Free Discussions

[Budget Boater]

I started this site so that Wharramites, as I like to call us, could freely talk about their builds, the designs, and exchange information without the hassle of the other forums out there. I grew tired of having to wait on the administrators to answer questions and approve photos. They also would not allow links, would edit posts, and then delete entire posts or forums that they did not agree with.

I promise not to do that to you here. Controversial subjects are not taboo here. However, stay in good taste (no nudity, or extreme profanity please) and if you are stating your opinion, say so. If you have facts about something, be sure to add that information to your posts. If you heard something from a friend of a friend, say so.

Feel free to post your photos and materials, and videos and links to your website. Create your own groups, customize your personal page, and enjoy the site. You can make posts about things that you are selling so long as it relates to boating in some way. If you are selling one of something, please be sure to make a follow-up post when you have sold it.

Those that are not building Wharrams are also welcome here, we just ask that you are building a wooden boat especially if they are multihulls.

Shane

[The Ethnic Catamaran Company]

I am really pleased to see a genuinely open – and unsycophantic – Wharram forum. I am a huge fan of Wharram vessels but the designs are far from perfect and there is a lot that can be shared and argued without having to keep an eye on the sensibilities of the Wharram organisation. Thanks, Shane!

[The Ethnic Catamaran Company]

I LOVE both the concept and functionality of replacing hinges with lashings aboard the Tikis and Pahis. I also agree that the flexi-space concept is really only appropriate in smaller designs where a small dimension needs to be adaptable for sleep, navigation, social interludes, cooking and so on – although in the tropics, where I sail, a lot of this happens on deck.

Given that Wharram gets a franchise fee (about 10% of the build cost I hear) from his 'professional' network on top of the design fee from the customer, I think the reason for his sudden enthusiasm for professional builds is fairly clear. He was very critical of Budget Boater for offering 'non-approved' building services but I figure if you pay as much as you do for a set of plans from Wharram – they are FAR from cheap – you should be able to build it any way or anywhere you want.

[Budget Boater]

I think the "Flexi-Space" concept is unique in that you can more simply make modifications in interior arrangements without actually changing the structure of the boat. Hence, you can have a modified Wharram, without it actually being considered a modified Wharram. I think the Flexi-Space idea is Wharrams way of giving you liberties with interior design, even though this may not be what was originally intended.

Personally, I do not know why Wharram would care if myself or anyone else built his boats professionally. I never asked to be certified, approved, or endorsed by Wharram to build the boats. I just happen to be a boat builder that loves Wharrams. My clients tend to be those that want to home build, but soon realize that they either cannot do it themselves, or don't want to. They don't want to have their boat built in Asia, or understand that the exchange rate with the dollar is strong right now. Further, what I do is a service only. I write contracts that protect both myself, and the client - They own all materials all the time. They pay me monthly to "assemble" the parts for them. If a client decides they want to finish the boat themselves, they simply come and get the boat and remaining parts that they have already purchased. They get the benefit of being able to purchase materials at a discount, and have me build on a month-to-month basis.

I have a CNC table router that I cut all of the parts with (I did not start this way.) Because the CNC cuts accurately to within .003", I have had to redraw all of the parts in the computer and can easily offer precut boat kits. I wrote to Wharram as a courtesy to inquire about creating some kind of indicator that I could verify when someone (that wants to purchase a kit from me) has actually purchased a set of plans so that I was not offering kits to people without plans. I know that it would be just about impossible to build a Wharram without plans from one of my kits, but that would not stop some people from trying. Can you imagine the hack job that would look like? I do not know why they have their panties in a bunch. I do know that because of me, they have sold at least 4 sets of plans in the past 12 months that otherwise would not have been sold.

[The Ethnic Catamaran Company]

Maybe the logo of the Wharram Builders site should be a form of pirate flag :-)LOL

[The Ethnic Catamaran Company]

If ever there was a need for this forum, it's now. The Wharram run forum is a mess, being bombarded with spam and the Wharram office deleting any critical entries (inlcuding entries complaining about the spam ) !

