Good judgment comes with experience... unfortunately, most experience comes from bad judgment!
Sangraal
Sangraal is being built in Winston Salem, NC by Yellow Dog Yachts
I’m not one of those sailors that grew up in boats. I never sailed Optimists, Sunfish or Lasers. My family didn’t live on or near the water. The closest I got to sailing as a kid was pushing around stick boats in the creeks and ponds around my neighborhood. When I was about 10 years old I went out, with my family, on my uncle’s Pearson 33. Uncle Jim was BIG into sailing, keeping their boat in Deltaville, VA and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. I was amazed that this huge boat moved along by just the wind and not only did it move, it moved fast and tilted over while it was going fast. I clearly remember my sisters on the leeward rail, butts up and heads down as they contributed to the volume of the bay while I was sitting up on the windward rail hanging on with glee. Not only did the boat go fast but below there was a kitchen from which my Aunt Sue magically produced sandwiches and sodas for lunch. I was stunned.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much time on the water with them as we lived quite a distance away from them and their magic boat. The years passed, I finished school, got married and started raising my children, got divorced, then I got remarried and while the second marriage didn’t last either (Maybe it’s me!?!) my relationship with my father in law did. Captain Tom lived in Oriental, NC running his charter sailboat Banjo. Shortly after meeting Tom, he moved aboard Banjo and went cruising and in doing so opened the door to my sailing life by giving me (us) my first boat of any kind, a late 70s Vagabond 14 sailboat that we named Molly. The Vagabond 14 is a Ron Holder designed open cockpit day-sailor built by Vagabond Sailboats in Santa Ana, CA. Identical boats were sold by Hobie as the Hobie One 14 and by Coast Catamaran as the Holder 14. These boats are a blast to sail, carrying 110 sq ft of sail area for a sail area displacement ratio (SA/D) of 42.66. With room for four adults the Vagabond 14 provided my yellow Lab “Bayley” and I lots of room to enjoy screaming around the lakes near my home.
Following my experiences with the Vagabond I started looking for a larger coastal cruiser that I could take longer trips in, along with a few amenities, like a bunk, a head and a cook top. I looked at a lot of boats and surfed a lot of internet forums for about a year before deciding on and buying a Catalina 25 named Moxie. (Molly, then Moxie… so how did I end up naming the Tiki 46 Sangraal?!) The Catalina 25 is a Frank Butler designed sloop with a designed sail area displacement ratio of 15.73 which puts it firmly in the cruiser-racer class and it excels as a coastal cruiser. Two people can cruise in comfort for weeks at a time and four people can weekend on it, if they are friendly. The owner support for the Catalina 25 is second to none and their website is here. Reluctantly I came to the crossroads where it was time to sell Moxie as I am devoting my free time to building Sangraal. She went to a good family and I hope they make lots of happy memories together.
After a few years of coastal cruising on my C 25 and sailing on lots of other boats all over the east coast of the USA along with some extended blue water cruising I came to realize that living aboard and cruising the world was really where I wanted to be. Whether it is the need to be independent, dismay about the overuse of resources and the abuse of the environment, or just plain old wanderlust I’m not sure but the seeds of that dream found a spot and took root. So I did what I do, I read everything I could get my hands on, I went to boat shows and seminars, I talked to cruisers, I surfed websites, I got on boat deliveries and did all I knew to do to experience the realities of the cruising life. Along the way I started making a list of characteristics that I wanted and all the things that I didn’t want in a live-aboard boat. Things like sailing ability, comfort, accommodations, sailing rig and safety issues. My original thoughts were for a 30 to 35 feet long traditional boat, probably full keeled with a split rig, most likely a ketch. My buddy Al, a like-minded sailor went out and bought one… a Mariner 31 and it is a fantastic boat. Al has recently done an extensive rebuild of his decks and cabin top. I hope to have images of his boat added here soon.
