Tiki 21 For Sale in the Florida Keys

I just got word that my old Tiki 21 (formerly Element) is for sale again. She's in a great location for some shallow draft catamaran cruising if you're in the market for that kind of boat:

Wharram Tiki 21 For Sale

Lying Islamorada, FL.  Dan.  305-664-0190 (vm only, no text or email to phone) or svforeveryoung@hotmail.com

Forever Young is for sale (formally Element – lots of You Tube and pics on web under that name).  Solid but needs bottom sanding and paint.  No road trailer but includes heavy duty 4 wheel Cat Trax/Big Foot beach cart.  Original Wharram wing sale gaff rig with Jeckels sails (main, jib and spinnaker).  Recent 6HP Tohatsu with 2 tanks.  Solar panel on each hull with separate battery and electrical system in each hull.  LED nav lights.  Lots of power outlets in various places.  Safety net forward.  Forward and aft tramps.  Will be keeping all other items (ground tackle, sleeping pads, gps, radios, etc) for new boat.  $8,750.

Book III of The Pulse Series is Available to Preorder Now

Those of you who have read my 2012 novel, The Pulse, know that there is lots of sailing action and adventure in this story of a man who is stranded in the Caribbean far from his only daughter when a series of solar flares takes down the power and communications grid. The story continued in Book II of the series, Refuge, which was published last year, and now Book III, Voyage After the Collapse will soon be released and is available for preorder now. 

Here is the official description:

BOOK III OF THE PULSE SERIES—A STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE AFTERMATH OF MASSIVE SOLAR FLARES THAT DESTROY THE POWER, COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION GRIDS, BRINGING ABOUT A DESCENT INTO LAWLESS CHAOS AND UNBRIDLED SAVAGERY.

The crew of the sailing vessel, Casey Nicole has endured a harrowing ordeal on the dark waterways of the coastal swamps near New Orleans, but Artie Drager has escaped with what he came for—his only daughter, Casey.

They are free of the mainland but still too close for comfort. Now the crew of six aboard the big catamaran must plot a course and set sail into the unknown, hoping to find a place where the impact of the electromagnetic pulse was not so severe. Where that will be, they have no way of knowing. Did the solar flares impact the whole planet, or just the parts of the Western Hemisphere they have seen?

Voyage After the Collapse is a passage of hope into an uncertain future, leaving the terror of the U.S. mainland astern in the wake.

You can preorder the book now for $3.99. The release date is set for December 16, but I expect to see it released sooner, hopefully in November. Reserve your copy at the link below. You won't be charged until the book is actually released and delivered to your Kindle or other ebook reading device. A paperback edition will also be available around the same time the Kindle edition is released.

Voyage After the Collapse (Book III of The Pulse Series)

Sailing the Apocalypse: A Misadventure at Sea

I've written much here over the years about Wharram catamarans, and my regular readers here know that I'm a big fan of all of James Wharram's designs.  I have built a Hitia 17 and a Tiki 26 from plans and restored and sailed a Tiki 21. I've also been involved in the professionally-built Wharram catamarans coming from Boatsmith, Inc. in Florida, and no doubt will build or buy another Wharram cat at some point in the future.

So, even though I'm not building another Wharram catamaran at present, they are obviously on my mind a lot as they keep coming up as the featured vessels in my fiction projects.  For those of you who may not have seen it on my main website or other blogs, I have a new book out that was just released this past weekend.

Sailing the Apocalypse: A Misadventure at Sea, is the story of a man who is obsessed with the idea of building a big Wharram cat (Tiki 46) to get his family away from what he believes is a country on the verge of collapse. Terry Bailey has done his research and knows the advantages and virtues of a Wharram for his purpose. He greatly overestimates both his boatbuilding and sailing experience, however, and the story becomes a series of screw-ups and misadventures as he forges on with more determination than good seamanship. This book, at 304 pages, is the first in what will be an ongoing series that follows this family's adventures. I think most Wharram enthusiasts, as well as boatbuilders and sailors in general will be able to relate. The full description is posted below the cover image. You can get a copy of Sailing the Apocalypse in either ebook or paperback from the links at the bottom of this post.

Terry Bailey is convinced America is doomed, and the last hope for his family is to escape to sea. 

