Final Details and Ready for the Road

The photos below were all taken Tuesday as we scrambled to finish all those last minute details to get the boat ready to take to the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, Connecticut. The first photo below was taken Tuesday night as we are loaded on the trailer and ready for the road. We left the shop at 10:30 PM. We will be assembling and launching the boat at a yard near the boat show today, on Thursday, June 26 - just a little over 5 months since starting the construction in late January.

Here is a view of the cockpit showing the custom-made seat cushions and other details such as the cockpit table/motor box, hatches, etc.

A close-up of the motor box shows the teak table top and the central jib sheet winch, as well as instrumentation and engine controls.

Here is a view into the galley in the port hull. The sink is on the outboard side to the right, and our custom-made stainless single burner propane stove is mounted on the shelf to the inboard side. In the center is an opening portlight above the access to the ice box.

Here you can see the finished nav-station in the starboard hull. A VHF and stereo have been installed, along with the DC circuit panel and 12-volt fan and lighting. All the varnished trim is teak.

Here is a view of one of the rudders showing the lashings. The V-shaped notch in the top of the stern post is a receiver for the extra aft netting beam.

We will probably have the boat in the water before most of you read this. We hope to meet some of you this weekend at the boat show.

Fitting Out Details

We're in the final assembly and fitting out phase of the Tiki 30, and have been working long hours in a final push to get everything done in time to make the Mystic Wooden Boat Show this weekend, in Mystic, Connecticut. The boat will be loaded onto a trailer later today and we will begin the trip north to arrive in time to assemble and launch at a nearby boatyard. There are lots of projects going on simultaneously as we complete such tasks as rigging, wiring and systems and hardware installations. The photos below were taken a few days ago, but will give you and idea of how things are coming together.

Here is a view into the cockpit, where you can see that the decks and non-skid areas have been painted, the motor box/table is finished with cut-outs for instruments and controls, and seat box lids and inboard portlights have been installed. We have since installed the engine and remote controls for it.

Here is a view of the port stern deck and aft portion of the cabin top. You can see the stern mooring cleat, inspection port, icebox hatch lid, and on the cabin top, the spinnker lead block and self-tailing winch for the port sheets.

Looking inside the port hull, forward into the bunk area, you can see that the portlights and cabin top opening hatch have all been installed, and the teak trim for the bulkhead openings is finished. The shelves are also getting small fiddle rails of varnished teak.

Here is the almost finished nav-station in the starboard hull. We have installed the DC switch panel, VHF radio, 12-volt L.E.D. lighting and 12-volt fan, and the portlight in the aft cabin bulkhead.

In addition to what is shown in these photos, we are completing the standing and running rigging and all the wiring within and between the hulls. Painting and varnishing is complete and most of the custom canvas items we ordered such as cockpit cushions and bunk cushions have arrived in time for the boat show. It's been an exciting and busy time in the Boatsmith shop. We'll post more photos as soon as possible of the completed boat, and we look forward to showing it in Connecticut, and to meeting the designer: James Wharram.

Topsides Painted, Outboard Mount Installed

The hull topsides have been sprayed with two coats of red Awlgrip, providing a nice contrast to the white Petit Vivid bottom paint and the decks and cabins, which will be painted with white Awlgrip.

Here is the forward deck, removed from the beams for finish sanding. We have lots of finishing details going on simultaneously as we are jamming seven days a week now to get the boat ready for the Mystic Wooden Boat show in Connecticut the last weekend of this month.

The outboard was delivered the other day. It is a Yamaha 8hp, 4-stroke with long shaft and electric start, and should be an ideal match for the Tiki 30.

With the outboard on hand, we were able to design and build the motor mount, and install it on the bottom of the cockpit sole. Below, you can see how the sides of the wedge-shaped mount were glass taped to the adjoining surfaces of the bottom of the cockpit.

In this side view of the motor mount, the glassed-in structure has been filleted and faired to the underside of the cockpit sole.

Here is a view of the motor mount from the cockpit. It is centered fore and aft to keep the prop in solid water between the hulls.

The foam-core cockpit sole had to be epoxy filled in the edges where we cut out the opening for the motor mount. In this view you can see the transom for the outboard clamp at the aft end of the wedge-shaped pod.

