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No School Like the Old School

John Bruton reports the launch of his 32' Marshall Islands style proa in Cape Fear, North Carolina. The big canoe was built with no plans other than referencing photographs and books. The hull is built in two stages: a sharpie-like plywood section from waterline to sheer, and then the hull below waterline built like a surfboard, all hand-shaped urethane foam glassed with polyester resin. The hull is self bailing. Great job, John!

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A Primer on Proas

aerohydrofoil Sailboat concept pioneered by Bernard Smith in the 1960’s and described in his seminal work The 40-Knot Sailboat. Smith's analysis of sailboat kinetics led him to a groundbreaking design involving no traditional sail or hull, instead utilizing solid airfoils and buoyant hydrofoils, arranged in a proa-like formation. Many of today's proa advocates credit the excellent proa chapter with sparking their first interest in proas.

ama  Polynesian for outrigger float or log, in common use among multihull designers.

aka  Polynesian for outrigger cross beam.

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New Zealand on 100 Snails a Day

Tim Anderson has posted another canoe sailing adventure - this time from New Zealand. As usual, he nearly dies a few times (infection and hypothermia), lives on snails and oatmeal, experiences altered states of consciousness, camps where he shouldn't, meets interesting locals, and returns home with stomach parasites. Hard not to envy him. This time he sails Gary Dierking's Ulua, which is practically a yacht compared to his previous transport. Lots of good photos - especially if you like outrigger canoes, and who doesn't? Outrigger Canoe Sailing in New Zealand.

Hula Kai

Frank Russell found this 1963 vintage C/S/K catamaran at a California dock in 2003 - in need of some love. He took it home to Long Island, and undertook a complete restoration - the fine result was relaunched June 2005, and christened Hula Kai. Read about the project here.

Big Traditional Canoe in Tahiti

In Tahiti, a twenty meter va'a motu named 'Te Ara Taura' is being built to an ancient pattern in Koa wood. "I want to revive traditional navigation in the Polynesian triangle and encourage the vacant youth to travel in the wake of their ancestors", says Clement Pito, originator of the project. The outrigger canoe will set sail in July 2006. Tahiti Press

Wooden Eye Candy

Not much in the boating world is prettier than lapstrake smallcraft. The big green bow in the back belongs to Wawona - a lumber trading schooner.

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Cruising Blues and Their Cure

Their case was typical. After four years of hard labor their ocean-size trimaran was launched in Minneapolis at the head of Mississippi navigation. Six and one half months later they had brought it down the river and across the gulf to Florida to finish up final details. Then at last they were off to sail the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles and South America.

Only it didn't work out that way. Within six weeks they were through. The boat was back in Florida up for sale.

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Seattle Oil Awareness Meet Up

Went to the Seattle Oil Awareness Meetup this evening. Had a great time meeting F2F with people who are tuning in to the Peak Oil "Long Emergency". About 15 of us made it this month. Lots of talk about gardening, becoming energy efficient, sharing info, and rebuilding local community, and a little about wars for oil. The difference between this and the endless internet PO hand wringing is that we're real people living in close proximity, who actually have a chance to do something about it. I volunteered to give some time this month.

Wharram Islander 55 Launched

Check out the new pics of Wharram's latest - launched in Indonesia. The yacht will most likely sail to Europe around the Cape of Good Hope, to be used for charter in the Mediterranean and/or Caribbean. It reminds me of a double-hulled Turkish gulet or Arab dhow. James Wharram Designs

Proafile v4.1

A new back-end for Proafile! The site has been upgraded to Expression Engine which doesn't mean much to visitors, but should make my admin more fun, meaningful, and productive! It also means that all Proafile pages are now search engine friendly. Page 3 of 8 pages « First  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »