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# Long Battens for Ikaroa’s Stringers
- URL: https://seanation.org/long-battens-for-ikaroa-s-stringers/
- Published: 2021-04-13T20:07:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-06T14:26:15.000Z
- Description: I explain why I chose better boatbuilding timber for Ikaroa, including long made-to-order battens that mean I only need to scarf one stringer.
- Author: Monika Matis
- Tags: Ikaroa, Tech, #story-ikaroa, #facebook-import

The Sea Nation

A lot of questions received by us are about materials we use.

One of the reasons we are still on cold coast of South-East England and not at sunny Fuerteventura is zero-problem availability of brilliant boatbuilding materials

Yes, sure, you can build a Tiki (important distinction!) Wharram from quite cheap stuff - self cut battens out of much more available large stock, simple external plywood and all will be fine. These elements are after all covered and saturated in epoxy making them much more durable and pretty much impervious to water.

But since we are building this boat as a commercial one (otherwise it would be pretty difficult to explain those expenses in our company to the taxman!) and also as our home we have decided to spend a bit more and get a bit better materials.  
Especially that our supplier - specialised boatbuilding one - knows the scale of our project and is aware of just how much we will have to spend so his offer suddenly became much more competitive. Which is great since it covers things like epoxy resin...

Pictures below show one of our main materials- a lot better quality and from wood normally unavailable in a normal timber yard. It is just brilliant to build and not a lot more expensive than more ordinary timbers when you factored in all the discounts. But made to order, ideally to specifications and in long pieces - shortest is 4.3m, longest 6m. That means we only need to scarf one of the stringers as all others are covered by single batten

![](https://media.seanation.org/posts/104311468114809_142355751224071/002.webp)

![](https://media.seanation.org/posts/104311468114809_142355751224071/003.webp)