesting look at the construction of a very light weight and subsequently very fast OC-6. There are many other interesting videos in the related bar that shows up at the bottom of the feed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxWdjetGWdE

2009-10-14T08:10:00.001-07:00

A Facebook friend has been trying to connect me to one of his Facebook friends for a couple of weeks as he figured we both had boat building interests in common. It finally happened yesterday. Little did I know that the connection wasn't just boats but Wharrams! Upon landing back in Seattle from my visit back east (more on that later), my "crackferie" had a couple of invites from this new friended link! Turns out that a couple of guys have been building a Tiki 21 over an extended period of time in their garage not more than a kilometer from where I live. Tired as I was, I hopped on my bike midnight timezone where I had just been to go over and check out the action. Arriving in the dark I found one hull in the driveway and after knocking on the door another in the basement garage. Scott of Scott and Mike who are the builders was there (Scott's house) and Mike wasn't showing that evening so luckily I had dressed appropriately and brought my own gloves and the such as I was quickly put to work! Much work done with much remaining but once they launch there will be another fine Wharram gracing the seas. We glassed the fore deck of this pretty craft which is built of Doug Fir plywood and talked technique as we went. I'm sure I'll be lending a hand again. Maybe I should make a career of it - journeyman Wharram builder available, will sleep in the sawdust pile for grog and victuals. -

2009-10-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Heading out for a week in the industrial wasteland. There won't be a drop of saltwater to be had.

2009-10-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

DUMPSTER DIVING AND SAILING

I haven't been blogging much lately. Out of practice, fallen off the wagon, moving on - not sure which. I have been working on some interesting boat projects and I've done some great sailing in the last few weeks.

Projects first. On my trip to the San Juans this summer, I started thinking more about self sufficiency. Julia on Badu re-introduced me to successful sprouting which I've taken up at home. Having read Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" food has gained importance. Especially conscious food choice. I'm back to baking bread. I'm experimenting with making my own crackers - super easy and rewarding. Most important are two projects - how to grow stuff on board and how to make beer onboard. With the first one I have started an ice chest greenhouse. I want to be able to grow herbs, salad greens and the likes. I've got the experiment going. As to beer making I've found a device called the "Beer Machine" on the web that has mixed reviews but has the best onboard potential. I just need to order one to get going. This week I added solar panels to Tsunamichaser. Two 10 watt panels mounted on the cabin sides outboard. Followers of this blog will remember that I converted one under bunk space to a battery well. The panels are now mounted all I need are some batteries. My needs are small and I plan to keep it that way. Essentially I want something other than my portable Brunton panel, as it is at risk of being stepped on and broken, to charge ipods, laptop, AA and AAA batteries. I have also come to the conclusion that I need better in hull ventilation so the batteries will drive fans to move moist air when there are sleepers below. Today I completed a small project in that I made a new cushion cover for a perfectly great cushion I found besides the dumpster at my marina. Yah for dumpster diving! Cover made of left over cloth from other boat projects. Speaking of dumptser diving thanks for the sheets of stainless steel and old bits I found in above said dumpster. Now I can make my new stove box out of things I already have and things I've found - nothing to buy.

On the boating front I've had a couple of great sails and some epic paddles these past two weeks. I took friends Louise and Andy who live in Montana out for a fine day and discovered a great new beach to land on. The day was finished off with and excellent burger at Hattie's Hat in Ballard and a fine bottle of wine. More sailing was done later in the week this time in the attempt to land some salmon but no luck there. This past week was focused on paddling. Lise and I had Ulua out in 3-4 foot rollers on Lake Washington where we had some great surfs on the way home and no huli's! Paddling the rest of the week was not so exciting. The waters were flat the temperature on the cold side and so it was an extra layer to cut the wind and heads down to make the pace and keep warm. Fall/winter are here. I'll need to keep getting out but although the weather remains stunning, the rains will come soon and dreams of summer will begin.

2009-09-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

Lise and I went for a long paddle in Ulua this morning. My arms and back continue to ache this evening. We has 15 knots of southerly wind with decent size breaking waves - 2 feet max - on Lake Washington where we paddled from Sail Sandpoint to Kirkland then back via Juanita Bay. We had gear failure that we fixed on the water. The trim tab control lines broke so I had to splice with monofilament on the water. We had a seat change midway - I got out and stood on the ama while lise moved from the stern to the bow. We shipped a deal of water and had some wild surfs! I was glad the lake was still warm as it was all pretty sketch. It was great getting practice paddling in significant cross seas and dealing with the water we shipped. Paddling back I found that I couldn't change sides if we wanted to not risk a huli. I paddled several miles leaning to the ama side and on the ama side only hence the ache. I continue to appreciate the abilities and speed of this fisherman's canoe. Gary Dierking 's design is outstanding As a finale to our morning on the water, we did a high speed marker rounding practice with the ama out of the water which was pretty exciting. It was super tight and I think we were both amazed that we didn't end up swimming.

2009-09-15T21:52:00.001-07:00

I'm providing a link to Julia and Casey's blog tonight. They are amazing people who are venturing forth on their Tiki 21 "Badu" http://www.sailblogs.com/member/nycteris/ Casey is a great photographer as you'll see if you look through the attached photo albums.

Not sure why the link http://www.sailblogs.com/member/nycteris/ is not working. I took it right from their site. Until I figure it out try googling "Badu Julia Casey" which will take you their blog.

