TIKI 21 MODICATIONS

[chester mcintire]

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A TIKI 21 . I AM CURRENTLY FAIRING THE DECKS AND WILL CONTINUE THE PROCESS WITH THE HULLS , USING AWLGRIP FAIRING COMPOUND , RESULTS ARE SMOOTH AS A BABY'S BUTT . MY QUESTIONS ARE :

1) HAS ANYONE NARROWED THE BEAM TO 8'6" TO AFFORD NO PERMIT TRAILERING AND A  PERMANENT , READY TO LAUNCH BOAT AS OPPOSSED TO ALL THE SET UP TIME IN ITS CURRENT FORM ?

2) HAS ANYONE REPLACED THE WOOD BEAMS WITH ALUMINUM ONES ?

3) MAST REPLACEMENT WITH AN ALUMINUM ONE ?

4) HAS ANYONE BOLTED THE BEAMS ( WITH PROPER INTEIOR SUPPORT )  AS OPPOSED TO LASHED

THESE ARE THE THOUGHTS I HAVE HAD AS I CONTINUE WORK ON OURS . i OWNED AND LIVED ABOARD A 40 WHARRAM FOR MANY YEARS , I HIGHLY MODIFIED THE DESIGN TO INCLUDE A 12 X 16  SALON BETWEEN THE HULLS , CLEAR GLASS FLOOR . HAD HER IN SEAS OVER 15 FEET . JUMPED INTO THE MIAMI TO KEY LARGO RACE AGAINST 250,000.00 PLUS CATS , WE DIDN'T WIN , BUT THEY DIDN'T WALK AWAY FROM US EITHER . THEY ARE GREAT BOATS AND THEY DO HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO BE TAYLORED TO SPECIFIC NEEDS , WITHOUT DESTROYING THEIR TRADITIONAL DESIGN AND FUNCTION .

 ANY IMPUT WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED . WE HAVE MOVED INLAND , OUR USE WILL BE STRICTLY  LAKE, OUR OCEAN DAYS ARE BEHIND US . 

[Jonathan Chouinard]

I haven't heard of anyone substantially narrowing the width but I'd be interested as well since it would make the boat much more trailerable. I would think you could make multiple length beams for cruising and daysailing.
Aluminum masts seem to be a common and benificial upgrade if anything for the weight savings. I haven't heard of anyone doing all of their beams in aluminum but from what I understand lashings or at the very least ratchet straps work better than bolting to give the hulls the ability to move independently.