How far would you go to protect your family if you were convinced America was in imminent danger of collapse? Would you build an underground bunker and stockpile it with weapons and supplies? Buy a cabin in the woods and start growing all your own food? Sell everything off and move to a survivalist’s stronghold in the mountains of Idaho?

None of the above would be enough if you were obsessed with boats the way Terry Bailey is obsessed.Terry has an escape plan to sail to the very ends of the earth; the only real option left to survive what’s coming, according to him. Convincing his new wife, teen stepdaughter and preteen stepson that time is running out, he sells his recently-acquired family on the necessity to build a boat. Two years of hard labor later, Terry has his ship—a huge ocean-going catamaran sloppily cobbled together from plywood and epoxy in their backyard in north Mississippi. 

When the ship is ready to launch, Terry christens her the Apocalypse, and the four of them move aboard for good, bidding farewell to life on land along with everything and everyone they had known before that day. There is no need to wait for a disaster to strike, because Terry Bailey has created his own. Now he is about to drag his entire family over the horizon with him. Sailing the Apocalypse is the story of a man who is about to go too far, and is told from the perspective of the twelve-year-old stepson who watches it all unfold as he is swept along for the ride.

Sailing the Apocalypse is available in ebook form from Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.  

You can get the paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  

Both formats are available in the various Amazon stores worldwide as well (UK, France, Germany, Australia, etc.).

Boatsmith's Ariki 48 Nearing Completion

My friend, David Halladay, of Boatsmith, Inc., has just posted an update of the nearly-finished custom Wharram Ariki 48 he and his crew have been building in West Palm Beach.  It shouldn't be long now until launch:

Book Giveaway: The Sequel to The Pulse

Time marches on and it seems hard to believe that it's been over two years since my first novel, The Pulse was published in the summer of 2012.  I posted about it here before it was released because although it is a work of dsytopian fiction, most of the story involved sailing a long and dangerous passage with no electronic instruments or aids to navigation in the wake of a solar flare that shuts down the power grid:

http://scottsboatpages.blogspot.com/2012/06/post-apocalyptic-sailing.html

The Pulse was a big success when it was released in 2012, for awhile getting into the top 300 books on Amazon, and I wanted to immediately write the sequel because I ended the first book with a sequel and even a series in mind.  Working with a publisher can prove incredibly frustrating though, as in their infinite wisdom they delayed offering me a contract for the sequel for more than a year and instead insisted I do a parallel story for young adults set in the same world.  While The Darkness After was also a fun project to write and was a success as well, that story did not involve sailing and the publication schedule delayed the writing of the sequel to The Pulse much longer than I would have liked.  But finally, the book was completed earlier this year and Refuge After the Collapse has now been printed will be available on or before September 23.  The story picks up with Larry Drager, anchored in the remote Honey Island Swamp near New Orleans in his big Wharram catamaran.  I hope those of you who read and enjoyed the first book will check it out and I apologize for the long delay.  This won't happen again as I calling all the shots with my book publishing from this point forward.

I wanted to post this to Scott's Boat Pages today in order to give readers of this blog who may not follow my other sites an opportunity to enter a book giveaway for Refuge that will end around the 23rd.  The giveaway is for 10 signed copies to be mailed to the winners, and all you have to do to enter is sign up for my opt-in newsletter by entering your first name and email address in the form linked below.  Your email address won't be shared and you won't get a bunch of junk email from me, only the occasional book giveaway or new release announcement like this one.  After you enter by submitting the form, be sure and check your inbox and spam folders for the confirmation email, because if you don't click on it to opt in, you won't be officially entered:

Scott B. Williams Email Newsletter Signup

If this link doesn't work for some reason, you can also find the signup form under the Newsletter tab in the menu at the top of this page. I'm currently working on another novel about cruising on a sailboat and I'll look forward to keeping my newsletter readers informed about the upcoming release that will be happening later this year.  

Assembling a Big Wharram Catamaran

Part of the appeal of building a Wharram catamaran is that the hulls and other components can be built individually and then moved to another location for assembly and launching.  With the smaller sizes, this can be done without much mechanical assistance, but once you get up to the size of the Ariki 47, it gets a little more involved.

Here's a video clip Boatsmith posted showing the delivery and partial assembly of the first pro-built Ariki 47 delivered to the customer, who will complete the fit-out and rigging himself.

