Bertrand FERCOT

73, Male

Sizun

France

Profile Information:

I am:
A home builder, I own a Wharram
What boat (s) are you building or do you own?
I've built an Hitia 14, a Melanesia, a Tiki30 N°119 with a free junk rig on each hull and a pod
From 1999 to 2012 I built with the help of familly and friends the Tiki46 N°2 with raised decks on the central parts of the hull, with a longer central cabin and with a free junk rig on each hull.
Country, City, and State?
France, in the village Sizun in Brittany
About me or us?
The boat has been launched the 17 September 2012 and after to have solved technical problems and waited the end of the winter we sailed away to a long voyage mid April 2013.
You can follow us with this Dolink link : http://www.dolink.fr/carte/grand-pha
Looking to?
Sharing ideas on building, sailing, natural life, etc
Website:
http://www.grandpha.net/

Comment Wall:

  • Capgeraldo

    Hi Bertrand,
    I am pleased to see your special solutions for the wharram catamarans.
    For the cockpit mounting - we had a similar system on our Pahi 42 . It worked well, only in strong waves it could happen, that water came up in the gap between hull-cockpit.
    bg Gerald
  • Ann and Neville Clement

    Hi Bertran and Marie-Ellen,
    You are looking good with that beard and nearly finished Tiki 46, dear friend. Is that Marie-Ellen behind the mask in the photo with you? We like that plan to live aboard and sail around the world. Perhaps now is that moment when we can at last raft your boat and ours together and remember back in 1998 when you first came into our building shed back in the UK to decide if you wanted a Tiki 46. Your experiments with the rig are most interesting and I believe you will have a close following as you did with the Tiki 30.
    Nev and I are now on migration heading south through New York City in a couple days after busy summer with family in Rhode Island. Peace IV has some much needed fresh paint and still needs much needed bright work, but we are starting on it. Maintainence is so much easier than building, you would think we would be right on top of everything, but lazyness begins at launch when sailing starts. It is a hard habit to break and get back to working even a little bit.
    Much love to all your family, Ann and Nev
  • Hal Gordon

    Bertrand, You are my hero. I've followed your site to the end. I have your Tiki on my computer screen as my dream boat. Where will your Tiki be located at the end of next November? And may I ask your asking price in American dollars?
    Hal
  • Hal Gordon

    I know you crossed the Atlantic with her. I'm looking forward to that blog and examining all my sources for dollars. I'm retired. On a school teacher's pension, but...we shall see...
    Hal
  • Ernie wisner

    Bonjour Bertrand.
    J'à et 2 mètres grands et considère la construction d'un Tiki 46. J'ai tendance aussi à aimer des voiles de Camelote
    parce que je peux les lever au-dessus de ma tête si j'ai besoin à. sans parler de cela je veux naviguer au lieu de se font du souci.

    Je voudrais savoir ce que les modifications que vous faites à votre Tiki construisent pour que je puisse adapter quelques choses à ma planification.

    Ce français a été écrit avec un programme de traduction ainsi pardonnez s'il vous plaît les erreurs.
  • Ernie wisner

    Thanks for the reply.

    yes i do know the translators are not good. However; my dimly remembered French From 20 or so years ago was worse.

    I try to use folks language if i can.
    would it work if now and then i try to write french but we do most of the communication in english?
  • jean philippe desfarges

    bonsoir bertrand , je suis inscrit sur le site depuis peu , j ai acheté il y a peu de temps un pahi 42 et voudrai vous poser quelques questions techniques , je parle assez mal l anglais et de ce fait j ai un peu de mal à converserr sur les differents forum. la construction de votre nouveau bateau doit vous prendre bcp de temps et j espére que vous avancez vite dans votre projet. jphilippe
  • Marty Peters

    Hi Bertrand,

    I have been following your adventures for some time and must say i am impressed with your build and the modifications you have made, especially the pod design. I am currently negotiating for a well used tiki 46 that needs complete refurbishment and would value your opinion on wether the pod you have designed woud fit on a standard tiki with the schooner rig?