We have also built a covering box that encloses the outboard from the top and serves as a cockpit table as well as a place to mount such instruments as the steering compass.

Detail work is also going on down below in both hulls as we finish such things as edging all the shelves with teak fiddles and trimming the exposed bulkhead edges. Below you can see one of the main bulkheads with teak trim being formed for its edges. We are making these trim rings by gluing up layers of very thin teak that can take the radius. The clamps hold the layers until the glue sets, and then the rings are removed from the boat for finishing.

Here is one of the bulkhead trim rings, shaped and sanded and hung outside for varnishing.

The companionway hatches have also been varnished.

Forward Deck and Boarding Ladder

We have opted for a teak deck between the mast and forward beams instead of a trampoline as shown on the plans. This deck is constructed as lightly as possible to still have the required strength, and as the much of the weight of the boat, with the outboard, etc., is aft, this extra weight forward is not going to hurt the trim. The deck planking is not solid, but has small gaps for easy drainage between the planks without being spaced so far as to make walking uncomfortable.

The U-shaped handles on the four corners make for convenient tie-downs for the dinghy and other gear and aid in lifting the deck into position during assembly.

The deck is situated low between the beams, close in line with the bottom edges of the beams, and just slightly higher than the foredecks of the hulls.

This view from below shows the attachment method. The U-shaped sockets in the background are on the bottom of the mast beam, and act as receivers for the longitudinal stringers that support the deck between the beams. The extended forward ends of these stringers are lashed to the underside of the front beam, as seen in the foreground here:

Aft of the cockpit, we are also utilizing the large amount of space between the hulls by adding the custom-built extra aft beam that allows the integration of a boarding ladder with nets or trampolines to either side. Below you can see the frames for the ladder, running fore and aft between the aft cockpit beam and the extra stern beam. The cut-outs in the rails are hand-holds, that can be used by reaching up when climbing out of the water. The ladder will swing down between these rails. There is a horizontal piece on either side of these rails, attached at a right angle. These are drilled for the net/tramp lacing lines and correspond to the lacing rails on each inboard side of the aft decks.

This view from below looking aft shows how the ladder frame rails hang on the extra aft beam, and how the horizontal pieces on either side provide a place for lacing the nets. This right-angle construction also adds great rigidity to the rails while keeping them light weight.

Another project also nearing completion is the cockpit. Here you can see on one side of it the side wing that extends outward from the seat boxes to meet the curving inner face of the cabin side. This view is from the port bow angle, looking aft. There is lots of storage below the seat level in the separated boxes.

Fitting Companionways and Trampoline Rails

Here is a view of the installed companionway hatch on the starboard hull. The hatch slides on a piece of stainless steel tubing mounted in teak blocks attached to the cabin roof.

To attach the sides of the aft trampoline to the decks, we are installing toe rails that will have lashing holes drilled for lacing the trampoline. To build these strong enough and still have them conform to the curvature of the deck, we are using glued-up laminates clamped in place. When the epoxy cures the rails can be removed for shaping, sanding and drilling, then re-installed with lags into the sheer clamp.

Hatches and Aft Beam

Here are the completed companionway hatches, showing the teak overlay and teak framing. These will be finished bright to add a nice natural wood contrast to the white decks and cabin sides.

In the clamps on the bench below, you can see the extra aft netting beam that we've laminated from Doug fir. It is a hollow constructed spar, not structural to the boat but plenty strong enough to support the aft trampolines and a boarding ladder.

Below is a view of the completed double-coaming hatch for the insulated ice box. Note the drain hole near the bottom edge of the outer coaming. This allows drainage of the small amount of water that might get in between the outer coaming on the deck and hatch cover. The inner coaming prevents any water from getting inside. This is an old and proven way to build a waterproof wooden hatch. This opening is in the stern deck of the port hull just aft of the aft beam. The round hole aft of the hatch is for mounting an inspection port to access the compartment aft of the ice box.

This is a view of the port foredeck and hatch coaming, complete with primer.

Decks and cabin roof are also primed on the starboard hull, and beam lashing pads and deck blocks are complete.