Tiki 8m Wharram Catamaran

Wharram Tiki 26 8m Launched and Delivered

2011-09-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

We have finished the Tiki 8m #4. Here are some photos of her being assembled at Crackerboy Boat Works in Riviera Beach FL. She sure looks sweet!!

The boat has been named Nasir. This is an old god who is the transformer of men's souls. The owner is from the Mediterranean originally and they put eyeballs on the front of their boats to help them find their way home.

This is Richard Binstock the owner of this boat. He is a level II free diving instructor. He is starting a free diving school in Nassau, Bahamas. You can go out and learn to go deeper than you ever thought and then stay on his converted PT. He is also an excellent chef. He stayed with us for the last several weeks while we finished his boat and we sure ate well. http://www.karnakfloatingstudios.com/about/pricing.html

This boat has the Colligo deadeyes. They are so cool.

We lash the beams with regular polyester stayset and them frap them with Dynex Dux. The Dynex is low stretch and very slippery and we can get the lashings very tight. We will hook up a 4 to 1 purchase on the tail of this frapping and pull like a bull.

We have installed the tramps and the foredeck

Here we have the Bimini on and the boat is launched. She needs to have the waterline raised in the front by a couple of inches. She does have 20 gallons of gas and an electric bicycle on the foredeck but a little more paint is in order.

Here we are in the morning ready to take off for Nassau. Does he look happy or what?

This shot shows the cockpit and the bimini. The bimini really worked out well. It provides a lot of shade and also provides lots of handholds while moving about in the cockpit and especially while entering and exiting the cabins. There is sitting headroom underneath and standing headroom behind it. In this part of the world shade is not an option IMO.

This delivery served as the sea trial for this vessel. Not the ideal way to do it but it worked out OK. There were a few minor things to deal with but nothing serious and Richard is most delighted with his new boat. We motored most of the way over and sailed for only a few hours while on the banks between Cat Cay and Nassau. I will have some more photos of her under sail in the near future. A week after she arrived home hurricane Irene payed a visit to her and I am happy to be able to say that she survived unscathed.

Really, Really, Almost Done

2011-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

We loaded the Tiki 8m onto the trailer tonight. We have really been over the boat and everything is now rigged and operationaly checked. We built some carbon fiber tillers around some pvc pipe.

We also worked on a new rudder shape for this boat.

Here the rudders are rigged and pulled up. We used Dynex Dux for the rudder lashings.

This boat has a Humming bird sonar that scans to the side and is nomally transom hung. It now has a purchase rigged to hold it down or up.

We have installed a 50 watt solar panel on each house top.

Below is the nav station

The lids over the engine and fuel tank have sticks fitted to support the lids in an open position.

This photo shows the wiring tubes and the bundle of wiring that goes to the cockpit and the other hull.

On the trailer, ready to load the rest of the parts and head off for assembly and launch.

Wharrram Tiki 8m #4 Close to Launch

2011-07-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

This boat has been back on the front burner for the last several weeks. We have moved forward a lot. The cockpit is almost finished. We have mounted all of the hardware and the engine and then we have potted for the fasteners. This prevents water from entering the laminate and prevents the bolts from crushing the core. This photo shows the cockpit before all of the hardware was installed.

The owner has decided to install a couple of Lewmar hatches at the forward end of the bunks. This will certainly improve ventilation. We added a frame of Coosa board to account for the deck crown.

Here the hatch is installed. The Lewmar hatch is at the forward end of the main cabin and the glass hatch is in the forward lazzerette.

Below we have added spacer blocks for the chainplates. These are of Coosa board as well. They will get blue paint before the chainplates are bolted on.

This photo shows the backing plate on the inside for the chain plates.

In the photo above you can see that the trim piece covering the hull to deck joint is installed. Below the blocks that the trim piece is attached to are visible. This trim is removable so that access to the rubrail bolts is easy.

Here the chainplates are installed.

The mast is mostly rigged and is being stepped to verify the chainplate location and shroud length.