Interviews With James Wharram (Three)

James Wharram continues his story of his early voyages and talks about meeting sailing legend Bernard Moitessier in Trinidad:

Interviews with James Wharram (Two)

Here is the second of a series of interviews with legendary catamaran designer, James Wharram and co-designer Hanneke Boon.  In this conversation with David Halladay, James recounts his early seafaring life:

Interviews with James Wharram

This is the first of a series of interviews with James Wharram and his co-designer, Hanneke Boon, talking with David Halladay of Boatsmith, Inc. in his shop in West Palm Beach, Florida.  In this first video, James discusses his early influences that led to his legendary catamaran designs:

Meeting James Wharram at Last

Meeting British catamaran designer James Wharram and his co-designer Hanneke Boon back in May was certainly one of the highlights of my year so far, at least until late June, when I saw the first copy of my first novel in its published form.  But those who have read The Pulse know that a Wharram-designed 36-foot catamaran is also integral to the plot as the vehicle of choice for one set of characters, and I can say for certain that it will be a part of the sequel as well.


The event was the 2012 Hui Wharram, or Wharram Spring Rendezvous, held in the Florida Keys on and the grounds of and in the anchorage near the Lorelei Restaurant in Islamorada.  This is an annual event, but this was the first year the famous designer himself was in attendance, and I made the 2,000 mile round road trip to the Keys just to meet him.


Here, James Wharram is signing my copies of his Design Book and his classic narrative of his 1956-59 double-transAtlantic voyage, Two Girls, Two Catamarans:

James Wharram and Scott B. Williams

Coming from a background of long-distance sea kayaking and canoeing, I was naturally attracted to Wharram catamarans the first time I saw a photo of one back around 1997.  I immediately ordered his Design Book then and built the Hitia 17 beachcruising catamaran, which was a natural progression from paddling to sailing.  These designs made sense to me then and they still do today.  Wharram's basic principles that make them so inherently seaworthy are these:

• Narrow beam/length ratio hulls
• Veed cross-section to sail to windward without daggerboards or centerboards
• Flexibly mounted beams joining the hulls together
• No permanent deck cabin between hulls

In addition, like traditional native canoes and kayaks, the two individual hulls that make up a Wharram catamaran are always double-ended, with plenty of rocker amidships and lots of reserve buoyancy due to the flare carried all the way to the sheer.  Unlike many modern multihull designs, these catamarans are extremely resistant to capsizing or pitch-poling due to either wind or sea state.  This has been amply proven by many ocean crossings in small Wharram cats, including Rory McDougall's circumnavigation in a Tiki 21, which still holds the record as the smallest catamaran to circumnavigate.

An outstanding example of a Tiki 30 at the rendezvous

More about James Wharram's visit to Florida can be found on his website, which was recently updated with a report by Dan Kunz on the rendezvous and James' own report on his visit to the new shop of his U.S. professional builder, David Halladay, of Boatsmith, Inc.  Hanneke Boon has also put together a video of the rendezvous and uploaded it to YouTube here.   I also wrote an article about the rendezvous for the current, July issue of Southwinds magazine.

Wharram cruising cats pulled up to the beach at the Lorelei

Art on The Water Video

Here's a pretty cool video compilation I found on YouTube of Wharram catamaran photos from around the world.  Just about every model from the JWD Design Book can be seen here:

Video: Assembling a Tiki 21 Between Tides

I found this cool video on YouTube, A Wharram Tiki 21 catamaran being assembled and launched the way the designer intended, by hand and on the beach between the tides:

Cruising on $500 per Month?

I first ran across the 185-page "Cruising on $500 per Month" thread on the Cruising and Sailing Forums from a link in a post on Boat Bits, a blog that often features observations on the cost of cruising and the cost of cruising boats.

That this thread could generate that many pages and 2767 replies (and still counting) is a testament to the amount of interest there is in the concept of low-budget cruising in these tough economic times.  What many of the contributors to the thread have pointed out is that despite what the glossy sailing magazines would have you believe, there are lots of people out there cruising and even voyaging all over the world on simple, low-cost boats they have either built themselves or refit after buying cheap in a market that is saturated with neglected used boats.

Having made the transition over the years from sea kayaks to cruising size boats myself, both by the refit route and the home building route, I understand the appeal from the point of view of someone who would never consider boats of this type if I had to buy new at today's prices.

