So the proas from yesterday were cool, but the paternal drive to ensure the kids have cool beach toys made me go back to the drawing board today.
I built the ones from yesterday with a old technique I used when I was a kid - cut the sides and the deck in sheets and tape them together. The ones I used to build were catamarans - about 16" in length (my Dad had access to longer sheets of styrofoam - today I save the foam trays from the fish we buy).
The fact that the buoyancy needed to be shifted forward on the proas prompted me to build new amas. I was just going to change out the amas, but layering the foam for the amas made me think that I could use the same technique on the hull - so I started building the hull(s). At the same time I resigned myself to build trimarans (and gave up on the outrigger/proa designs - for this run anyways).
The one in the middle has a vertical stack for the hull/vaka and the amas. The one in front has a horizontal bias for the vaka and amas. The one in the rear has vertical amas and a horizontal hull. The orientation refers to the way the sheets are taped together and the alignment to the water's surface.
The mast and the struts are bamboo skewers.
These were a blast to build and the kids enjoyed seeing the difference between yesterday's boats and today's.
Not bad for a rainy day project.
I kept the pen in for size reference. I actually like these smaller boats compared to the ones I used to make - easier to transport and store (and Noe says they are cute). How can you argue that?
We'll try to get out to the beach after school one day this week and race them!!!
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