TRY THE LINK IN THE SIDE BAR - IT WORKS.

2009-09-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a couple of weeks of sailing in the San Juan Islands in north western Washington State. Sixteen days or so of living on Tsunamichaser. I sailed up with my buddy Andy Detloff to deliver parts to Casey and Julia Orr who live on their Tiki 21 Badu. They are self-claimed dirtbag climbers/sailors. We had a reat time sailing hanging out away from the crowds in "cat corners" and generally having a good time eating the seafood we caught. Summer time in the San Juans usually mean light winds which we had until I started home solo when a gale decided to blow through. I sat it out for 30 plus hours in a slough enjoying the books I had along and the silly songs I concocted on my ukelele. Here is a short sunny day video - no sound!

2009-08-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Heading to the San Juans in Tsunamichaser in search of Badu a Tiki 21. I'll update our position with my spot.

2009-08-20T21:54:00.001-07:00

When I built my T26 my oldest brother was pretty fascinated and would ask tons of questions. One day when I called him he announced he was building a cat too. I asked him what design he was doing to which he said "oh I looked at the pictures on Wharram's site and started building." It's a bit of a mash up but then he lives in Nova Scotia where that is the way boats have been done for generations. It works well. Here's a video.

2009-08-14T17:15:00.001-07:00

I was checking out the Wharram Tangaroa I posted about awhile ago. The owner, Andy, was onboard and we had a great chat. He told me about some buddies, Julia and Casey who left yesterday on their Tiki 21, Badu, for points unknown but possibly the Sea of Cortez. Here's the link.

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/nycteris/index.php?show=gallery&aid=5579&pid=113706

I borrowed a picture from their blog to post here.

2009-08-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is the craziest version of seasteading. Kind of appealing though. One way to deal with rent in the high rent districts. Not sure the mangroves would take in Puget Sound!

2009-08-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

2009-08-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

2009-08-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Huli free day but I did go for a refreshing swim!

2009-08-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

The paddle I built this week worked fine ....until I destructively tested it back to "broken iako!" I had nicked the carbon fiber fabric on the blade with a chisel when I was cleaning up excess resin. I filled the nick on the final coat but that is where it failed. I was paddling as hard as I could and snap the blade folded - starting from the cut fibers . Not to worry, I've removed the broken bits from the shaft and have a new and improved blade started. Beta 1 was pretty light, about 4-5 oz lighter than production CF blades of this size so on Beta 2 I've decided to add a 2 mm sheet of plywood to back up the CF as the balsa certainly doesn't provide any strength. The plywood adds about 3 oz. The other thing I'm working on is vacuum bagging. For paddle making my neglected food vacuum bagging unit may just be the ticket. I did a test run on Friday when a made a closed cell foam and CF "hockey puck" the vacuum bagging part worked great though with only one layer of CF the whole thing remains spongy.

2009-08-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Video of the building of an outrigger paddle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCiZE1XVzxk

2009-07-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Eating well at sea in the trades is easy on a cat - level cooking, steady sailing and a hungry crew- when you have the right stuff. A fresh caught tuna, dried veggies, canned coconut milk, onions, rice and spices! Salud!

2009-07-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a short video from one of the last days on Aluna's trip to Hilo. It's hot, we can smell land and we are ghosting along at 2-3 knots on next to no wind wondering who will spot the Big Island first.

***(sorry no sound it's raw video and the waterproof case cuts out any sound from reaching the mike)

2009-07-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here are four photos from sailing my 18' Ulua last week. Bamboo spars and white poly tarp sails. Works great! We had light winds and were making good speed. Brailing up the sail works excellent too.

2009-07-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

The night before our departure.

Beat contemplating his boat on a pre-departure test sail.

Beyond the "Gate".

I've been back on the mainland for a week now getting reoriented. I have many phots and videos from the trip on Aluna, Beat and Beatrice's crab-claw rigged Tiki 38. She worked great and our white polytarp sails drove us west at speeds of up to 15 knots. The above photos are from our departure party, heading for the gate and making it out beyond the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been asked if I would make the same trip on my Tiki 26. In the conditions we experienced - yes. WInds were 20 knots or less (excepting gusts) and seas never more than 15 feet. The sailing was great!

2009-06-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Aluna has left SF for Hilo HI. We have a gentle southerly swell and a 10 knot SSW breeze. Probablty the last post until Hawaii but follow us on SPOT

2009-06-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

At the dock in San Leandro. Working on ouitboards and sails. Drizzle last night. Sunny and hot today

2009-06-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

All it needs is some wax and a wave!

2009-06-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

Trying to get it so I can post from my Blackberry. Further testing.
I have the mast down on tsunamichaser. More oak problems. I sheared the knucle off the main mast that locates the foot of the mast. This time its screwed and glued into a rabbet

2009-05-28T19:28:00.001-07:00

Today I've been hard at it on multiple projects. I top coated the upper side of the new surfboard I'm building. It looks great. I sorted my gear for my trip from San Francisco to Hilo Hawaii. I'm bringing down a bunch of boat gear that doesn't work on my Tiki 26 and stuff I've bought for the trip to help outfit Aluna, Beat and Betrice's Tiki 38. I'm getting pretty excited about the sail to Hawaii. It has meant a pile of work wrapping up tasks for clients. I even have a half day meeting the day I fly to San Francisco.

If you hadn't noticed I've posted a link to my SPOT so you'll be able to track our progress.

