Hi,
I am trying to remember Alli-Nui. Is that the boat we met in English Harbour Antiqua with a family aboard? Nev might remember but he is asleep now while I am up having a midnight cuppa tea. I may be American born, but was in Britain long enough to get UK citizenship and now cannot make it through the night without a tea break.
Rot. It is a problem with all boats. I have seen it on aluminum boats in the form of the white powder corrosion, seen it on plastic in the form of those little bubbles with brown liquid inside, seen it on concrete boats in the form of rusty chunks falling off, seen it in steel boats in the form of pitting from inside and out, and seen it in wood also. My friend saw a brand new boat being launched and pretended to hear the rot beginning. The home builder nearly punched him with shock at the mere suggestion, but it eventually happens to all boats. Our ocean is not kind to boats nor is the sun.
So you've got 5m of rain each year. That's something! In Britain we had 51feet of tide and that was something too. I grew up in southern California and it did not rain for 5 years once.
I am going to see what is an Easy 12 and what is a Waller 1100. Back in a moment.
Found the Waller, but not the Easy. The Tiki 46 is so high between the hulls, I can sit up straight in the dink and drive right underneath. So can 6' 1" Nev. Big seas do not bang even in Force 10 offshore. WE had that scene and were grateful not to have that to worry about at the time. Also the Tiki 46 has so much more deck space which we shade with a huge pair of tarps. But if you stay in 5m of rain, the bridge deck plan would be a better bet for sure. Tiki 46 is not fun on rainy days. I suppose you would build the Waller in foam too...?
Bertran is an amazing fellow with a lovely wife and many grown children. He is so smart, so creative, so much fun! They have hull #2 and used to come over from France to see us building Peace in England. They were fantastic! He built the Tiki 30 with that rig and sailed from Martinique to Brest, France with no particular problem. I think his sail plan for the Tiki 46 is proportionally larger. He is a man to watch. Trouble with making modifications is that you have an experiment and it might not work out. IF you build the Wharram mostly to plan, you know it will work out. That is important to me because I love sailing more than building or inventing. My Nev is maybe the opposite but we are lucky to have a lot of overlap and both love sailing enough so we are happy at sea.
Your thoughts sound interesting. Hope to hear from you again soon.
Ann and NEv

Hi Ann, I believe you have the right boat in mind. The reason I mentioned the rain is that I believe that a drier climate would be a much kinder place to base a wooden boat. Maybe we should just cast off and go - the more I think about, the easiest solution!

Hi Neville,
Here I am supposed to be earning commissions on the sale of plans, but I hope I can convince you to just go ahead and take that Narai Mk IV that you already have and cast off and go sailing. When my Neville woke up, I asked him about Alli-Nui and he distinctly remembered the family and the boat and so did I. It was a good boat and we were aboard for several hours. We did not inspect everything and I must admit it was in 2003 so there have been a few years since then. But the man was doing boat work for a living while the woman taught school and the kids were great kids. The classics are good. You look young and healthy. Just go! Just do it! Believe me, it is a great life!
Go slow at first and get to know each other all over again as a cruising couple instead of a land based couple. Very few miles and lots of romantic sunsets. No great overhaul of the boat. Remove rot and check lines and lashings. Repair the sails. Then go. She was a good boat and likely still is. After two years of cruising, make a list of changes you still want. Make one change at a time. Take it easy.
Take all the classes you can on sailing and seamanship. Put money aside for when stuff happens. Head on out.
Ann and Nev