is Yamila Diaz from last year’s SI Swimsuit issue.
Archive for the 'Ulua' Category Page 2 of 3
The Ulua planking is complete, many months after I had thought it would be! I will post more pics and discussion later. Basically, in choosing to not just plank straight up the sides from the sheer I wound up perhaps doubling the work involved (or more). But, I think it will look nice in the end. Next: outer stems, fairing, glassing.
Slow but steady wins the race. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. After much internal debate, I decided to install a ‘chine plank’ in the no-man’s land between the keel planks and the rising parallel planks coming up from the sheer. The motivation was largely aesthetic, as was not crazy about how the planks on most Uluas seem so parallel and don’t express the sheer or rocker well, and partly practical as with each successive plank the ends required more and more edge set keelward which led to gaps, and my perception that the lines of the planks would seem to bend down (with the hull right side up) at the ends, just where I would prefer that they bend up.
The keel planks were installed so they lap on to the top of the stems, and then the sides were planked up from the sheer till they mated to the keel planks at the ends. The chine plank location was determined by setting it parallel at stations 9-10-11 and letting it fall fair to the ends, keeping in mind that an integer number of planks would be used in the resulting gaps where the girth was largest. In hindsight, I think it might be nice to have this chine plank fall to meet the point where the straight part of the stems run into the curved part that are part of the keel profile.
One upshot is that there are now two shutter planks per side, and the tapers on the ones being filled first are pretty extreme. The next to last plank had a 16:1 taper in the bow, and the narrow shutter plank is almost nothing but taper. Luckily, the planking up from the chine plank should lie fair with little edge set, and fairly short taper sections to match, at least for the first four of the seven planks that will fill the upper space.
Next: sharpen up the block plane for the final assault.
From Season 2 onward, the closing credits of the classic TV show Hawaii Five-0 featured these very buff kanakas paddling an outrigger like hell through the surf. We are watching Season 1 at home now, and reliving fond childhood memories.
To do:
- Finish Ulua
- Get a tan
- Lose 40 lbs
Mahalo!
After a lot of agonizing about the mold positions and their own accuracy, I finally started planking.
Turning the corner of the stem.
I came up with a Spanish windlass scheme to hold the inner stems on to the stem molds, it worked well.
Seven planks on.
Stern view.
Making up a test panel for fiberglass/epoxy/finish testing.
It’s starting to get tricky. Above, I am mocking up a scheme to taper every other plank to try to get around the problem I am starting to have with lateral bending away from the sheer, which is getting worse as I go. The lines seem to also favor doing something along the way to better meet the curve of the rocker as the keel is approached. There is some discussing of this in the boat’s plans, but I haven’t seen anyone do any thing other than plank her straight up. Maybe there is a good reason.
Over the weekend all the station molds came off the strongback and went up again with reference to improved overhead string scheme with double plumb bob monitoring. Mold position was checked with battens and straight edges, with reference to Table of Offsets. Various problems with molds were found, but none too horrible to not go forward. I decided to not try to move any molds until I had some full length strips on, instead of the 8′ pine battens cut from not-too-great wood.
I managed to shoot myself in the finger with the Arrow T50 staple gun with the recommended 9/16″ staples, about two seconds after having the thought “I’m supporting these strips pretty close with my fingers — I wonder how long until I get hit?”
Now we start the surprizingly long process of carving the inner stems to be fair with the battens. Partly is was an excercise in learning the spokeshave and the small angle block plane (worth every penny!)
Apprentice Char has a natural touch with the spokeshave.
Finished stem. Hopefully, the final strips will lie without any undue chine effect or funny bulges.
Next
- Cleanup cove side of cedar strips, plane down beads on shear planks, position
- Start planking
Setting up molds. Note alignment string contraption.
Station molds on strong back. Unfortunately, alignment string contraption is not stiff enough and drifted out of true. So I will start over with some improvements, and also use a jig to hold the plumb bob in place as I work. It will probably be better to make the string holder so that the stems can be faired with battens without taking the string down.
Ulua progress has been a bit slow, owing to weekends taken up with rowing (around Alameda in a windstorm), sailing and fishing, completing some projects on the Searaven, and procrastination. The molds are up though, and I hope to have everything aligned and the hull planked through Labor Day Weekend, since the following weekend I will be at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend.
Other progress
- Fabricated inner stems from mahogany
- Purchased ash and mahogany for i’akos
- Purchased doug fir for boom
- Puchased foam, fiberglass, and epoxy from Fiberglass Hawaii for hull sheathing and ama
- Purchased windsurf board mast (Fiberspar 3200 460)
- Received quote from sailmaker (Halsey Lidgard in San Mateo)
Next
- Buy and install bandsaw. Table saw/jig saw not enough!
- Fair stems with spokeshave
- Complete mold alignment
- Plank hull
Dudes in an OC-? tearing along behind a kite. Found at Kiteboat.com, the site seems like it hasn’t been updated in a long time.
For the Ulua, perhaps?
Build the fastest, most exotic sailboats around!
Popular in Hawaii and throughout the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, outrigger canoes combine the romance of the South Seas with a ruthless efficiency of design and breathtaking sailing performance. This is the first book to present complete plans and building instructions for three outrigger sailing canoes.
Based on traditional Hawaiian and Micronesian types, the designs are lightweight, easy to build, and screamingly fast. Author Gary Dierking shows you how to build these boats using stitch-and-glue and strip-planking construction, explains what tools and materials are required, how to rig and equip the boats, and more.
Gary Dierking, the designer of the Ulua outrigger that I am building, has a new book now available for pre-order from Amazon [LINK].
The full contents of the book above is available online as a part of the Hawai’i Digital Library. Fascinating background for canoe builders, paddlers, or admirers.
Honolulu Community College offers courses in Hawaiian culture, including canoeing and voyaging. Their website is a good resource for those interested in the topic. The picture looks a lot like the Ulua, no?
You can now have a canoe-based wedding on Hawaii. From the site:
Hawaii has been one of the world’s most popular wedding destinations since tourism has been the mainstay of this beautiful island archipelago. More recently, however, there has been emerging interest in traditional Hawaiian culture contrasted to the embellished forms of song and dance for the sake of entertainment. The sailing canoe being the pinnacle of cultural achievement for the Hawaiian people adds that unique element of Hawaiiana, not to mention the sense of excitement the service will undoubtedly bring to your Hawaii wedding experience!
[LINK]
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