2009-05-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Blogging from my blackberry

2009-05-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

A garden now grows where Tsunamichaser once grew! Peas, Potatoes, Spinach and a plethera of other veggies including surfboards!

Red Cedar rails, Blond Bamboo deck, Scrapwood core

Up against the Black Locust!

I have been silently working away. Here is near completion my WRAY6ohFISH. Sand-fill-sand-glass-buff and it will be ready for the Pacific Curl. It's going to a friend in Portland - he's itch'in to get his hands on it! Others want one too.

In different news I'll be sailing with Beat and Beatrice to Hawaii in a couple of weeks on their Tiki 38 "Aluna" I'm so looking forward to it.

2009-04-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

......I wish I could say that I have been away having fun but alas I've been filling the coffers. Meanwhile I'm at it building another board.....

2009-03-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

2009-03-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

As is apparent from Thomas Armstrong's latest post at 70.8% it is not how much you have that matters but how much you achieve with what little you have. Aron Meder is doing fine it looks like. He does have sponsors which is a story to investigate but he's laid down a pretty good track too.

2009-02-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

"Launched!" If that's appropriate for a surfboard. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It floats right and is about the right volume for my weight and size. I'll get out to the west coast near Neah Bay in a month or so to give it a try. I buffed the roughness out of the finish so I'll need a good coat of winter wax on the deck if I plan on staying upright. The lake where I tested it today is fed by snow melt so the water was brain freeze cold.

2009-02-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

No pictures tonight but I'm sitting here at my desk with my board resting on two boxes of business cards, one on the desk the other on a file cabinet. The bottom is done and it's high gloss glass - absolute velvet! When you see it you'll want it! Final weight is 17 lbs or 7.7 kilos. If the bottom is cured by tomorrow, I'll give to top a scrape down and then gloss it out. Very sweet.

2009-02-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

I've added a section of glass right where your feet mostly land when you push up onto the board (heard a little crackling sound when I jumped on the board with it lying on a sleeping bag. The whole thing needs a couple of days to cure up good then a final sand and a topcoat and it should be good to go for the fin mount.

2009-02-08T23:02:00.003-08:00

A quick video of me glassing the top of the board

2009-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

The above sequence show how I'm going to mount the fin to the board. I added a chunk of wood to the inside of the hull to make a fin box. This is what I routed into to make a slot for the fin. The jig worked perfect so I got the fin straight and center. I'll either glass it in or find a way to lock it in so it can be removed. The front of the fin has a section that ges into a slot so it's locke din place. I'll need to lock the back in place. The real trick is to make it stiff enough that it doesn't rock from side to side.

2009-02-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

I've glassed the bottom of the board. I sanded and scraped the filler coat for about 5 hours last night and this morning. The temperature barely came up to epoxy coating temps but I preheated the resin. The coat flowed beautifully. I let it sit a couple of hours then trimmed it back where I'd wrapped the glass around onto the top. The board is now inside my house so it can cure overnight. A little early celebration is due with some sushi!

2009-02-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

I was pretty busy the last couple of days so I didn't get to post about the nylon gaff slider I made. The gaff slider has been chewing up the mast and as I is made of white oak epoxied together it had split. The new one is now done. I made it out of a block of nylon scrap I got from a local plastics supplier. Nylon is hard to work with regular wood power tools as it tends to melt and gum up the works. Pictured above is the old and the replacement slider.

2009-02-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

There was a real feeling of spring in the air today (sorry Neil if you're reading this!) even some of the spring flowers are starting to poke up out of the ground. It sparked my need to get back to work on Tsunamichaser. I have a bunch of tasks I need to get done besides a few more degrees and I'll be sailing - probably March. I didn't work on the surfboard as the epoxy filler I did yesterday needs a couple of days to harden before I start to sand it pre glassing. I'm fairing/filling with wood flour thickened epoxy which is a bear to sand especially if it has'nt totally set up. As I was heading to my bamboo supplier to get material for a house project need, I decided to swing by my local Laird Plastic outlet to pick up a block of scrap (ended up being nylon) to make a replacement mast slider for the Dutch gaff. The photo above shows how the original one has cracked (oak) and the leather and plastic pads haven't help its movement much or its wear on the mast. The plan is to cut one out of a single block of nylon stock and see if that works better. The next thing will be to take down the mast so I can refinish the wear the slider has caused on the mast. It would be a good thing to drop the mast anyway as I haven't checked the mast head since I launched.

2009-02-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

Slowly the board emerges!

Bottomside

Topside

There is great tension in this board. It is a balancing act between composition, beauty, strength and lightness(or heaviness if you're a pessimist). The process has been testing though never frustrating - no throwing of tools or stuff ever. If I was making this out of clay or foam, I'd take a piece bigger than required and then proceed to carve away at it. In this case I start with air add as little material as I can near the perimeter in a clunky manner then carve away at it with the hope of having a thin intact shell without too much extra left on the inside or worse nothing at all but air again. I have had to fill spots no doubt and I know some places are very thin but over all the result is what I expect for the first time. I took some basic numbers from Essential Surfing but from tere I have been on my own. I wonder how it will ride. No doubt there are unequal distributions end to end and laterally. No computer robot carved this. I would shape with power planer, surfform, belt sander and other tools in a sort of trance. Then close my eyes and run my hands down the lines feeling my way to the final shape. The bamboo has not been easy to work but I am learning. Remember I used the scrap from my Ulua outrigger. I can't wait to get my hands on some really good stuff. Just sitting here typing is giving me new ideas about how I can form the next board.