[vern]

My two cents worth-- on the wharram site the only boat is a wharram designed boat, his way only. on multihull.com the ones who answer all the forums seam to know it all but never put pictures to show what there talking about. i think a pic. is worth a thousand words. like I said on there once, if the model T was THE car why aren't we still driving them now? when I built a new keel for one of my mono hulls I went thru hundred's of pics. and types of boats, the same size, they were from 100 lbs. to 4000 lbs. the heaviest was larry Pardy's boat. so I built my own design a thousand times better than what was on my boat. my point is I want to here from people that try and make things better or more efficient. show pics. that can give others ideas. good not negative.
Vern.

[Budget Boater]

The best way to get more people involved is to "Invite" them to join. You can do it just by contacting people you know or use the "INVITE" button at the top of the page.

I do not think that everyone knows that each person has their very own personal page on the site that they can personally modify. This included the background and header picture. If you look at my page - http://wharrambuilders.ning.com/profile/BudgetBoater - you will see that the page looks different from the others. Every member has the ability to do this. There are hundreds of builders and owners out there, but none of us has access to all of them. I have contacted the 30 or so that I know and asked them to join. You guys should contact those that you know and ask them to join.

Thanks to everyone,
Shane

[The Ethnic Catamaran Company]

I think invitations are half the battle, frankly. The other half is having a forum that is active and interesting and offers something more and different to the 'official' version. Vern is on the right track with the images. It would also be good if people started using their 'personal' pages as blogs or journals or 'logs' – knowing what happens with vessels after they hit the water is also fun!

[Pete Rigby]

Hello 'Budget boater',

Along with the groups already set up, I want to set up a group for those of us modifying, repairing or restoring older Wharrams.

I cannot fill in the form correctly.

Please help - and best wishes

Pete Rigby

PS. A dedicated Wharram site is probably a good thing, and this site is certainly more user friendly than the other three. However, despite its technical limitations, Scott Brown's site is an invaluable and vast repository of knowledge about multihulls. He certainly has to be credited for the enormous amount of work he has put in over many years.

He has archived what will be regarded as a treasure trove of Wharram lore

The Polynesian Catamaran Association site and forum give non members limited access to what is a private members club. The publicly accessible areas of the forum are almost unused. Last year I was reduced to answering my own posts. The content of the PCA magazine became almost laughably sycophantic and grovelling, after Scott Brown, Adrian Honeybill etc handed over the reins in 2000/2001. Great pity.

Glenn Tieman writes a fair bit of stuff for the James Wharram designs forum. What an asset JW has there!

On the USA 'Wooden Boat forums', there is a chap called Kim Whitmyre. He contributes regularly, and knows shedloads of stuff about Wharrams.

Let's hope this site can be as useful.

Pete Rigby

[vern]

Shane I haven't been able to view the Videos for some reason.. when I click on them they just say loading.
has anyone else had this problem? Vern.

[vern]

Shane I tried restarting no go. clicked on video waited 10 min. nothing tried other video's no go. went on you-tube the same video came right up!! I always seem to have things happen that never happens to others.
you said try help button at the button, I cant see any help button anywhere. oh yea I have a eMac just a few years old. before no problem they came right up. Last time I had a problem that was weard no one new what it was and a few week's later it went away. any way I'll keep trying. Vern.

[Budget Boater]

Vern,

I have a Mac too. I do not know why the videos are not working for you. The help link is at the very bottom of every page or you can get to it here: http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_sid...

vern said:

Shane I tried restarting no go. clicked on video waited 10 min. nothing tried other video's no go. went on you-tube the same video came right up!! I always seem to have things happen that never happens to others.
you said try help button at the button, I cant see any help button anywhere. oh yea I have a eMac just a few years old. before no problem they came right up. Last time I had a problem that was weard no one new what it was and a few week's later it went away. any way I'll keep trying. Vern.