First....again

My old blog, The Road to Chebacco, is abandoned. The plans for the 20' plywood catboat, which I bought from Dynamite Payson, are laying on a shelf still in the mailing tube, calmly waiting for another day - another phase of life.

Right now, as a man of 34 years with a wife and a young daughter, I must put aside the quiet solo camp-cruising waters favored by boats like Bolger's Chebacco, and build for the family's requirements. Thus, after a long and painstaking process of decision-making, we have arrived at a new design - Wharram's "Tiki 30" double-canoe catamaran.


The Adriatic-based CATATUSC, a Tiki 30 with "Pod" cockpit.


It is a slightly modernized version of his older, more Polynesian-inspired boats, and enjoys a nearly unanimous good reputation, both as a pleasure craft, and as a modest voyaging boat, from everyone who doesn't already have an axe to grind against multi-hulls from the start.

I have made extensive lists of the pros and cons of my choice, and the T30 comes out far ahead of any other possible choices when our own priorities are applied. I won't list them all here, but suffice to say that I would not be the least bit hesitant to take my little family over to the Bahamas on this boat. And after that -- after we have sailed on her for some time and are comfortable and learned of her ways -- I think she could go anywhere else we wanted her to take us.

And even if the standard blue water dream is never-to-be, the boat is still small enough, and can sail in thin enough waters, to function as that camp-cruiser/vacationer for smaller jaunts.

But enough of my justifying my choice, few would question it's worth anyway. This blog is supposed to be about construction, hopefully I can supply more photographs than dreams, for building the thing - (as I learned last year on my dink) - is at least 50% of the fun.

You dream while you build. I carve out a keel, and instantly imagine it being dragged up on some tropical beach, where my kid jumps off and starts kicking around a soccer ball in the sand. I sweep away some sawdust in my cold basement, and start coating a bulkhead in epoxy, and in my mind's eye, my wife stretches her sexy legs and starts beach-combing for shells while I take photos: pictures that will one day be posted in this blog.

The building has already begun, stay tuned for photos and words. This is just the beginning.