    I can't wait for you to post some pics of the inside of the pod, preferably with someone in the picture to get a sense of scale.

    Keep up the great work.

    Cheers

    marty
  • Marty Peters

    Hi Bertrand,

    Love the new pictures of the pod, this is exactly the sort of design i would like, but obviously retaining the beam for the mast - which may pose some interesting design problems, but i guess that everything is do-able if the design is right..

    keep up the great work..

    Marty
  • Ann and Neville Clement

    Hi Bertran and Marie Helene,
    It is such a joy to see your excellent work on the new boat. Peace will be so happy to see you anchoring close by. We can hardly wait for that.
    Today Nev finished with separating the two older solar panels which will now both be dedicated to the freezer and the four new solar panels will run everything else. So far it all works out just right. We are still using the gasoline generator to recharge the electric windlass battery which is a third separate system. But that seems to be the only use for the gasoline generator these days.
    And today I used many lashings to protect the solar panels from the hurricane that is expected on Friday.
    Hope to see you very soon, Love, Ann and Nev
  • Ann and Neville Clement

    Hi Bertran and Marie-Ellen,
    Yes, it has been a long time since you started building your Tiki 46, but you have also built your Tiki 30 and both boats have a great deal of modifications and creativity that has gone into them and which takes care and extra effort. Also, you have been raising your family, doing your job, and now that the kids are grown and you are retired, you are completing your project. You are nearly there now, and we are waiting for you to come tie alongside Peace for a huge party. We can invite all the Tiki builders who live nearby and it will take both boats to hold them! It will be a major party, for sure. It only necessary for you to continue building and soon it will be finished. Much Love, Ann and NEv
  • berbar2009

    bonjour Bertrand et Marie Hélène !
    nous nous sommes vus il y a quelques temps chez vous et avons gardé un excellent souvenir de votre accueil et de votre gentillesse.
    je m'étais déjà inscrit sur le site, mais j'avais du mal le faire et ça ne fonctionnait pas, donc nouvelle inscription.
    je commence à rassembler des matériaux et une dalle de béton sera coulée entre les fêtes, ce qui me permettra d'aménager l'atelier et d'attaquer enfin les choses sérieuses !
    Et vous, où en êtes vous, avez vous commencé les mises en peinture ? le froid ne doit pas faciliter les choses hélas !
    amicalement à vous deux !
    Marie Michèle et Bernard
  • berbar2009

    félicitations, vous avez fait un beau choix des couleurs ! ça avance vite, super !
    Marie michèle et Bernard
  • Ann and Neville Clement

    So, that looks like a mostly finished Tiki 46!  What day do you launch?  When can we tie two Tiki 46s together and have a party?
  • Ann and Neville Clement

       Well, we understand completely.  Your boat build has been much more custom than our was and I think you have done a better job than we did and it has taken time.  Partly because you were working much of the time and also because you have made the masts in each hull and junk rig and all sorts of other experiments.  We are patient mostly and can pretend to be more patient as needed.  I am happy that your family was able to see the mostly finished boat and that your friends came and you had a great party and slept aboard.  Nev and I actually sold our barge before we launched Peace IV, so I remember that feeling. 

        Soon, you will actually get the boat wet.  Soon you will be taking her out of the building and she will see the sunshine.  Soon she will dance on the water.  WE can wait for soon. 

         Take Marie Helen in your arms and kiss her for us.  Tell her to kiss you back.  Love, Ann and Nev

  • Rui Gomes de Carvalho

     

    Dear Mr. Bertrand Fercot,

    My name is Rui Carvalho, from Portugal and I live in the shore of Tejo river, close to Lisbon.

    Back in 2005, I built a Tiki 30 following the plan n.º 137.

    In the beginning of the present year I started the building of a central cabin following James Wharram plans.

    Suddenly, and after I start working, I realized that the base and the upper part of the mast weren't well. After I removed them from their spot I saw their were rotten.