One of the biggest considerations that keeps resurfacing again and again in this ongoing discussion is the size boat you need to go long-term cruising.  Again, if you believe the popular yachting press, anything under about 40 feet is unsuitable.  But among those who are actually making the break from land and seeing the world on their boats, smaller boats are not nearly as uncommon as the magazines would have you believe.  Boats in the 25-30 foot range are cheaper to buy, cheaper to refit and equip, cheaper to haul-out and maintain, and cheaper to dock if find the need to do so.  Plenty of designs in this size range are seaworthy enough to go anywhere you might care to go.  You might have to give up some of the comforts, but what is better - being slightly more uncomfortable while out there living the dream - or working year after year to get the bigger boat paid for and equip it with every modern convenience while never getting away from the dock?

Whether you want to try and live as cheaply as some on this thread advocate is another matter, but it can be done even today with the right boat and the right attitude, and some knowledge of which places to spend your time in and which to avoid.  After buying and outfitting the boat itself, the biggest expenses for cruisers on any size boats are almost always associated with shoreside conveniences and services.  You certainly won't be cruising on $500 per month if you plan to tie up to the docks of a marina every night, or if you want to eat most of your meals out in restaurants.  Cruisers wanting to travel in that style will need a monthly budget in the thousands of dollars, rather than the hundreds.  But if you don't mind doing your own cooking, and you're happier anchoring out in a secluded cove and rowing the dinghy ashore to ferry supplies to the boat, you can avoid most of the expenses that make the cost cruising so prohibitive in most peoples perspective.

The key to low-budget cruising and the gist of the thousands of posts on this thread can be summed up in a few points:

• Choose the smallest boat that will accommodate you and your crew and safely take you to the destinations you plan to explore.  Researching the proven voyages of others who have gone before you or are out there cruising now will point you to the best designs to choose from.
• Keep the systems on the boat as simple as possible and make sure you have the tools and skills to do all of the maintenance and most if not all repairs yourself.  Carry spare parts you anticipate needing rather than having to pay expensive shipping and import duties to get them later.
• Carry a hard dinghy with oars rather than an inflatable with an outboard, as it is cheaper to buy, build or replace, less likely to get stolen and can be equipped with a simple sail rig if desired.   
• Plan on anchoring out 99 percent of the time, wherever you go.  Good ground tackle is essential for this and should be your top priority in equipment purchases.
• Shallow-draft boats open up many more anchoring possibilities than deep draft boats, making it much easier to avoid marina fees in popular cruising areas where there are few good, deepwater harbors.  Shallow draft also lets you explore remote regions that see few if any other cruisers.  Such places are often much less expensive to spend time in, as the locals are not used to making profits off of wealthy yachtsmen in their big boats.
• Plan on cooking and eating aboard 99 percent of the time, and if you do eat out, go where the locals go rather to that to expensive tourist traps.  
• Acquire useful skills that you can use along the way anywhere you go.  Welding, sailmaking, diesel repair and similar skills can allow you to cruise indefinitely without having to wait until you have enough money in the bank to live off the interest.  Go now while you still have your health and enthusiasm for adventure.  

These are the main points brought out in this thread, though I'm sure I missed a few.  Many of the posts became painfully repetitive, with the same ideas rehashed over and over.  The discussion also led to quite a few arguments about choices of boats: especially the same tired old monohull vs. multihull debate.  But quite a few of those participating in the conversation extolled the virtues of Wharram catamarans, as well as shoal-draft sharpie monohulls - two of the boat types long-time readers here know that I post about most often.  My own choice of a Wharram Tiki 26 catamaran as the perfect boat for me to build and sail was influenced by the same line of thinking that led to this discussion - shallow draft and simplicity being top priorities.  

If you've got hours to kill, you can read the full thread on the forum and will probably find it both entertaining and informative.

Tiki 38 Atlantic Crossing Video

Wharram catamarans seem to get built and actually taken to sea on impressive voyages on a more frequent basis than just about any other boat I can think of designed for the backyard boatbuilder.

