Woodenboat NZ Story: Rique's Outrigger

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Riques OUTRIGGER Malolo

We have shown you pictures sent down from Warkworth by Rique Higgins (an expat American who has lived here for three or so decades, Rique has been inspired to tell us a bit more about his choice of boat and his experiences building her. She certainly causes much comment wherever Rique sails.

Malolo
This design is a James Wharram "Melanesia". It's a really simple, easy to build, stitch and glue canoe that I have managed to make into a more complicated project with lot's of 'fiddly' things to work out and to build that took me about three times as long to build than I thought it would. Being an old hot-rodder, I couldn't stand to make a 'standard' boat that had so much potential (or so I thought at least) for improvement. I put the basic hull together as per plan, using 5.5 Red Meranti, until I got to the decks. The plan called for short ones that one stuffed with empty milk bottles for buoyancy. So I thought that I would make the decks longer, with more camber, and watertight bulkheads, that, of course meant beams, stringers and hatches. And that was only the start of the time consuming 'extras' that I had planned. Not that I am complaining, I was having the time of my life, it's just that without much experience, I hadn't anticipated how much time it took to work out what to do, design it and finally build it, all the 'extras' without a plan, or the experience to know just what would be strong enough. A huge amount of agonizing goes on here. Otherwise, the hull went together well. The plan as it is, is really complete and explains every step of the way with drawings of how to do each step. They are aimed at people that have no background in building anything, let alone a boat. Wharram's plans are expensive, but said to be the best there are.
When it came to the kiatoes, (cross beams) the plan said to use saplings or bamboo, but I had some Kauri matchwood lining left over after rebuilding part of our house that I thought would come in handy. I already used some for the gunwale/stringer on the hull. So I thought that if I was going to laminate them, I might as well put some curves in them (Love curves). I made the form from a 10x4 section steel girder that was lying around with some 2"x2" angle iron welded at strategic places. Getting the old paint off the wood was the first hard part; old acrylic paint wants to stay on no matter what! A belt sander would have been good. Another learning was that it takes HEAPS of glue to laminate four 12"x3" boards together x three for all three kiatoes. Then I didn't have enough clamps so there were lots of voids to fill after (learning, learning, learning).
The shaping took a lot of effort, but was really satisfying, and I am really pleased with the effect. My theory was that with the curves, it would keep them from tripping on the chop, and it would keep my bum farther from the water when sitting on the bamboo seats that go between them. So far so good!
I also built some mounting blocks with end plates on them under where the kiatoes would go on the outside of the hull and used them to bind the kiatoes to the hull with rubber bands cut from inner-tubes. That seems to work well, so far so good.
When it came to the ama (outrigger), I thought that there was a huge amount of room for improvement over the 12í log of wood in the plan. So I built another hull 14í x 10î x14î deep. I made it so long so that there wasn't so much difference in the waterline length of the two hulls.
My method was to cut the two sides from 3.5 Red Meranti ply with the same angle at stem and stern as the main hull (for looks), they had a bit of curve on the bottom, and flat on the top with a Kauri stringer running along the inside. Then I made a sort of keel from two layers of the 3.5 and stitched them all together at the stems, and the bottom, and PRESTO! When you pulled them apart at the top, the whole thing curves up into a rocker shape that matches the hull!! I then ran a string from stem to stern and made beams and stringers to form the cambered deck on (similar to what I did on the hull).
Some people call stitch and glue 'Origami with plywood', I love it.
I felt that the 10" beam pulled it into just about the right shape, and went with that. This is one of those places that called for an amazing amount of agonizing over looks, volume, buoyancy, strength, and function, all total guesswork with no experience to fall back on, but I think this time I landed on my feet. I probably spent more time working out and building the ama than I did on the main hull.
For a rig, I had a 4sq.m. sailboard sail that I thought I might use until I got around to making the crab-claw sail on the plan (I love the look and the 'mystique' of them). So I made a stayed stubby mast from bamboo and mounted the sail mast at the base of that with a pulley that went from the top of that to the sails mast like a Malabu outrigger.
So with that done, we were ready to go sailing!!
Armed with a small (blade area about the same as a small oar) paddle that I bought at a second hand shop, my teenage son and I went down to the Whangateau estuary for a sail.
SAILING
First off I was disappointed that it took so long to set up almost one and a half hours! (I have since got it down to about 45 minutes)
