Wharrams Tehini

[2MeterTroll]

Erica And I have been discussing what boat i build next for a few years now. no small decision for two nerds that want specific things in our living situation.

our criteria hasn't changed much over time as much as the attitude about what we will accept as living quarters and how we see the boat being used in our lives.

We had initially thought to have one roof with a good generous deck, shoal draft, easy to sail poke along mono hull. A chinese junk would be a good hull for our purposes.
problems with a junk are pretty basic but mostly involve size for the eventual mission. the junk would have to be around 70 to 80 feet long to give us the flexibility we want.

then we took a look at some other designs, scows, sleds, power boats, barge and tug,. Finally we looked at multi hulls; for the most part we didnt see anything we liked; everything is to futuristic looking. most multi hull designs seem to be trying to marry a Space ship with a boat and ugly-ing them both up in the process. Then we thought of modifying one to have the good looks of a work boat and still be an ok Cat, that could work but what hulls to put under a modest house and what is a modest house anyways?

so we kept looking, finally we where sitting between a wharram tiki and a woods design. both are nice boats. easy builds and have good and bad points mostly involving getting around space and how to fit our lives. then Erica and I where looking at Wharram designs in the design book and Erica says what about this one? could have knocked me over with a feather. none of the comforts of a tiki or any woods design, lots of deck, cockpit in one hull and with the house design in the photo about as ugly as a person could want pup tents sticking out of the deck. On the bright side lots of room inside the hulls, versatile, fixable and no one says we have to have the ugly pup tents.

Well that boat is the wharram Tehini. We wont modify it much from the drawings just a few tweaks here and there to make the hull work for us (she needs a bit wider hulls for the chair to get around below). We will be removing the god awful pup tents and putting a barrel vault overhead in the cabins. maybe make the hulls a bit taller so i wont have to bang my head much while i can still walk. the study plans look good and the materials list look good; money is heading in for the plans. unfortunately i wont be able to get much done on the boat till late spring next year. but thats just going to give me time to make bunches of gear before hand. Blocks, mast hardware, cleats, portholes, and the million and one other things a well found boat needs. I will also be starting on the Appropriate tech systems we will be teaching (never did trust folks that didnt use what they teach).

Some of this ties in with what we are doing now and other bits will be all new challenges. Should be fun.

Any of you have experience building/ sailing a Tehini? Any things i need to plan for prior to the start of building because they aren't in the plans? that sort of stuff?

Any Wharram building experience would be valuable cause i am sure he has his own special ways about him.

[keyhavenpotterer]

Ernie, there is a Wharram builders forum where they will have a great deal of knowledge about building and sailing these boats.

http://wharrambuilders.ning.com/

Brian

[skaraborgcraft]

Ernie, you ask "Any things i need to plan for prior to the start of building because they aren't in the plans? that sort of stuff?" Well,modifying the hulls to make them wider and deeper wont be there. Have you looked at the Pahi 63? Neither is a small undertaking in commitment both in time and finances,but if this is your choice as the way to go then i wish you well. Cheers.

[2MeterTroll]

Thanks Keyhaven; I am on that board. life is pretty slow there, often for months. I like to be a bit more active than that.

Skaraborgcraft: If i hadnt looked for a few years i would have settled for the pahi. the modifications i am planning are minimal at best. Every designer has an awkward thing that folks run into. in this case i would like to be informed before we re-loft so i can fix it. if folks have nothing to offer we will loft it anyways and then add the changes.

Please take my word for it that the changes are not done lightly and the little added cost will be well worth the materials invested. Thank you for bringing the changes up.

[TR]

Ernie,

Did you get the Warram design improvements pack? Well worth it. The latest boats have very little hardware, almost everything is self-made and of a piece, much lashing around wooden cleats and shoulder pieces. For blocks there's a decent piece by Harry Bryan on building blocks in the latest WB (#226). Though the current price at TopLicht for unfinished ash shell rope stropped blocks makes them very attractive. The thing is many Tehini's have been built, Hanneke has updated/corrected the drawings, and the designer is still alive if you run into trouble.

Good luck......

[2MeterTroll]

Thanks TR yes we will be getting the improvements drawings. We will float the changes by the designer, as per tradition. the only problem i am running into is that many of this boat have been built and most that have survived are out sailing . Seems as soon as they are launched the builders drop out of sight never to bee heard from again.

the home made hardware is going to be fun; and i will get to do lots of the stuff I learned early on. not much call these days for hand made fittings, this one i will be able to fit to my own tastes.

[skaraborgcraft]

Ernie, fair comment if you know what you are doing. Not many Tehinis built in Europe due to the mooring costs, but the smaller wharrams are around. Almost tempted by a Tiki 21 once,until i squeezed inside the hull. I have no idea how Rory sailed his around the world,but he must not suffer from claustraphobia.Certainly make good beach boats in that size. Had friends circumnavigate in a Tangaroa, a hull each, they joked they almost lived seperate lives for 7 years.

[2MeterTroll]

That claustrophobia thing is a big one for us at two meters its hard enough to find boats that fit directly off the plans. Fi worse comes to worse we ill scrap the buying a plan and just line one out ourselves. be a bit of a pain but not to bad. mostly I want some of the things Mr. wharram has worked out over the years without having to reinvent them myself.

this boat will be the last big boat i get to build with my old man and thats about the most valuable thing I will ever get out of it. the last 50 foot we built was his fishing boat, 25 or so years ago.

not to much different this one; we just need to raise the roof a bit make the hulls a bit wider and drop the interior deck a few inches. both of us are a little older now and i cant be wedging myself into a tiny space anymore with a can of epoxy and a putty knife.

I am trying to play this straight and Pay Mr. Wharram for his time and expertise rather than taking the study plans and redrawing them to a full set. boat designers deserve some consideration even from experienced designers and builders. I figure he earned the 1300 pds in just the fittings i wont have to fiddle with.

[TR]

boat designers deserve some consideration

Oh good!.......

[2MeterTroll]

LOL...

[TR]

There are at least 3 big unfinished Wharrams on this island. A Tiki 31(?) whose owner has hired a professional full time so they can go sailing this century, a Pahi 42 stalled years ago, and a modified Tiki 46 also stalled with hulls about complete. I'll ask some questions if I run into the owner/builders.....

[2MeterTroll]

I would appreciate that. might be that they want to get them out of the barns and the work is good enough to make them worth looking at in the short term.