After five years of determined construction in the U.S., Jacques Pierret has launched his self-built Wharram Tiki 38, Pilgrim, and recently sailed her across the Atlantic from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey to Marseille, France.  The 4500 nautical mile passage took a total of 31 days, at an average speed of 6 knots, including stops, and a top speed of 16.6 knots.  Here's a great video of the trip by the captain and his four-man crew:



More videos, lots of photos and journal entries about the passage can be found on the voyage blog at:
Pilgrim 38.  Here's the route sailed and a few samples of the photos:

 

Boatsmith's Tiki 30 Reduced Price

David Halladay has dropped the price on what is undoubtedly the finest and best-equipped Wharram Tiki 30 that has ever been built.  If you're looking for a professionally built Tiki 30 - a catamaran that can take you on long offshore passages, cruise shallow waters off limits to most boats and daysail with a party on board, you won't find a better one.  David says the boat has to go because there are new projects coming soon.  This has been the demo boat for Boatsmith, Inc., and has been shown in boat shows from Mystic, Connecticut to Miami.  At two years old, it has been meticulously maintained by the pros at Boatsmith and is ready for a new owner.

 
Here's his description of the boat and her inventory, as well as the reduced price:


Looking for the perfect boat to cruise the islands?  
Boatsmith is now offering Abaco for sale for $50,000.

This is a stellar example of a professionally built James Wharram Designs Tiki 30.  This boat has been our boatshow demo boat and is very well equipped.

There is a double and single berth in each hull with 4" foam cushions with Sunbrella covers The starboard hull also has the head and nav station with a storage area aft. The port hull includes the galley with a top loading icebox aft. There are two Bomar hatches and two opening Lewmar portlights in each hull for easy access and great ventilation. These all have screens as do the companion ways. The lights throughout the boat are LEDs. There are 6 lo amperage fans, a 1400 watt inverter, a 180 watt solar panel with controller.

The cockpit is shaded by a rigid anodized aluminum tube bimini with the solar panel mounted on top.  The cockpit is fully outfitted with 2" closed cell foam cushions with Sunbrella covers. Fuel, batteries, fenders, lines, BBQ and propane all are stored beneath the cockpit seats. There is a built in beverage cooler under one of the cockpit seats.  Under the fwd athwartships seat is storage for the boat hook, boat mop, fishing poles and spears.   The forward deck is slatted teak and the aft deck includes two trampolines and a teak swim ladder.  There is a stereo/CD/XM/Ipod and VHF and GPS chart plotter. The motor is a new Yamaha 9.9 HP with electric start and power tilt. The motor lives under an insulated box in the center of the cockpit.

This boat draws only 26" and the motor and rudders are protected when grounding. The sails are in excellent condition. The genoa is on a Harken roller furler and there is an asymmetrical spinnaker with a snuffer. The primary anchor is a 22 lb Rocna and there are two secondary Danforths. The boat has a matching 14' rowing dinghy and several large fenders and a full complement of mooring and dock lines.

To arrange a demo sail or for more information call (561) 632-2628.

Boatsmith Inc.'s New Tiki 36

David Halladay is now ready to move forward on his newly-drawn version of a Tiki 36 catamaran based on a scaled-up Wharram Tiki 30.  The Tiki 36 will offer many amenities not available on the Tiki 30 while still keeping the sleek lines and coming in at a much lower weight than the Tiki 38 with the schooner rig.  It will offer a longer waterline for faster speeds than the Tiki 30.  Here are the main differences compared to the Tiki 30:

• Hull beam increased to 5'
• Overall beam increased to 19'8"
• Sheer height increased 12"
• Forth beam added
• Separate head and shower compartments
• Wider main bunks and larger forward berth areas
• Standing headroom in galley and nav area

From David Halladay's description:  The Tiki36 will weigh in at around 4300 lbs and will have a sail area of 600 sqft.  They will be built of foam cored fiberglass and fit out to the highest standards.  If you look at our spec sheet you will see that this is a well equipped boat and one that should be very comfortable as well as able to show her heels to many while keeping the rugged simplicity and seaworthiness that Wharrams are renown for.   These will still be custom boats and there is very little that can't be modified on them to suit the owner.  The helm pod for instance is very open to customizing to exactly whatever flavor suits you. This boat will fit into a  single 40' container for easy shipping. 