    So, now I have to build a new mast.

    Anyway, I have been following your comments and statements about PH 30 and the Big PHA 46.

    According to your opinion the Junk Sail is a very comfortable craft and since I enjoy sailing in slow, I'm very interested in a Junk rig sail.

    So, I would like to consider this scheme to my Tiki 30.

    Please note that I'm not fluent in English and this is a serious issue which difficult my communication with the regular associations.

    Further to this, could you please tell me if it was you the author of this plans?

    Do you know if it is possible to spare them to me or how can I get them?

    You can reply me by the following e-mail address:

    ruigcarvalho@gmail.com

    Feel free to type me an e-mail if you ever think in traveling in to Portugal (Lisbon area) because I would love to pick you up, you and your family in my home village.

    Best Regards,

    Rui Carvalho

  • Rui Gomes de Carvalho

    Hi Bertrand,

     

    Enclosed please find letter written by me on behalf of Mr Rui Carvalho

     

    carta%20fercot.docx 

  • Seadwarf

    Dear Bertrand,

    I have been lurking and watching your progress for some years now.
    I am sorry to say that my French is bad, plase forgive me for writing in English.
    My Wife and I have the plan to show our two children the world with a Sailboat.
    But as we both do not like camping, we will need a large catamaran with less motion than a monohull and enough space.
    The Junk Rig seems so much easier to handle than a standard rig, and i would like to have the masts in swing tabernacles so i could lower them, if necessary.
    As i like to build things as stable as possible, i would like to put the tabernacles on to/into the hulls.
    Right until the swing-down masts, my dreamboat looked a lot like the Grand Pha.
    I realise you must be very busy right now, and hope you will find the time and patience to answer my questions.
    A) Evereybody seems to want to sail as close to the wind as possible. While this is not really something i would want to do, how close can one go to the wind with the Biplane rig?
    B) How much of an improvement is the Wishbone Wing sail if compared to a simpler, cambered junk sail?
    How much more construction time and weight is there in comparison to a cambered junk sail?
    C) As you have said, the sail area was a bit small on the 30 PHA. Because reefing is supposed to be so easy
    with a Junk Rig, i am temped to plan double the sail area of a normal Wharram, and just to reef a lot or to lower one of the masts when there is more wind. Is this a good idea, or am i crazy?
    D) Some boats can be balanced against the wind, so that one does not have to steer or that an autopilot or windpilot do not have to do much. Can a biplane rig self steer? Did yours?

    When will you be launching? And will you first do sea trials, or will you just sail away into the sunset?
    Thank you for your patience with all those daft questions.

    You can also reach me by mail : tomas dot allis at gmx dot net.

    Best regards and best wishes

    Tom
  • Rui Gomes de Carvalho

    Dear Mr. Bertrand Fercot,

     

    I hope you’re fine and thank you very much for your information and for the plan.

    After a careful analyses of it I assume you built your mast with 10,50 meters long.

    Could you please tell me what kind of tissue did you used and how much does it height?

    Concerning the sail design, I tried to reach Sunbird Marine by their e-mail address but it they didn’t reply to me.

    I kindly ask you what your opinion about the sails is since I don’t know what the advantages are between the Junk Sail (wing) and the classic Junk rig.

    Please note that in the Portuguese shore I have to sail against the wind often.

    Thanks a lot for your help.

    Best Regards,

     

    Rui Carvalho

     

     

         

  • jean philippe desfarges

    bertrand , merci pour la réponse et bon courage pour la derniere ligne droite .

    jphi

  • Capgeraldo

    Maybe this is the reason, why the anchor did not dig in.
    This is an unused new anchor.

  • Capgeraldo

    This might be the reason, why the anchor does not dig in.
    This is an unused one.

  • Bertrand FERCOT

    Thank you for your explanation. Now I'll have no faith in this Manson anchor on hard sand ground.

