Wire Runs Between Hulls

  James and Hanneke don't mention in any of there plans anything about electrical systems. A builder is basically on there own. We used ordinary compression style wire glands at first. These were not really satisfactory as they are designed for a single round cable. We had leaks around them into the cabins. We came up with this technique that is very simple and very effective. I thought I would share it.
   The  basic system is we glue a stub of PVC tubing Onto the hull and then another piece in line with the first onto the side of the cockpit. Then we connect the two tube stubs with a piece of rubber inner tube and a couple of hose clamps. Here are some photos that will make it all very clear.

 This is in the starboard hull next to the electrical panel and radios etc.

This is between the starboard hull and the cockpit. The inner tube is from a motorcycle. Between the cockpit and the port hull there are fewer wires and we used a smaller tube with a piece of bicycle inner tube.
 

This is inside the battery compartment at the starboard side of the cockpit.

This is the stub glued and glassed onto the side of the cockpit before paint.

This system has worked out very well for us and we don't have anymore water intrusion around our wire connections. We use pieces of split PVC tubing to run wires through along the bottom of the cockpit and in other exposed locations. They look nice when filleted in and painted to match.

New Engine Box and Yamaha 9.9

When we first built this Tiki 30 we moved the motor fwd to the center of the cockpit. This left the aft end of the cockpit clear for the helmsman and provided a convenient location for the GPS. It also placed the motor in the center of the boat where it would be much less likely to cavitate. It was also a great location for the jib winch.

The box hinged up for easy access to the motor.BUT all was not quite as groovy as i should have been. We mounted the motor about 6" too low. This caused the motor to get too much salt spray on it and sometimes a high speed it would get water right over the top. This caused service issues with the motor due to corrosion.

Also when I purchased  the motor I was unaware that motors this small were available with power tilt. It was a little inconvenient to have to unlatch the box and fiddle around for the latch to raise or lower the motor.

 This summer I purchaesd a new Yamaha 9.9 out board with both electric start and power tilt. We made a new engine box and modified the motor mount to raise the motor up 6". We had to lengthen the box by almost a foot to accommadate the motor in its' higher position and allow it to tilt up. The new top does not have a raised edge which allows water drain off rather than be trapped by the fiddle.

 The side benefits of this change were that we got a better lead to the jib winch and the GPS was much easier to read mounted in the taller box.

The new box is glassed into the cockpit floor and is much more rigid and we don't get water squirting out when we are blasting along at high speed. Access to the motor is a little more restricted but for other than oil changes and a new spark plug I need to yank it and take it to a technician. 

The power tilt is really really cool and I am very pleased with the new motor and the installation.We also get almost another knot of boat speed with the 9.9 compared to the 8.

Islamorada Wharram Catamaran Rendezvous 2010

May 14-16 was the spring hui of Wharrams in Islamorada. We had our Tiki 30 down for the event and had a great time as usual. This time we pulled right up on the beach at the Lorelei Restaurant and took people on demo rides all day long.

The wind was a little on the light side so we didn't set any speed records. However the slowest top speed we hit on any trip all day was 10 knots. Not bad for a boat with8-10 people on board.
There were the usual suspects in attendance of course, but also there were a couple of new boats who travelled to join us. The smaller boat in this photo is Rick's Tiki 21 Sandy. Rick and his wife and daughter trailered Sandy down from North Carolina. Rick's boat was very nicely built and they were enjoying her immensely.
Abaco strutting .
This is a crummy photo,but shows The Pahi 31 Surfrider sailed down from Pensacola by Greg Russell with a couple of friends visiting from California.
Scott B. Williams came down for the event and took most of these pictures. He also wrote an article that is in this months issue of Southwinds magazine. Here's a link.
http://www.southwindsmagazine.com/

Everybody had fun, the weather was terrific and we hoisted one in honor of James Wharram's
82nd birthday 5-15. Congrats James and thanks for all the fun. We will get together again this December further north in FL.

Wharram Tiki Catamaran Press

When we let Onne van der Wal use our Tiki 30 in the Exumas last year in exchange for some photos and press we thought that it would be good for us. The whole deal has worked out very well for us. First Onne is a real nice guy and was very easy to work with. Second, the amount of press we have gotten has been great and the photos that he gave us are wonderful.
To start off his son had an article published is Sail magazine in January about their trip on Abaco.
This was followed by Cruising World magazine using a photo of Abaco on the cover of their February issue. Then in March we were there was a short article in Cruising world about Boatsmith being the US builder for James Wharram Designs. April saw a photo of Abaco in an article about simple cruising in Sailing magazine. Then in May we are gracing the cover of the May/June Boat US magazine cover. This is certainly an awful lot of exposure for one Wharram catamaran to receive in one year. There is also a photo of Abaco on Onne's 2010 calender. On the July Southwinds cover there is a shot of Gil Grove's Narai and inside there are photos of Abaco, and a Tiki 21 named Sandy, a Pahi 31 named Surfrider, a Tangaroa named Forever Young, and a Tiki 26 named Inseperable. These were all taken at the Wharram Rendezvous in Islamorada in May.