Ikaroa The Second Roof Is Curing The second roof took a day and a half, and it’s curing nicely. I’m hoping the mould came loose on the first roof, because this one may have flattened slightly where the fittings bent under the stress.
Ikaroa The Second Roof Goes Much Faster I spent four days checking, measuring and moulding the first roof; the second is already epoxied together and fitting nicely. A little trimming remains, plus one suspiciously unsupported lifting operation.
Ikaroa The Bow Cabin Roof Gets Complicated I’m piecing together the complex bow cabin roof from multiple sheets of plywood—and caught myself marking the hatch opening on the wrong side. Fun continues!
Ikaroa A New Mould for the Front Decks I realised the front decks needed a changing curvature, not the standard radius from the plans. After rebuilding the mould, the 9mm plywood seems to be bending just fine.
Ikaroa Fitting the Cabin Trunk Roof I spent a hot couple of days getting the cabin trunk roof to fit, correcting the front and back panels millimetre by millimetre. I’m still watching for sponginess in the sandwich, which I’ll be able to inspect and reinforce when I cut in the hatch.
Ikaroa Building a Tiki 38 Sandwich Deck I’m cutting and epoxying the plywood, battens and layers for a Tiki 38 sandwich cabin roof. The heat is making epoxy pot life a race against the clock.
Ikaroa Biaxial Tape for a Monolithic Cabin My cabin trunk and nav table are now permanent fixtures. I’ve ordered 100 metres of biaxial tape to fillet and glass the connections, while preparing the cabin roof.
Ikaroa Second Main Cabin Sides Ready I’ve got the sides of the second main cabin up and ready for epoxy. Tomorrow is a long sandwich-panel day, including the companionway cutout, before I can move on to the bow cabin roofs and decks.
Tech Debugging, Learning and Loving Programming I share the painful truth about debugging: a tiny change can consume two days, but the lessons tend to stick. Apparently, I chose this over Netflix.
Tech Coding Our Premium App in Scotland I’m back in our Scottish office, working on our premium app and turning coffee into code.
Ikaroa Un-Messing a Main Cabin Deck Piece I unmoulded another couple of main cabin deck pieces, and they fit like a glove. I also started correcting the first, flatter piece with cutting, epoxy, a loading strap and 150kg of water.
Ikaroa Dry-Fitting the Tumblehome Sides I was apprehensive about dry-fitting the tumblehome sides, but they’re matching across both hulls. I’m rather proud—and still slightly surprised—that I haven’t completely messed it up.
Ikaroa My Least Favourite Epoxy Preparation Job I’m washing and sanding the hull and sheer stringers to remove amine blush before epoxying them. It is slow, sticky work, but I know from experience that skipping it would be a mistake.
Ikaroa Fitting the First Cabin Deck Side I spent most of the day matching the first plywood cabin deck side to the hull, working out an approach that should make the next eleven much quicker. Before that, I still have nearly 47 metres of sheer stringer to fit.
Ikaroa Laminating Hull Sides Before the Decks I’m laminating the hull sides together and trimming the stringers before I start on the decks. Sixteen connection lines take a surprising number of rollers—and I’m down to one glove.
Tech My Free Guide to Onboard Electricity I put together a free beginner’s guide to energy independence, with hands-on formulas and calculations for onboard electricity. I also fixed the download link for anyone who had already signed up.
Ikaroa Coffee, Epoxy and Fast Hardener I’m calling the morning a success: coffee, half a debate and finally suitable humidity for epoxy work. The temperature means it’s time to order fast hardener, while I fend off some cold-weather lithium battery nonsense.
Ikaroa Dry-Fitting Six Panels on Starboard Hull I spent a tiring day dry-fitting six panels on the starboard hull, getting them matched and ready for permanent fitting. I’ve also added large bifacial solar panels to the store, and I’m eyeing similar ones for Ikaroa if they’ll fit.
Tech Launching Our Lithium and Solar Shop I’m relaunching our shop with equipment I use and can recommend, starting with a nearly 7kWh lithium battery for our all-electric boat. More lithium, solar panels and complete kits are on the way.
Tech I’ve Opened the Sea Nation Shop I’ve set up a shop for the lithium batteries, solar panels, kits and charge controllers I’m using or recommending. For now, I can only serve customers in the UK because of transport restrictions.
Ikaroa Making the Companionway Stairs Take Abuse With epoxy deliveries delayed, I spent the day fitting companionway stairs from leftover 9mm plywood. The grooves should make each step solid enough for a well-fed person—and it looks good too.
Ikaroa Fitting the Epoxy-Coated Hull Sheets I’m slowly getting the hull dressed, fitting epoxy-coated sheets with generous edges and leaving the lower edge until the stringers and skin are working together. Large screws let me hang each sheet and pull it in without stress.
Ikaroa Plywood Supply Problems, Hull Sides Next Transport costs forced me to find a new plywood supplier, but I’m back to normal programming. I’ve dry-fitted and epoxied the remaining port-hull sheets, with hull sides and deck work next.
Ikaroa Dry-Fitting the Hull Panels I’m working on both hulls at once, dry-fitting, sanding and handling a steadily shrinking pile of 9mm plywood. So far the plan is working, which is always slightly unnerving.
Ikaroa Fitting the Upper Hull Sides Alone I’m fitting the upper hull sides on my own, with sheer stringers making the job easier than the lower hulls. I’ve also learned to dry-fit large pieces, check other people’s work, and cut only when I’m sure.