    Bertrand

  • Thomas Mallunat

    Hello Bertrand and Marie-Helene,

    at the moment we are in Le Marin - for shopping and looking for paints. We have to renew the underwatership of our new boat, change the stuffingbox and some other things to do in the near future. We want to go on the hard in Cariacou and want to visit some more islands in the Caribbean afterwards. We do not know exactly, how long we will be here, our plans are still to sail north to Canada. But next year or the year after...?

    It is good to hear that Grand PHA (isit still this name?) is in the water now and you are sailing. Maybe you have read it already, but Aorai is sold and is now sailing to Moorea. At least she comes to where she belongs - the  Pacific.

    We hope to see you soon!

    All the best and always fair winds from

    Susi & Tom

  • Demi & Dirk

    Hi Bertrand,

    first of all congratulations to your beautiful GRAND PHA!!  

    Also many thanks for loading up the documantation of building your TIKI 46. Very helpful for new builders like us. We also want to fit 2 inboard diesel engines (Beta Marine 25 HP). So we have to fit the shaft-tube into the keel. I found a drawing on google, but in a bad quality. This foto was on Tiki46.com, but this site doesnt exist. Do you have this drawing in a better quality? This would help us. 

    Many Thanks and all the best

    Demi & Dirk

  • Bertrand FERCOT

    Hi Demi & Dirk

    Today we are at anchoring in Swanage bay (UK) waiting for a better wind direction to sail to south Portugal.  Previous days we don't get an internet connexion.

    Sorry, on board we don't have all the Tiki46 plans with my own designs.

    Here is the picture of the shaft tube I have in my computer :

    The angle is about 14° (the maximum angle admitted usually for the inboard marine diesel engines is 15°). So it's a compromise : if you reduce the angle you reduce the maximum propeller diameter.

    Initially I designed this for a folding propeller but in fact I use a fix propeller; it's why I made a large round shape from the keel to the shaft. But now I think better to make this round more square to have a classical fix propeller fixed closer to the bearing shaft.

    Best wishes

    Bertrand

  • Demi & Dirk

    Hi Bertrand,

    many thanks for answering and your plan how to fix the shaft tube in the keel. This helps a lot!

    Wish you all the best and fair winds for your wonderful GRAND PHA

    Dirk

  • Tom Vogt

    Hello Bertrand we are going to be building a Tiki.38 and have decided after a lot of.thought and research that a biplane junk rig... unstayed would be our best choice. can you pass along any advice and such for a simple guy like me. :)
    Thank you
    Tom
  • Tom Vogt

    by the way. what was your final build cost on your 46' many would like to for reference purposes.

    Thanks again
    Tom
  • Oliver Knittel

    Hi Bertrand,

    I was reading very intesting your concept of your boat. Is's 90% that what I like for my selfe. YOu gave me a lot of Insperation. I allso saw that you sell your "small PHA" for me a view years to early still have to work an other view years. :)

    I really like to know if you had any Ploblem with your energy configuration and if it's working fine. This is really a very good concept.

    How are you fine with your Junk Rig? I read that the woodn Wishbons broke and that  you made some aout of alluminium. DId they work with out any problems?

    Thanks for your Information and a save and Harmony trip.

    Oli

  • Oliver Knittel

    Hello Bertrand,

    I'm happy to hear that you got save over that long distance and that every thing is fine. I'm happy with you that all your Idears and the conzept and work you did are working out fine. This are very good news.

    It would be grate, when we keep in touch and I wish you and your wife first at all healthy and second less problems as posible the rest you will mange :-).

    Please let me know how your trip ist

    Greetings from Stuttgart

    Oli

  • Alf Bangert

    Hi Bertrand, I had no idea you were in this neck of the woods! Right now we're in Port Phaeton in Tahiti, enjoying the calmest and quietest anchorage we have found so far. This will be our "hurricane hole" for the Austral summer. Before settling in here, we will move on and explore the leeward islands, so chances are we may cross paths there. It would be great to meet you, and have a look at Grand Pha.  We will certainly recognise you from a distance!

    -Alf