Looking very boat like.

We have rigged this boat with synthetic rigging from Colligo Marine. I really like this system a lot and John Franta with Colligo is a very helpful fellow.

The plan is to finish this boat off this week and deliver her to Nassau next week.

Forward Deck.Tramp, Supports, Sheer Stripe, Mast Paint

2011-04-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

This is the beam at the aft end of the cockpit. Th section in the center is where the swim ladder will attach.
Visible at this end of beam is the slot that will receive the trampoline bolt rope.This is a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe that we glassed into the bottom corner of the beam and after fairing cut this slot. This technique has worked well for us on other projects.

Here you can see the rail attached to the aft inboard end of hull to attach the trampoline. The blue stripe is just tape to layout the bolt holes on. Also visible is one of the mooring cleats.

The owner of this boat decided to go with a slatted teak deck instead of a trampoline.

Below we have fitted the deck to the fwd end of boat.

This photo shows the bottom side of the cockpit.We have cut pieces of PVC pipe to fabricate wire conduits between the two hulls and the motor. We will glue a matching stub of pipe to each hull aligned with the pipes on the cockpit and connect the two with a piece of hose clamped on.

We have painted a blue sheer stripe on the hulls. I think that this is going to look very sharp.

Beam Blocks and Cockpit

2010-11-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

This photo shows the mounting cradles we have made to hold the aft tramp beam. This block will be attached to the deck with epoxy and then finished off with gelcoat to match the deck. You can also see the beam lashing pad glued to the deck flange. The bolts are just clamps for now. we will permanently install the bolts when we bond the decks to the hulls.The raw spot at the very end of the deck is where we have ground off a bit for rudder clearance. This will get a bit of gelcoat as well. Also visible are the rudder lashing holes.

Here is the cockpit. This view is from the starboard side. We have changed the cockpit this time by making the seat "wings" removable. This will keep the width to 7' 6" and will facilitate easier storage in a shipping container. This owner plans to ship the boat to different locations with a dedicated container. The flanges that the seat wings will attach to are visible at each side of the cockpit.

Here are the two companionway ladders.

These boats will have the standard Wharram sliding companionway hatches.Here we have drilled the holes for the slide tube.

A picture of the interior ceiling staving.

These are the rudder heads. We again went with the kick-up rudders. The reasons are much easier tacking and much easier to un-ground. When you drive the boat up on a sand bar the skegs and rudder tend to dig in and make it much more difficult to back off. The rudder load is also minimized. These aren't quite as bulletproof or as simple as the stock design but everything is a compromise.

Here are the rudder blades. They are made of foam core and fiberglass and have lead weights in the bottom of the blade to make for easier operation.

Beam Blocks & Other Parts

2010-10-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is the floor of the compartment where the black water tank will be installed.

The fwd compartments also get a floor . This creates flotation compartments below the floors at each end of the hull. We paint these areas with white elastomeric paint. This paint is tough and provides a good non-slip surface as well as not showing scratches. It is also easy to recoat in the future when required.

Here are the knees which are mounted below the mast beam. They reinforce the hull deck connection in this area.

We add a filler below the bunks to provide a smooth bottom instead of a vee shape.This area is also painted with the elastomeric paint,

The ends of the beams will receive cleats. These cleats will keep the beam lashings from sliding off the end of the beam and provide cleats for fenders and spring lines. We overbore for the mounting screws and back fill with thickened epoxy with chopped fiber.Sorry about the fuzzy photo.

We build our beam blocks out of Coosa board and cover them with glass fiber. Then we bond these to the deck. We bond these with epoxy for stronger secondary bonds and then fillet them in with polyester putty, paint them with gelcoat and sand and polish them out.

Next we take the blocks that will be glued to the bottom of the beams and fit them so that they are a little lees than flush with the deck blocks.

Next we align the hulls. We make sure they are parallel, square, and in the same plane. Then we strap the beams to the decks and hulls with the blocks in between coated with epoxy.

