Tiki 38 for a Family of 4?

[Josh]

Hi,

I just bought a set of tiki 21 plans with the intention of building it as a prelude to building a bigger boat a little later on, but have since been convinced to forgo the smaller and jump straight into the larger project.

Im pretty settled on the Tiki 38, but have moments when I trick myself into thinking that the 46 would be do-able.. But im pretty sure I dont want to spend the extra time or money going that large.

I have a wife and 2 kids (aged 4 and 1 month) and am hoping to have the build complete within 6 years which by then would be 10 and 5 years of age.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had experience cruising with the Tiki 38 with 2 young children of a similar age and how you found the size, space, sleeping arrangements, stability, seaworthiness, dryness or wetness of the boat and how it worked or didnt work out for you..

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Josh :)

[Patrick John McGrath]

Bob Bois said:

You built a Tehini in 4 weeks? Now that is a story I would like to hear!
Patrick John McGrath said:

We, (that is 4 people), built a Tehini in 4 weeks. It will take you longer, but not much more, with planned use of your time.

[Patrick John McGrath]

Patrick John McGrath said:

Bob Bois said:

You built a Tehini in 4 weeks? Now that is a story I would like to hear!
Patrick John McGrath said:

We, (that is 4 people), built a Tehini in 4 weeks. It will take you longer, but not much more, with planned use of your time.

[Patrick John McGrath]

Yes Bob we really did build a Tehini in 4 weeks. We had a rented light industrial unit which was big enough.

We had a smooth flat and level concrete floor. We dyna-bolted 2 x4 wood pieces to the floor at the frame stations . We Made up the hull frames and stem with legs and stood them up in position . Laid stringer, keel and gunnel wood lengths side-ways on the floor and used a skill saw to cut the diagonals for scarfing to full length with epoxy glue. Glued in the keel web and keel, followed by gunnels and stringers. Planked the framework with oregon ply,  which had been  pre-coated with two coats of thin epoxy. There was little or no fairing to be done so we just taped the seams with glass tape and epoxy, then  gave the whole exterior a final coat of epoxy and two coats of dark blue marine paint. The hulls were then turned over set up in cradles and the the interior was basically laid out and painted. The decks were installed and painted and the two hulls were shipped by truck to the warehouse on the Toronto docks, where the client assembled the steel crossbeams and rigging to his own requirements.  I'll see if I can put up some pictures.