Sunday 15 2017
A Sneaky Milestone
Today I had milestone sneak up on me and simply made my day; from deep within I had a very happy contentment wash over me and it simply made me smile.
Life on a Beach
Like most days I headed off to work on our boat Curious, a 35 foot Wharram designed catamaran. We believe ‘Curious’ is a Tangaroa Mk1, which means she is built from the very first series of Self-building plans the iconic James Wharram created in 1965.
An early Wharram Mk1 Tangaroa.
As I mentioned in the last blog post I’ve been at it for the last 5 or 6 months and working pretty hard. Well on Sunday I was just finishing some rough epoxying getting the structural components in place and looked to the back of the boat on the Portside hull. In the wee valley between the bulwarks I’ve had this old sail sitting for a while and I thought to myself, ‘Self, that looks pretty comfortable’. So I rolled off the disposable gloves and tossed them to the rubbish pile and lay down on this pile of sail material and I was right, it was very comfortable.
While laying there enjoying the smooshiness of that old sail I looked across my boat and started doing a mental check list of the work done and the work still on the yet to be done list.
Starting at the back;
Repair and mount the rudders – check.
Remove the bad sections of cross beams and make ready the mounting of the new beams – check.
Remove rotted and wet sections of material – check.
Repair rotted starboard bow stem section, hull skins and deck section – check.
Raise cabin tops to provide full standing headroom – check.
Build hatches for the forward deck areas – check.
Create new bulwark profiles – check.
And then it hit me, I actually felt it well up inside of me; all the major structural repairs, the parts needed to bring the boat to a basic starting point have been done!!!
There are still beams to be built, finishing off details like smoothing out fillets, painting etc., but all the major repair details of the initial survey have been completed.
Still a mess, but main structural pieces are in place.
All of a sudden it felt like I was looking at a mostly complete boat; I’m not embarrassed to say it brought an emotional lump to my throat. God knows what I’ll be like when I finally float the hulls and be on the water.
It’s just a guess!!!
Journey Island Style 
Just gotta say “Congratulations” on getting this far with your re-build. The Tangaroa will be an awesome base from which to launch your next dream! I came across you this morning via one of your videos. I am whiling away some time waiting for my own project to commence, and relating to so many of your experiences and observations. My Tiki 21 sits on the beach on the Gulf of Guinea waiting for my son to have the time to get it back on the water, realizing his dream of using the boat as a platform to get surfers from his eco-lodge (www.escape3points.com) to some of the “secret surfing spots” along the coast of Ghana. Meanwhile I am back in Canada planning to build the #3 kit for the newest Wharram design, the Mana 24. Hanneke is doing the last minute preparations before sending my kit, and my plan is to have it ready to launch in time for my 70th birthday in June 2018.
Wishing you continued success with the boat.
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Thanks Matey,
I appreciate the patience required to see one project waiting for action while another is looming on the horizon! The upside is each project has definite adventure built into its DNA.
Good luck with the Mana 24, she has beautiful lines; her life on the water will be spectacular to be sure.
Sorry for the delay in responding, I have no reason nor rational other than being more focused on the project than the computer.
Cheers,
Shaun
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And you updated your blog! Love the shot of Pirates Cove with your “other” Wharram peeping into the corner
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