...............so while I am in motion I quickly formed up a skeg. I should have showed the sequence. I shaped it in Visio first. I liked what I drew so I printed it, spay adhesived it to a scrap of plywood carved it, did the basic shaping and completed it on walk to school to pick up my daughter. I use to show up there all hostile at the end of day dressed corporate. Now I get stares when I show covered in sawdust my pants as much epoxy as denim. But hey I'm happier and I never throw anything unless it's a frisbee or a load of chopped greens destined for the wok. Not that I don't have to skip across the surface of that corporate sea to get to those greens but that's ok. I'm part actor anyway. Speaking of actors my grandmother was one during the silent film era. I knew her as a wonderful and lively old woman who could still play in a sandbox but the one I wonder more about was the wheelmaker as seen below. My great grandfather. I think if had been around I would have been underfoot in his shop. We have moved far from this. It is interesting that unlike the stiff formal photos I have of other family members from the time, this man Niels Nielsen chose to be photographed in his shop. Would he really have choked up on his mallet that way or was it a concession to the photographers long exposure?

2009-02-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

Just a link tonight to another's writings - multihulls

2009-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

Seal coat on the bottom of the board. Next comes filler in the form of a wood flour mix to close the seams and a few divots I can't sand out and then 3.7 oz glass.

2009-01-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

I am done with the basic shaping of my bamboo surfboard. Actually I should say bamboo, leftover plywood scrap and miscellaneous wood surfboard. I will continue to finish this board so I can ride it but really I sould scrap it and start afresh now that I have a clue as to what I should do. One of the struggles has been to make it as light as possible but have enough material in all spots. In places I have gone too thin so I will need to fill them with "filler". I'll give it all a final sand then glass it. It's pretty good but has some definitie problems. I'll need to ride it to see what I should do next!

2009-01-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you see photos of something being glued up. Everything is neat and tidy. That's the ideal and is notthe case here. This is a tough exercise of clamping and holding in place. I've used gorilla glue, five minute epoxy and regular epoxy. I'm learning and experimenting with this project much more than I normally do. The joinery isn't real tight as the bamboo I have is squirrelly. It's the left overs from my outrigger build but it is progressing never the less. It looks like temperatures will remain decent so I can continue working.

2009-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

The board is taking shape. It is not without problems. Even though I drew up cross sections I have spots where I just didn't place material deep enough into the hull to make the final contours. All in the name of saving weight. Of course this is a prototype and it isn't too hard to glue bits of material in where I need them, it will just alter to final look.

2009-01-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

After one false start, the top of the board is going on. I am worried about what the final product will weigh, will I be able to acheive the shape I have in my mind, will the cold continue to test how well I can build?

2009-01-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

Boatmen plying their trade on the Niger in Mali.

2009-01-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

...............Totally unrelated to anything I'm working on but interesting non-the
-less. Gluing of the surfboard deck has been going slow so I'm organizing photos and uploading to my flickr site. These are from 2003 on the Niger River in Mali.

2009-01-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

It's not quite ready to ride but getting there. Now fr the dificult part - getting the deck to work out right and then shaping the rails. All the issues will be at the rails.

2009-01-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

What has happened to Creed?

"This blog is open to invited readers only
http://tiki38.blogspot.com/" is all you get these days.

2009-01-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

I am totally making this up as I go and switching plans mid-stream! I have a good idea what the end shape of this board is suppose to be but the thought process is backwards; instead of carving the board out of a chunk of material I'm having to build it up with as little material as possible. I got in a good six hours in the garage today - excellent way to level the emotional keel FYI - changing my approach from what I had conceived last night. Instead of a central stringer with ribs coming off it, I've moved to twin stringers with central cross members to make a structural ladder. This has been shaped, had all the lightening holes cut in it and fitted with the cross members. I switched from gorilla glue which I used on the bottom to epoxy and glued the central structure in. It will sit until tomorrow afternoon before I can get back at it - plenty of time for the epoxy to cure and for me to come up with the next detail.

2009-01-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

I returned to the shop today, It's been too cold to work out there but today the temperature came well up so I put in a good afternoon on my bamboo surfboard. The bottom is now glued up and the stringer/rail template and board shape templates are done. I was going to make the rails in cedar but after redrawing them with a neutral shape as opposed to rail up or rail down profiles and sitting on an upturned bucket with a cup of tea I decided to try for laminated bamboo rails. These will be harder to make but also more consistent with wanting to make this board out of bamboo. If the glue and bamboo has dried tomorrow, I'll rough finish the inside of the bottom of the board and start in on the stringer and the webs. It's good to be back in the shop!

2008-12-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

I should probably rename this blog - "Building stuff while stuck at the dock!" I feel like an old sailor who can't get a berth onboard any ships and instead spends his days sitting on a bollard wittling away at scraps of wood, making a pile on shavings and yarning away whether anyone is listening or not. Building a surfboard is something I've been thinking about for awhile. Besides there's not enough snow to go skiing yet. I was going to give it a try using foam but I've got a stack of ready to go bamboo splits so what the hell. If it weighs a ton or is all wonky I can turn it into a piece of decorative art or a picnic table. As you can see from the photos below, I now have the bottom mold set up. The plan is to make a 1/2 template (oops forgot that before I bent the 1/2 particle board, cover the mold in plastic and then lay up bamboo strips longitudinally. When I built my Ulua I pre-planed all the pieces. Good idea but some spots are a little thin. This time I'll do them full thickness (6 mm)and shape them afterwards. I'll get better results, be able to fair in the tail hollow and won't have to do any filling afterwards.
If I pick up some glue today I should be able to hammer it out. I've got most of it figured out in my head but the actual construction method and sequence I'll make up as I go.

