Flexible Iroko Battens for the Keel
I’ve resumed work on the hulls and started preparing half-inch iroko battens for the keel, which bend beautifully into shape. We also helped our friend launch Baldur before her mast went up.
Well, we have resumed our work at The Sea Nation’s workshop. Finishing little bits on the hulls (filler, sanding, filler, sanding etc) and since finally we are at the stage when we can start doing things in advance and concurrently to what is going on in the tent - we have finally started messing up with our iroko. There is absolutely no chance I could bend an one inch thick iroko to the shape of the keel and frankly it would be slightly excessive to use it 🙂 so, true to the general idea of the art of boatbuilding (which is, as we all well know, the art of taking the carefully selected, most exotic and expensive pieces of wood and turning them into sawdust using the most expensive, time and labour consuming methods) - I have started to prepare the correct thickness (around 1/2 inch) iroko battens. Just half of the original size but how nicely flexible they are! They follow the shape of the keel beautifully…
Yesterday was a big day for our friend working nearby- his BALDUR went to the water first time! We have tried to help a bit and apparently we did but it maybe just politeness from Krister 🙂 morning report said she floats beautifully and went to her mooring almost on her own (mooring is just across from the slipway). Tomorrow will be the second part of the act - putting the mast up! We are happy to help as, in words of Krister - “it is always better to test ideas on someone’s else boat first” 😜 #tiki38 #buildingwharram #allelectricboat #theseanation #ikaroa #tiki30