We space the blocks for just enough clearance allowing for gelcoat and paint.

Again after gluing with epoxy we fillet the blocks with poly putty and then fair and sand.

With the beam blocks installed we start the final fairing and prime for paint. We still have to pot for some rigging attachments.

These are the lashing cleats. They will be bonded and bolted through the hull to deck joint.

These strips with the holes are the hinge strips for the four deck hatches.They have been gelcoated and will get sanded and polished.

The companionway hatches have also been faired and gelcoated on the inside surface.

This is the start of the cockpit. It is built of Divinycell foam and fiberglass fabric.

Beams, Bulkheads, and Pans

2010-09-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

The beams get flanges to support the cockpit as well as the aft end of the fwd deck. The client has decided to go with a slatted teak deck in lieu of the fwd trampoline on this boat. We are adding a flange to the fwd side of the mast beam for the deck here. The aft beam can be seen with some fairing putty on it to fill the weave and get it ready for paint.

The notch shown here is where we will glass in a fiberglass tube to receive the trampoline bolt rope. Once the beam is all faired off and ready for paint we will mill a slot through the glass and edge of the tube.

More fairing and sanding

More of the same. Here you can see the end of the tramp tube

In the hulls we are fitting the bulkheads and the pans. The pans are the fiberglass molding that becomes the cabin sole and the bunk top. They are foam cored as well to provide the required stiffness at a light weight.

The boards that you see across the top of the hull is to maintain the correct width of the hull while we install the bulkheads and the pans. The bulkheads are also of foam cored glass.

Both decks have now been fit to the hulls as well as the bulkheads. We won't attach them until we have completed the work on the interior of the hulls.

When we pull the decks out of the molds the windows and hatches all have to be cut out and the edges finished off with gelcoat. Her e we have done the cutting and sanding and have sprayed a coat of gelcoat on.

The same has been done here. The black paint is to aid in sanding the coamings fair.

Here is one companionway after the sanding and polishing.

One of the fwd hatch coamings completed.

On Deck

2010-09-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

We completed the fairing and gel-coating of the inside of the deck parts and popped them from the molds.

Next is to cut out the hatch and companionway and portlight openings.

The beams on these boats are laminated up from Divinycell foam and then sheathed with unidirectional glass, carbon and csm.

On the bottom surface of the beams is a flange to support the cockpit.

This flange will get prettied up and the beam will get a coat of putty and be sanded fair.

Two Hulls Today

2010-08-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week we finished the second hull.

the decks are actually more work than the hulls. Lots more pieces and corners.

Here we have glued in some foam and some fairing putty between the beam block area.This makes for a cleaner surface when we glue down the core foam below.

Below we have sanded the core foam and filleted the corners at the flange.

Next we fit the foam into the sides and top of the main cabin .

Here the foam pieces are cut and we are ready to glue the foam into place.

Below the foam has been glued in. Next we will fill and fair the foam. prior to glassing the interior.

Here we are laminating on the inner skin.

Here we have completed the inner skin and have started to fair tie inside of the deck mold. The ends are storage compartments and get only minor fairing . The center section is the cabin area and is faired off nicely .

Next week we will finish the fairing on these decks and coat them with white gelcoat.

On to the Second Hull

2010-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we pulled the first hull out of the mold and started to build the second hull.

Here is a close look at the vacuum bag pulling down the foam to a hull part.At the lower left of the photo is the "frog" where the hose from the vacuum pump connects to the bag. You can see the putty oozing through the bleeder holes and the bag sucking down tight.

Here is the gauge on the vacuum pump, which shows we are doing very well.

After we skin the part with mat we go over the part very carefully and look for any small air pockets between the gelcoat and the mat. When we find one we sand it off and apply a little more resin or gelcoat. You can see some of these areas here.

The next step is to fit and laminate on a layer of 108 biaxial fabric to the deck part. This is harder to laminate on and is done in smaller pieces to ensure good bonding.First we apply fabric around the hatch coamings.You can see these in the photo above. These places are more difficult to get the fabric to lay down smoothly. Then we do the bigger, flatter pieces as shown below.