2008-12-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

I've finished what I can on my Ulua this fall/winter. I can't paint or the likes as its too cold. No fear of solar damaged to the epoxy this winter and all the bits and pieces are done so I've moved the boat the edge of the shop and have started a new project - building a bamboo surfboard. I want to get a sense of how lightis possible and develop some techniques I've been thinking about for surfboard building. I'm building a 7'-6" plank as it fits in the shop with all the other stuff that goes in there. Besides I tired of living with two bikes in my office that I constantly trip over.

Even though I've put my outrigger aside doesn't mean it won't get on the water. It's pretty deary right now in Seattle but the first good day I'll get it out on the water. I still need to take it for a sail.

I have finished up my simple rudder set up. Everything is lightly glued on with 5 min epoxy so it'll be easy to remove if it came to that. It tested out great in the water so I think it is pretty successful. All it is is a Wharram style "stiched" on rudder to a skeg, fishing line from a small hole in the aft top of the rudder leading forward on the outside of the hull to two small holes near the gunnel that cross under the rear seat go through two rope fairleads and on the the rudder bar. THe rudder bar is held in place with top lines at the ends and a center pivot line. It works amazingly well!

2008-12-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with little wind. Lise and I went for a long paddle, broken by a stop for fish tacos midway. The new rudder I've installed works great. I need to improve the control bar - I have some low tech ideas. I'm hoping that tomorrow can be a sailing day!

2008-11-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

I took a whole sequence of photos showing how I added a skeg to my Ulua and mocked up and built a rudder but I had forgotten to put the memory card in the camera so no photos of that. Here is the mocked up rudder and the final install. It's glued on with 5-min epoxy so I can remove it easily if it doesn't work. If you look carefully you can see a piece a monofilament which will run on the outside up to two small holes in the hull sides and then to a control bar at the stern seat. The photo sequence shows the rudder operating. I used the attachment method that James Wharram uses on his boats, a figure 8 lash, that keeps the rudder aligned with the skeg. It's tied on with monofilament which I tightened a fair amount so that the rudder naturally returns to a middle position. The next task is to flip the boat and install the control bar then a water test.

2008-11-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

Fixing where the deck split from the hull

Cleaned up and ready for a light sand and glazing coat

Capping the ends of the bamboo mast

I rigged the sail(s) on my Ulua yesterday - temporarily and forgot to take pictures. I say sails as I've made a small jib that I may use as a way to balance the rig when sailing and possibly lighten the work of steering. This is the stage of boat building that goes on forever. Many small projects. I glued the blade into the steering oar, made a wave dasher for the fore deck, tacked a small skeg onto the stern rise to help with steering when paddling amoungst other things. I have ideas on how to add a Wharram style rudder to the skeg if that make sense. It's all little moves. I won't be putting any paint on until spring at this rate. Anyway there is so little sunlight around at this time of year that the epoxy won't be harmed.

We figured out that the middle seat, installed per design, isn't great for 6' tall paddlers. Your reach is too long so you strike the front iako with your blade. I moved the seat back 3 inches. That should be just right. The sternsman will still have room to paddle without hitting the bow person in the back. Of course this may change how the boat sits in the water, stern down, requiring a sandbag in the bow but as Gary Dierking notes it's better to build light and add ballast than to sail around in an overweight boat.

I've been working on other stuff too. I modified a tramp from another boat to go between the iakos for sailing and have an idea for a safety ama that is inflatable so it can be easily stowed when not sailing. If I rig the boat again today, I'll remember to take some photos.

2008-11-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

Rachel pours coconut milk on the bow

Ulua is light, an easy carry for myself and Rachel 9 yrs old

All together now using NRS cam lock straps

4 parts make a boat
Building a boat is an ever expanding series of smaller and smaller tasks that take more and more time. Detailing. The beginning is composed of big bold moves. Things move fast and then it all comes to a steady uphill grind. After yesterday's impromptu burst onto the water for a quick test, I spent today detailing the pylons that have now been glued to the ama and are held in place, hopefully at the right angles by the iakos which are strapped to the hull. It's all outside, today being ok weather and with me, a farmer's watchful eye to the sky hoping the rain will hold off long enough to get the harvest in the barn before it pours. I should be cleaning up the garage but instead I'm helping my daughter sew a stuffed toy of her invention - we are a project family. All good but will the epoxy cure enough such that I can take the boat apart and keep the bonds in place. I wait for rain, many small details drag on awaiting completion.

2008-11-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

LAUNCHED - I was in the backyard trying to get all the angles right with the canoe, ama and iakos when I got the idea to take it all to the water. LIse had a beautiful morning on the water so why not the rest of us? See for yourself - Launched! Much to do still sort of a prelaunch sea-trial. We did splash her bow with coconut milk.

2008-11-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

Things are advancing well. I still have bits and pieces to make but I did a trial assembly. The ama needs its pylons so the iakos can attach. I glued them up this evening. There is really not a complete picture trying to build this boat just from the information in Gary Dierking's book. You need plans if you want the whole picture. I'm having to do a fair amount of interpretation!

