by Kelly Ann Krieger The art involved in designing and building a seaworthy vessel is always impressive. But the skill it takes to build a seaworthy vessel completely by hand, using only natural, sustainable, eco-friendly materials, is rare and demonstrates an “old world” tradition matched with superior craftsmanship by today’s standards. It was a voyage…
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For me this deck is what makes MON TIKI special. At 38 feet and 8,500lbs displacement, MON TIKI is a relatively modest vessel. (For comparison, our previous boat, a Catalina 38 monohull, weighed in at just under 16,000lbs.) But there’s nothing modest about the nearly 300 square feet of deck space she boasts. MON TIKI’s…
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By Kitty Merrill The lightning strike provided the spark. Running a modest sailboat charter out of Montauk with his wife Amelia, David Ryan began to realize the market called for a larger vessel. His boat could carry six passengers and he was turning business away when disaster hit . . . in the form of…
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Moving MON TIKI from our potato barn boat shop in Bridgehampton to the shipyard in Montauk Marine Basin took all of Thursday and most of Friday. But once we got there, and will the help of the yard crew and a fork lift, it only took a short while to get the akas dropped into…
DetailsWood and aluminum have similar strength to weight ratios. The greater thickness per given weight makes wood stiffer and more damage resistant in smaller scantlings. Aluminum is (with proper corrosion protection) lower maintenance and can be manufactured in longer lengths than are available in clear lumber. Both wood and aluminum can be machined with ordinary…
DetailsToday was moving day at the boat shop: This is the port hull getting strapped onto its dollies: We made a plywood railroad: One hull completely out of the barn (my wife was pressed into service for the move): Both hulls roughly positioned: Happy skipper: On technology, a reminder: Mon Tiki is the first lashed-hulled…
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Last week we got the hulls up on dollies, and then got the hulls far enough apart to dry-fit the akas. This boat is going to be big!
March in the boat-shop in a four minute slideshow, narrated by Captain David Ryan:
We've started dry-fitting the upper bulkheads
As we got closer and closer there was a lot of ruminating on the best way to turn the hulls. In the end we went old-school. A bunch of old tires Corrigan’s was happy to have us take off their hands, and a 4×4 we found in the yard as a lever: Likely we’ll get…
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