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!

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.

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.

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

Here's the Huli'i.

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.

I'm going down to Oakland California next week to help launch Aluna, the Tiki 38 that Beat Rettenmund and Beatriz Restrepo have been building over the last few years. Beat asked me to help splice the standing rigging which he is using rope for. The type he is using is a Samsom rope called Validator SKB which uses a class II eye splice. The sheath is very stiff and the core "expands" once out of the sheath so it is a little bit of a task to splice it. I hadn't done one of these in awhile but once I got going I remembered having done them before and some of the tricks to get the core back into the sheath. I tried the splice with a teardrop thimble, Beat is using round wooden thimbles he's made himself the round shape of the thimble will add some challenge getting the splice just right.

I rode my bike over to Tsunamichaser today to finish cleaning the inside from last weeks trip. She's basically empty. I'm hoping to go sailing tomorrow without the normal load of stuff I have onboard when I cruise just to see what kind of speed I can get her up to! I also went in search of a Wharram I saw moored kinda in the weeds on the channel where I keep Tsunamichaser but on the other side. Some photos - she could use some luv'n.

Sailing Spieden Channel

It's not so bad on a sunny day with the wind coming around from headwind to a perfect beam reach.

What I really appreciate in my Tiki 26 is the ability to venture into places where if you went in a different boat it would make you nervous. Yes you give up certain things, like comfort in bad weather and convenience - flexispace means you need to shift equipment around to get to the things at the end of the hulls or underneath but the shallow draft and raft-like platform let you venture onto the tide flats or into a tiny estuary. Floating just above the eel grass lets you observe the goings on in the marine biosphere. If your presence remains calm, you may be visited by a family of sea otters, who at first wary of you accept your presence and then go about their early morning excursions looking for food.

Sailing south, tacking into a 20 knot head wind in Trincomali Channel we slipped between Reid and Hall Islands to see this fine Wharram sliding down towards us wing to wing. This was a new Wharram to us. As we approached, he doused his genoa to slow down and take pictures. An Ariki flying a Canadian ensign. Anyone know this boat? We were too busy tending to sailing for much of a conversation but took photos of each other. Soon he was gone to the north while we beat onwards to Montague hoping to beat the rain.