Ikaroa Reorganising the Boatyard for More Plans I finally need more than one sheet of plans at a time now that I’m working in 3D. Clearly, the boatyard had to be reorganised.
Ikaroa Long Battens for Ikaroa’s Stringers 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.
Ikaroa Bulkheads Set Up, Finally I’ve finally finished setting up the bulkheads after a few adjustments to the backbone. One more careful check, then I can start epoxying them in—and relax a little.
Ikaroa I Start Assembling Ikaroa’s Lower Hulls I finally start assembling the lower hulls now that all the parts are ready—and it’s beginning to look like a boat. I also say goodbye to Kuba, welcome Aśka to the crew, and take a slightly slower week for Pesach.
Journal Supporting Kuba’s Next Project I’m supporting Kuba as he heads home to finish his own project after six months helping us build our self-sufficient catamaran. If you support him, you may even get a workshop on designing and automating an off-grid home.
Ikaroa Too Much Epoxy, Too Much Heat I mixed too much epoxy at once and watched the exothermic reaction turn it into a smoking block, melting the plastic spatula. For bigger jobs, I’ve learned that less at a time is definitely better.
Ikaroa Both Lower Hulls Standing Together I have both lower hulls standing together for their final sanding, making sure the keels and skegs are absolutely identical. They already look sizeable, though the upper hulls and cabin trunks will take the boat to 11.6 metres.
Ikaroa Correcting a Plywood Butt Strap I used a Japanese handsaw to correct one of my blunders: an epoxy-bonded plywood butt strap that was 9mm too wide and left no room for the bottom of a bulkhead.
Ikaroa Re-checking Bulkheads on the Backbone Today I re-checked the bulkhead placements on the half-finished backbone in our tent.
Ikaroa Epoxy Coating Bulkheads and Laminating the Backbone The monster tent is keeping us warm enough to resume work in the South Coast winter. We’ve started epoxy-coating the bulkheads and laminating the backbone elements together, so out come the nuclear reactor suits.
Ikaroa Making Room for the Lower Hulls We had to dismantle the old tent after discovering it was nowhere near tall enough for the hulls. The new, wider tent should give us room to work—and perhaps even keep it above 15°C.
Ikaroa Cutting Ikaroa’s Backbone from Elite Plywood I’m getting the backbone parts cut from precious 18 mm Robbins Elite plywood, then moving on to doublers, notches and lower bulkheads. Serious boatbuilding has officially begun.
Ikaroa Testing the Maslow CNC on Full-Scale Parts I finally saw the first pieces of our new 7.5-metre boat at full scale. The Maslow CNC cut a test batch from cheap 9mm plywood, and my translation of the Wharram Designs plans into machine files actually worked.
Ikaroa It’s a Tiki 38, Number 182 The competition answer is finally out: I’m building a Tiki 38. More precisely, number 182.
Ikaroa The Router Bit That Stopped Everything Our secret weapon was already set up, but a loose collet reduction brought it to a halt. I ordered more router bits and hopefully more effective reductions.