He's offering this fantastic cruising catamaran at an introductory price, and can provide a full spec sheet to show exactly what you're getting for your money.  There's nothing currently in production that could compare to the capability this boat offers in this price range. For more information, contact david@boatsmithfl.com or visit his website at www.boatsmithfl.com 

My Article in the Current Issue of Cruising World

I have a short article in the current (April, 2010) issue of Cruising World, in the "Shoreline" section.  The piece is about David Halladay receiving James Wharram's blessing as the first officially licensed professional builder of Wharram designs in the U.S.  Hopefully articles like this will bring more attention to the beautiful boats David is creating in the Boatsmith shop and more sailors will consider a Wharram cat a viable option among the many choices out there.  Look for it in this issue on newstands now:

I'm not sure how long this link will work, but for now you can click on the inside button in this embedded version of the article and view it at a readable size: 

Switching from a Steel Mono to a Plywood Catamaran

There's an article in the current issue of Good Old Boat that I found of great interest, particularly with my fondness for Wharram catamarans.  This magazine is of course, primarily focused on restoring and sailing older fiberglass boats, which generally means monohulls simply because there are so many more of the them available in the used marketplace. 

New construction is not often mentioned here, but in this issue there is an article by frequent contributors, Dave and Jaja Martin about their choice to sell their steel monohull, Driver, and build of all things, a Wharram Tiki 30.  Now I've followed their writings for years and reading of their exploits such as sailing a modified Cal 25 around the world and cruising Arctic waters on Driver sometimes caused me to question my own choice of a plywood cat over a good sturdy monohull.  But in this article Dave explains his rationale and the solid reasons he chose a Tiki 30 when he decided a multihull would be the best choice for the kind of sailing they intend to do next.

Not surprisingly, his list of reasons in his choice mirror my own reasons for choosing a Tiki 26 after losing a 26-foot monohull in Hurricane Katrina.  The Tiki 30 works better for them, because they will be sailing as a family and they wanted the largest demountable cat that could be reasonably trailered and still powered by a single outboard.

In the next issue of Good Old Boat there will be another installment on this project where Dave gets into details about material choices in modern plywood boat construction. I will be eagerly awaiting it, and I especially look forward to the inevitable future articles that will likely be published in several of the major sailing magazines about the Martin's adventures on  their new Tiki 30.

Boatsmith's Tiki 30 Abaco is on the Cover of Cruising World

I should have posted this earlier in January, but it slipped by.  If you subscribe you may have seen this cover image on the February issue of Cruising World.  That's David Halladay's Tiki 30 Abaco, the Boatsmith demo boat I was involved with building and blogging about on Pro-Built Tiki 30. 

This shot was taken in the Exumas by yacht photographer, Onne van der Wahl, after David Crawford and I sailed it over to Nassau back in June to deliver it to him for that purpose.  Unfortunately, Abaco is almost lost in this sweeping wide angle of sand, sea and sky, but hey, regardless of that, she's a cover girl now, and Cruising World is nothing to sneeze at.

The First U.S. Built Wharram Tiki 8-Meter

David Halladay and the Boatsmith crew have launched the first of two foam-core/fiberglass composite Wharram Tiki 8-Meter catamarans they have contracted to build for a south Florida resort as day-charter boats.

These first two boats are modified from the orginal design to suit the needs of the charter company, hence the extra aft beam and aft steering station that gets the helmsman out of the cockpit and frees up more space for the guests.  You can see this modification by clicking on the photo above to enlarge it. 

The other significant modification is the rig, which replaces the Tiki gaff wingsail main with a fully-battened, loose-footed main with a boom.  David says this configuration offers many more options for adjusting sail trim, as well as provides a larger sail area for light air, which is an important consideration for the variable light-air conditons typical of Florida's Gulf Coast.  The jib is equipped with roller-furling.   With this rig, both main and jib are easily furled and put away.

David is extremely pleased with how the boat sails.  The video below should explain why.  Look at it go in barey a puff of wind!

David and the crew trailered the boat fully assembled (with a wide-load escort) from the shop to the public boat launch at Burt Reynold's Park, on the Intracoastal Waterway.  Compared to the Tiki 30, it was quick and easy to launch, and he says that stepping the aluminum mast was much easier as well.

Beaching is a snap.  Note the kick-up rudders - another modification required by the charter company.  The crossbeams are composite foam core/glass as well, making them much lighter than standard Tiki beams of wood and glass. 

Although many builders, myself included, prefer the character that wood construction gives and the easier one-off building process, David expects that customers looking to purchase a finished boat will really like the low-maintenance of these composite Tiki 8-Meter cats.  This is an ideal sized boat in so many ways for so many things, which is exactly why I chose the Tiki 26, the wood composite version, for my personal boat to build. 

For more info contact David Halladay through his website:  http://www.boatsmithfl.com/