.After the outer layer of fabric is laminated on we then start applying the foam. We fill the coamings with foam and also build up the areas under where the beam blocks will go to provide for a smooth surface to apply the foam coring to.Below is one of the hatches and the beam block filling..

Below we have filled in the companionway coaming.

Here we have glued in some foam in the area of the fwd beam blocks. These will get sanded fair like the area two photos back. Cheers

First Tiki 8m Hull Connected

2010-08-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

After the gelcoat, mat skin and an outer layer of biaxial fabric we fit 3/8" Divinycell foam for a core. This core is vacuum bagged on into a polyester putty.Here are several photos of the bag being made ready and the vacuum being pulled.

Below you can see the vacuum pump turned on and doing its thing. The white tubes are perforated pvc pipe to help the vacuum move around under the bag film.

This shot shows the foam core after the bag has been removed. You can see all the little blobs of putty that have been pulled through the bleeder holes in the foam. These holes ensure that no air pockets are trapped between the foam and the glass underneath it.

Next we sand all of those little blobs off and fillet a little putty around the edges of the foam and smooth everything off for the application of the inner biaxial skin.

Above we have laminated on the inner skin and below we are cutting off the ragged extra fabric along the edges of the part that will mate to the other halve of the hull.

Below we have maneuvered one halve of the hull mold into position to bolt it up to the other halve.

Here we have bolted the two halves together in preparation for glassing them together.

Here we have joined the two halves together with 5 layers of 1708 biaxial fabric

Monday morning we will pull the molds off and begin the other hull for this catamaran.

While we have been working on the hulls we have also been fairing the inside of the hatches and filling the ends of the companionway hatches which will be drilled out for the hatch slide tube.In the hatch that is being sanded here you can see one of our "kilos". These are 25 lb bags of lead shot. We use them primarily to hold down teak deck panels but find them very useful for holding and clamping all sorts of things.

Here you can see the 2nd fwd compartment floor with the foam core bonded to it. The foam allows us to build a lightweight piece that is stiff enough without excessive weight.

Above we have gelcoated and skinned one of the liner pans. This part stiffens the center span of the hull and serves as the bunk tops and the floor in the main cabin in each hull.

Here we are bolting in plywood pieces that form the flanges for the portlights. These will then be filleted in with modeling clay.They are bolted in because they trap the part in the mold and have to be separated form the mold after the part is laminated and removed with the part.Below is the deck mold gelcoated.

Below we are starting to fit the mat to the deck mold.

This photo shows the second deck gelcoated and skinned. The photo below is the end of our first week on this boat. One hull built, both decks skinned and all of the small parts built. Nice week.

Catamaran Hulls, Hatches and Decks

2010-08-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Today we gelcoated the hull halves and applied a layer of mat and a layer of biaxial fabric.We use a vinylester rein for the outer skins as it provides better protection from osmosis.

We also did the same process with some of the hatches, knees and fwd compartment floor We also put in the foam core and the inner biaxial skin on these parts.

Here are two of the hatches one of the fwd compartment floors as well as two of the mast beam reinforcement knees with the lamination complete and popped from the molds.

We have started the other two hatches and the other two knees and are fairing the inside of the companionway hatches.

We have brought the deck molds into the shop and are cleaning and waxing them prior to beginning the lamination.

Moving right along.

Wharram Tiki 8m Catamaran hull Getting Started

2010-08-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of construction on the Tiki 8m. We had some stuff to move around in the shop to get ready and then the material showed up and we started waxing molds and spraying gelcoat.

Below , under the tarp is the mold for the interior liner .

Here we are starting to level up one half of the hull mold.

Here we have leveled up the mold and braced it off. Tomorrow we will dust it off and wax it thoroughly.
Then we will spray it with gelcoat and apply the outer skin and reinforcing fabric.

We have the skin coat in these hatches and will apply the biaxial fabric in the morning.

All in all we had a good day.