What a great feeling as she pulled away and accelerated well in a modest wind. We could see a really pretty looking gaff headed little yawl about 4 kms across the estuary and went to have a look, well we got most of the way there when a thimble on the forestay pulled out and the rig came crashing down on us!!! The rigging ends were the only thing that I didn't do myself!!! (What was that story I heard about how the Titanic was built by professionals and the Ark was built by an amateur?) The yawl saw our plight, and came to rescue us, we had started to paddle, but it was hopeless with those little paddles. The yawl turned out to be one of (if not the) first 'Houdini' and was built by John Welsford himself. The help was really welcome, I haven't seen it out there again, or before.
Our next sail was hopeless with almost no wind, and what there was coming from all over the place. No good for learning or for working out what is happening with a rig that is untested.
My next one was the first time I was all on my own. The wind was about 10 to 15 mph with really strong, intense rain squalls. She seemed to handle OK as long as the wind was forward of the beam, that didn't bother me at first as I had been working my way up wind thinking that I could just get blown home when I wanted, but no. The wind had been picking up for a while, and thought that it would be the time to head back. Just about then I got hit by one those squalls, the mother of them I think, and she just would not turn off the wind!! The wind was really howling, the ama kept lifting out of the water, and it was raining so hard that I could hardy see. I finally managed to beach her in the mangroves and walk back to the car feeling pretty humiliated, especially when I was about half way back to the car and the sun came out and the wind went back to about 15mph. But then I didn't know at the time that the wind wasn't just going to go on getting stronger.
Back to the drawing board.
I then decided that the designer must of had some idea about sail arrangement and paddle size. So I abandoned my board sail in favour of the crab claw that I really wanted in the first place. I went in for a Tyvec sail because of the price; it only costs 45cents NZ per sq. meter and comes in a width of nearly 3 meters. It's all put together with double sided tape and the sort of tape that on uses on black plastic moulds for concrete. The tape costs more than the sail material. I spent about $60 for enough stuff to make at least two sails; I don't know how well the Tyvec will wear, but so far so good. It only took about one day to lay out, cut, and tape it all together. The only tricky part was (again) my modification to sleeves for the bamboo spars. The sail is cut with curves in the top and bottom so that the wind pulls the spars into the graceful curves that seem to be unique to the crab claw, so of course the sleeves had to have curves as well.
For a new paddle I bought a 7'x6"x2" Macracarpa plank, glued what I cut off to make the shaft on to the blade part, and started whittling a new paddle. The first thing that happened after cutting out the shape, was my power plane crapped out, Grrrrrr, so 90% of the work was done with a spoke shave and plane, than smoothed out with a borrowed belt sander. It was really fun and satisfying but wow did it take me a long time.
So now with my new sail and armed with a bigger paddle, we went sailing again. Bugger me if she still resists going off the wind!!! Well, at least it wasn't nearly as bad as it was, and with the new paddle I could really get some purchase on the water and I could force her to my will, even to the point of gybing at will. Which is quite a graceful thing with a crab claw, the boom lifts almost to the gaff and goes over gently, and then fills without much shock and away we go again. The problem that day was after sailing around a bit with my son, the wind came up a lot more (white caps on a 18î chop) and thought it was time for me to extend myself a bit so pushed off alone. As I jumped in and started to sheet her in the sheet fitting on the boom came adrift and she just took off with me as passenger only!!!!!! The sail went out on the ama side, so I went forward, grabbed the boom and started to work my way out to he sheet mount when a gust hit me and she came about. Now the sail was on the off side, so when I tried the same thing and every time I got close, a gust would hit, the ama would lift out of the water and I would have to let go. Now she was getting blown towards the mouth of the estuary with the tide also taking me to where there are lots of boats moored. At one stage she even started to sail backwards (don't ask how) and the paddle caught on a sand bar and broke off the rowlock mount on the kiato (good thing I had a string on the paddle). Finally after about an hour of this, there was enough of a lull for me to re-attach the sheet and start sailing properly. I only went a few hundred meters when another gust hit me and the fitting on the mast/boom popped out (I have since re-done this) and the rig was on my head..... Again! At that stage I gave up and paddled and walked her home.
So after getting some advice from people on two of the Wharram forums, I found that I simply had the sail too far back, (I knew that) so all I had to do is re-adjust my sail so it was much higher, and that made the COE farther forward and "viola" I have a boat that does all the things that it is supposed to do!! I don't need to use the paddle much, I can steer by shifting my weight, where I do need it is tacking; I have yet to do it without paddling the stern around, and keeping her off the wind.
So from now on it should be plain sailing.........so far so good.
So far so good. ...............Isn't that what the man that was falling from the top of a multi-storied building was heard to be saying as he passed windows on the way down?
Rique