2008-11-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

I've made a practice sail, a small jib that I could use on the Ulua from a cutoff of the main sail tarp. My handcrank sewing machine works well. It's a little slow but who cares. I'm thinking I can substitute an external pully with a belt to a second pully that I drive with a cordless drill if I need it meanwhile I'll hand crank my modified machine.

2008-11-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

One of the first things my parents bought after getting married was a Pfaff 332 sewing machine in Birkerod Denmark. That was 1951, 57 years ago. It cost them 1200 DK Kroner, a right big sum. My mom gave it to me twenty or so years ago. I don't think she liked to sew being more of a knitter. If you needed a sweater, she'd whip one out in a week. Hat or gloves a couple of hours. Some of my friends benefited hugely from this and I still have my own stash going back to when I was about 12-13. One of those sweaters kept me alive while I thrashed about Alaska in my kayak in unseasonable cold and wet June weather

As sewing wasn't my mom's thing, she'd let me entertain myself with the sewing machine. A scrap of cloth and some colorful thread and I'd make 'railway tracks" all over it. When I got serious, I fixed my jeans and other stuff. Eventually I started to make clothes out of old tents, stuff sacks and backpacks and the likes. I made custom climbing gear in the 80's and early 90's - some of my stuff even went to Everest and K2. The machine being European never fit in well in North America - 220v having to fit into a 110v world. It worked with a big primitive transformer my dad made up. I think there was a voltage issue as over the years of sewing heavy duty projects it started to loose its power. The Tiki 26 projects spelled an end to the drive motor so it got put away. What to do I still had (and have) projects for Tsunamichaser to do. Every month or so, afterwards, I'd go to Sailrite's website and covet their walking foot machines but a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks and they are no cheaper on eBay or Craig'slist when you find one. I didn't place one in my shopping cart.

A month or so I pulled out old faithful to see if the motor had "healed" no such luck. Thinking I was stuck with having to buy a new machine - hey I've used this one for nearly 40 years - I sank into a deep moroseful state of sewingness. But the timing was right as the laundry/storage room was a mess and so I was cleaning up boxes and consolidating stuff. Low and behold I found a plastic floating winch handle from my keelboat days. I could see a solution here. The two; an old sewing machine and a marginally usefull winch handle could make a gorgeous pair. A couple of machine screws and nuts and some quick drilling and I'm sailing or sewing on a beam reach again with my head held high. I fixed it Cuban-style like my favorite black beans. Check back after I've stitched 40 to 50 feet of edging onto Ulua's new sail and see if I'm still as optimistic!

2008-11-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

I was struggling as to where I would layout the tarp from which I plan to cut the sail. Nowhere in my house is big enough. It's raining so outside is not an option. How about where I play soccer? It is an old Navy hanger with plenty of space. It worked out great. While my wife played soccer, my daughter and I plus two of her friends did the layout. One little mistake but ok nothing that will hurt the spirit of it plus Karina, one of my helpers did this great drawing of her character known as the Juggler. Now I need to figure out whether I'll need to sew on edge tape or can I just heat seal it all together.

2008-11-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Everything is really coming together now. The Ama is glassed. Glassing over foam is different than wood you need to take it easy on the pressure you squeegee with. The life saver here is using Scott William's technique that has you trimming semicured impregnated cloth against tape. It makes for a superb finish.

My package from Soller Composites came yesterday so now I have material for sheathing the iako's, boom and to make three or four carbon fiber paddles.

2008-11-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

I made great progress yesterday. I shaped the final expansion foam layer in the bow and stern and fit the decks. I cut strips of cloth for glassing in the mast web on the axial and taped the perimeter per Scott Williams' clean method. When all the prep work was done, I mixed up resin for the decks first - wood flour thickened and when they were in place, wetted out the glass on the web. The boat is gaining weight but it remains light and I think is below design weight. With glass on both sides of the bamboo strips, the decks and bulkheads in the boat has taken on a stiffness that will make paddling and sailing it exciting.

2008-11-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that I have gotten so far in a week but then this is a small boat. Yesterday I filleted in the bulkheads and the ring frame where the mast goes and today I cut out Roughs for the seats, seat stringers decks and waes and mast support. I worked my way through this lot of carpentry then switched to sanding and fairing the main part of the hull inside where you sit. I also decided to add more foam to the ends so the foam will be tight to the decks. The ends are now over filled and will need to be shaped back. I did this so I can glue the decks to the foam with no void in between. My daughter helped me fair the ama or helped get it on its way as it still needs to be sanded. We used a super light weight spackle to fill voids in the foam. Tomorrow if it's not raining, I'll sand it with fine sandpaper in preparation for glass. The big discovery today was that the boom which I've been bending by suspending it between to fixed points with a 50 - 60 pound weight hung from the middle, lost its strength and cracked in today's rain. I'm seeing this as positive. A. I learned something and B. I filled the longitudinal cracks with Gorilla glue and shrinkwrapped the glue area to drive the glue into the cane. If it works I'll have a curved boom as Dierking calls for. I'll have to wrap the split area in glass and now plan to epoxy coat the whole cane. Nothing lost and I learned something.

