875Hrs – Masts Ordered!
I must be crazy! I just wired several thousand dollars to Canada to pay for two 10.5m masts and one 6m stern beam, getting ahead of myself or what! Ok on the face of it it seems like madness but I think its a good move. Martin Hivon another Tiki 38 builder in Quebec had done a lot of work researching availability and cost for the correct marine grade 6061 T6, 140mm OD, 4mm wall thickness aluminium tubing in long lengths too avoid sleeving. He managed to find a supplier but the price was very high if ordering only enough for one boat, so in true enterprising spirit he posted on the Wharram Forum and, after much correspondence and work got together a group of 4 who can all benefit from a bulk order. even with international shipping the cost is way lower than we could achieve as individuals The gang of 4 are Martin, myself, Jacques Peirret in the States and Daniel Ganz in Switzerland. What a great example of the international Wharram community! Many thanks to Martin for the time and effort he has put into this, wouldn’t it be great if we could get all four boats together someday!
As far as my build goes it’s still slow going with nothing exciting to report. A couple of hours filling and sanding is all I’ve managed the last few days, once the boat jumble is out of the way next weekend I plan to really ramp up the workrate.
Yes, this is a great deal. I was thinking and doing research about my masts for a while and it was impossible to get the right length. For the same price than 20 ft lengths which would have to be sleeved, I get my two masts in one piece. Thanks Martin!