However, I started listing things in the “must have” column like stable platform at anchor, plenty of room for entertaining guests, charter capable, open deck for harbor living, private cabins, sheltered steering station… all of the things that I was experiencing, or missing, while out cruising were leading me to a rather startling conclusion… when the columns were tallied, the result said Catamaran. Now this was startling to me because at the time, the only catamaran I had been on was a Hobie 16 and that was one time at a resort for about 4 hours, not exactly a wealth of catamaran experience. So I did what I do, again, I started researching catamarans. You know, that is a LOT easier to do because there just isn’t that much out there when you compare it to the amount of information available on monohulls. Even less when your criterion now is for a blue-water capable, cruising catamaran (or trimaran). And blue-water capable meant that is was large enough, fast enough, safe enough and comfortable enough to carry me, my crew, our stores and our toys any where on the planet that we wanted to go.
After looking at many different designers, boats and plans I had decided to build rather than purchase a production boat or a custom design. This was largely due to the fact that I’m cheap, I’m a talented, if not a humble, craftsman which meant I already had the tools and skills needed and more importantly I had the time as my son had just started college so I had several years before I would be ready to leave on an extended cruise. Building would also allow me to pace out the cash flow thus keeping the finances as a pay as you go project.
I narrowed my choices down to four different designers: John Marples, James Wharram, Chris White and Richard Woods. All four designers had plans for amateur builders, offered exceptional support, had models in the size ranges I felt were appropriate. After looking at study plans, design books, pictures of boats, and lurking in message forums I had narrowed it down to either Chris White’s Atlantic 48 or James Wharram’s Tiki 46.
Chris’ designs are more “modern” looking, with some very unique features like the central steering cockpit with a second helm station in the pilot house but they are also very “modern” in their complexity as well with twin inboard diesels, electric winches, hydraulic steering, dagger boards and pressurized hot/cold fresh water system. I really like Chris’ designs and his plans, drawings and support are exceptional but I felt like the design needed to be built in glass/foam composite. Going that route would be more expensive in material costs and it would be new territory for me with the corresponding learning curve to get good results. It also is harder to repair in remote locations and the systems will be fairly complex as well. While I really liked this boat, I wasn’t convinced that I could do it justice and I knew that I couldn’t afford to have one built. If you have the bucks I don’t think there are many catamarans on the market today that can compare to either the Atlantic 48 or the Atlantic 55.
James Wharram’s designs spoke to my heart. Not many catamarans look sweet to my eye, they may be speedy, sleek or even unusual looking but they don’t tug at your heartstrings like a classic Herreshoff does. However, when I look at the shear on the Tiki 46 my heart speeds up. These boats are different! They are built simply, strongly and they are built to sail. I have heard them described as the Jeep of catamarans but I prefer to refer to them as the VW bus of sailboats. The 1963 23 window microbus ragtop to be exact, the pinnacle of unique style!
I looked at the Tiki 38 and the Tiki 46 designs, then I bought the study plans for the 46 and from those I felt that this was the right boat for me. The additional space and the aft cockpit, something more like what you would find on a monohull, were the features that sold me on the design. I was fortunate enough to get to sail on a Tiki 38 and from that experience realized that the 38 wasn’t enough boat for me. Ergonomically it just didn’t fit. I’m a big guy, 6’1” tall and 220 lbs so I need some room and the 38 just didn’t feel right. During a business trip to Toronto I was able to make contact with Mike Haromy who was building the first hull of his Tiki 46 just outside of Toronto in Pickering, Ontario. We managed a short visit for me to look over his project and a few months later I was able to return for another visit and this time I spent some time helping glass part of the deck. Shortly after that I made contact with Ann and Neville Clements who build the first Tiki 46. Ann and Neville were heading north on their way back to Rhode Island and I was able to meet them in Beaufort, NC and spent a day visiting them, looking over the boat and asking a million questions. Their good friend Piero was aboard and offered me the use of his digital camera so I took as many pictures of the boat as I could. Piero burned them down to a disk on his laptop be fore I departed. With disc in hand I went home and ordered the plans the next day. The reality of that day was that as soon as I stepped aboard Peace I knew it was the right boat.
Next stop, the building shed...