2008-10-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

The last two days have been all about fairing, glassing and filleting the inside of the hull. It turned cold so after I completed glassing the interior, I covered up the top with scrap lumber and put a heater inside to help the epoxy curing process along. I've filled the ends of the hull with scraps of foam from building the ama and then tied it all together with expansion foam. I like the fact that so many parts of this boat are scraps from my Tiki 26 build. I kept almost all the cut offs of plywood and timber from that build so I have a good deal of material mincluding glassing tools, epoxy, cloth and the likes. Tomorrow I hope to get started on installing the watertight bulkheads at each end and the mast support web at station 5

2008-10-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Light work day today, faired the remaining part of the inside of the hull and foamed the bow and stern..........................

2008-10-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I got up at five as I was thinking about what to do next. After my morning cup of kickstart I figured hell start work'in! So I cut glass for the ends of the hulls in the bouyancy chambers and glassed these in (before breakfast) After taking my daughter to school and ran back down the hill and got on with cutting bulkheads from my templates. These I stuck in and glued scrap rigid foam to. I'm planing on glassing the hull athwartships so I faired the middled fifty inch section. I have meetings all mid-day and a couple of functions tonight so with a little luck I'll squeeze in a couple of hours between these commitments to glass the mid-section and fillet the two bulkheads, I've made. Having been down this paqth before I'm on a quick beam-reach with my bag of tricks in hand.

2008-10-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the big day, popping the hull off the molds. I was up early 5am to draft up the shapes for the stands to hold the hull. I built them right after I dropped off my daughter off at school. Then I pulled and pried and tussled with the hull until suddenly it released from the molds. Instead of being a heavy, difficult thing to move about the hull with glass on the outside was super light. 20 pounds on the bath scale. Very cool. The weather on the other hand has been totally cooperating, sunny and tee-shirt only required. It should stay that way for a few more days.
I spent the whole day there after cleaning out the garage, ridding the inside of the hull of glue bubbles and fairing as much as I could with a surf form and a sander. I cut some temporary gunnels and set it up in the garage I made the bulkheads for the ends then did the midline fillet. It feels good though I'm worried my scantlings are on the light side. One thing I'm going to do different is that I plan to fill the ends with foam from stn 0 to 2 and from 16 to 18. This will make the end storage compartments smaller but that is perfectly ok with me as I see them being mainly for bouyancy.

2008-10-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

The outside is now completely covered in glass. It took three days to get it all done. Though it has been unseasonably warn and non-rainy, it's still been on the cold side for doing epoxy work even withfast epoxy and some heat on. Tomorrow I'll build some work stands and then try to pop the hull off the molds so I can begin on the inside.

2008-10-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Using a pencil to draw squiggles in all the divots, I refined what areas needed to be filled. by resanding the whole side (this is from after I dropped the boat)doing some remarking and shining a light along the hull AND looking for areas that still had a sheen from glue or from the original thickness planner run, it was possible to see where else I needed to fill. Tomorrow I'll sand this side once more with the sanding board and then if all looks good I'll lay down the outside glass on this one side. If it's not ready, I'll hit if with more home-cooked filler. It's way easier with the boat in this on its side position to do these steps!

2008-10-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Staples pulled and the worst of the glue foam dribbles and hard edges taken off with a surf form, I hit the hull with the hand power planer set at very shallow. Long even strokes got things looking better followed with the random orbital and then the 3 foot sanding board. Other than for the divots this is starting to look good!

2008-10-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

Fun and games pulling staples is! They came out of the bamboo and particle board molds pretty easily though there were a few hide and seekers hidden among the glue dribbles that showed up when I took the surf form to the hull. I like this way of building - It's fun.

2008-10-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

I was sanding the fairing compound I had smeared on the hull last night and dropped the hull. Damn now there would be damage to fix! The saw horse legs I have been using snapped the attachment points to the strongback causing the hull to fall away from me and land on my chop saw and the corner of a 2x4. I expected it to be bad. In the end all that happened seems to be one seem split about 4 inches and the 2x4 dented. Bamboo is hard stuff even when it's less than 3/16 thick. Fortuitously the hull is now on its side raised on other saw horses so I'm working one side at a time.

2008-10-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished strip planking the main hull of the Ulua I'm building. I ended up using 109 7' bamboo splits to do this. It went well even though the bamboo tends to have twist in it. For the most part I used these to my advantage. Now come the onerous task of pulling close to 2500 staples. I did a few last night and it went pretty fast. Completing the staple pull will be this morning's task then on to scraping off the excess glue and then I'll get on with fairing the hull. If it works, I'll have built a hull for much less than it would have cost using cedar. If I'd ordered pre-made cedar strips from Noah's in Toronto the materials before shipping and tax would have been $464. In bamboo it cost me $98. Weight wise the bare hull should be pretty similar. One advantage of the bamboo is it is super hard compared to cedar not to mention it's grass not vanishing old growth forest. I'm excited to see what the hull will look like once it is sanded smooth.

2008-10-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hull flyby

It was a day for breaking tools. The minor one was my staple gun. The major onr waqs the thickness planer. The motor that drives the feed rollers siezed. It broke the drive cog in the process. I disconnected the motor and now have to push material through. A total drag. I wasted a great geal of time though I spent the day outdoors - sunny - working and did lay up some planks.

2008-10-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today I set the remaining molds to the strongback played around with the final squaring of the molds and purchased 200 splits of bamboo to strip plank the hull. These I got for 90 cents a piece. I figure I'll need 120 or so to do the hull. I planed them as well as I could to 3/16 and did a test staple onto the molds. I've set the stem frame and have the material ready for the stern frame. That will be layed up later tonight. Tomorrow if all goes right I'll start planking the hull. I also got two 18 foot lengths of bamboo for mast and boom. This boat seems to be building itself.

2008-10-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

Seattle has settled into its long descent into winter. Quickly disappearing daylight with a large side dish of rain soaked leaves clogging the storm drains. A good time for day dreaming. I am staying busy with a new work contract that gives me a fair income and time to plan next summer's adventure and do a boatbuilding project. The daydream is about trucking Tsunamichaser to Great Slave Lake for 2 months of exploration. The lake is nearly 450 km long with endless island to explore. The plan is the first step in taking my Tiki 26 north as I by line at the top of this blog. I have charts, have been reading sailing directions and a text about Samuel Hearne who explored the region in the 18th century. Great Slave Lake which is in Canada's Northwest Territories is the host to the region's largest city - Yellowknife with a population of 18,000 but this metropolis lies in the north arm far from the east arm that is host to a miriade of islands and an amazing intersection of Canadian shield and low lying uplands. It is also the deapest lake at 612 plus meters. ....I daydream as the rain pelts down outside....

Meanwhile I am building a Gary Dierking outrigger. It is going well and fast. I have completed to glassing ready the ama, iakos, and leeboard. This week I have lofted the molds and set up the strongback so far. Tomorrow, I will complete attaching the molds to the strongback and hopefully pick up the bamboo 1/4" x 1" x 6' slats I plan to use to plank the hull.

2008-10-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded 1155 photos from my Tiki 26 build. Lots of details that I had'nt posted before. I took photos every day but only posted the ones I liked best. These will give lots of build details and the order of the build, though the picures are mixed up in certain cases

2008-10-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to uploading photos from the launch of Aluna, Beat and Beatrix's Tiki 38. I've been busy. Kiki Johnston, who helped rig for the launch got me going on Gary Dierking's outrigger canoe "Ulua" so I got the book out of my local library and have started building. More on that later. I've been thinking about it for awhile anyway - a sailing outrigger as a lightweight get there without the outboard kind of craft. By the way, I'm bilding out of scrap from my Tiki build and hope to do the strip planking in Bamboo 1/4"x3/4".

Aluna Launch September 2008

2008-09-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

I had a great time taking part in the launch of Aluna, Beat & Beatrix's Tiki 38. The week getting Aluna ready for launch was amazing and went quickly. Beat's mega skateboards worked very well - I regret my doubts now. Aluna is rigged with Crabclaw sails which are exciting to rig and work very well. Here is a little video. - apparently not as Youtube is down for servicing!

2008-09-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I head down to Oakland California. I'm really excited to see Beat and Beatriz's Tiki 38, Aluna. I'm going down to help them with final assembly and the launch which is scheduled for this coming Sunday September 21st. It should be something of a launch party so show up if you are in the Bay Area.

Here's what Beat wrote today about the launch in an email
"Hi all!
Things are starting to fall in place for the big day. Here's the details:
Saturday has been set aside for prep work. Aluna will be put on wheels and lined up at the gate next to San Leandro Marina's Wes McLure Public Boat Launching Ramp, ready to burst out first thing Sunday morning. She will move slowly during the day, making sure we create minimal interference with the busy Sunday traffic on the ramp. Towards the afternoon things usually start to slow down and high tide is at 5:12pm. This is the ideal time for the splashing so down the ramp we go.
In the meantime the festivities will be ongoing all day Sunday. In the morning we will reserve a group of tables across the little inlet at the ramp, with a perfect view of the events. The location there is Marina Park. You exit 880 at Marina Blvd West, go straight down Marina Blvd, make sure you wave a friendly smile to our friends house at 2091, where Aluna was nurtured to life over the last four and a half years, once you get to the Bay, Marina Blvd turns left and becomes Monarch Bay Drive. Go through three stop signs, the last of which is Fairway Dr leaving your left. Turn right into the parking lot immediately to you right and you will find us there!"

The link to the website about Luna is: http://web.mac.com/mobeyprod/iWeb/Alunatheboat/Welcome.html

If you have a small boat like an inflatable with an outboard and can act as a tug/safety tender on Sunday that would be cool. You can call me at 206-619-1143 if you can help.

2008-09-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Photos by Tom Hembroff of Wharram Ariki "Piggy"

It was great to cross wakes with Tom Hembroff's Ariki "Piggy". I find it to be a strangely pleasurable moment when I spot another Wharram. In this case it wasn't a long approach that brought us near, with the resolution of the other boat slowly appearing but a quick transition. We were tacking up wind with one reef in and were looking for a little relief and a longer reach so we sailed under Hall Island on our way South and there she was running down a branch channel to the East of Trincomalli.

Receiving the above pictures was particularily thrilling. Finally I can see what Tsunamichaser looks like under sail. My view from the deck is that the main is pulled flat but looking at these pictures I can see that is not the case. I've already started playing with the main sheet and plan on adding a single line to the gaff to gain control of how far it swings out to leeward.

2008-09-10T18:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1wLOrrMRAk

Here's the Huli'i.

2008-09-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today being a beautiful albeit windless day, I helped Lise put a club OC-1 (hence the mis-matched paint scheme) in the water so she could go for a paddle and practice a huli'i! Not so bad to go in the water when it's warm....ish and easy for me to say standing on the beach in my hoody.