Tahiti Wayfarer no.64 build

Comment by Jim Duddles on November 3, 2022 at 9:58pm

Received plans for a Wayfarer a few months ago. Sourcing some decent marine ply turned out to be problematic living 350kms from Perth. Checked out the big green warehouse in nearby Albany, Australians will know what I'm talking about, to find rubbish. After a recent trip to Perth and finding some suitable plywood it has been exciting to see the beautiful lines of a hull emerge.

Comment by Guy Ellery on November 5, 2022 at 8:13pm

Hi Jim, great to see you have made progress on your build, im currently refitting a Tiki38 in Toodyay. Im having the same issue, the only good stuff i could find was hard wood based, it passed my 3 hour boil test.Purchased from Perth Timber Co. Where did you end up sourcing yours from?

Cheers

Guy

Comment by Jim Duddles on November 6, 2022 at 8:56am

Hi Guy, we have watched some of your youtube videos. What a great project, bet you guys are looking forward to sailing your Tiki.

I did initially buy a sheet of 9mm marine ply from M&B Sales in Albany as the plans listed gluing two 9mm pieces together to make 18mm for the stem posts but also needed 10 sheets of 6mm. M&B's 6mm was only 3 ply with the two outer plies being very thin veneers. I glued the 9mm pieces together and made four stem posts while I was waiting for a Perth trip. A few weeks later I noticed that the 9mm ply was delaminating, not from my glue lines but from the factory veneer joins. I rejected that ply and found some old 18mm marine ply that we had been using as a kitchen bench on our verandah and much to my wife's disgust swapped it out to make the posts I am using now. 

I was on my way to Perth Timber Co. and a couple of other suppliers over that way but stopped in Kaydinya at a place that advertises on gumtree called Marine Plywood Western Australia. We picked through about 20 sheets to select 10 of 6mm sheets. It has all the right certifications and has 5 plies. Haven't boiled it but did leave some offcuts in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks and it seem sound. As I understand it, marine plywood is usually made from tropical hardwoods. Australian Hoop Pine plywood is an exception but probably more suited to fine cabinet making and is much more expensive.

Cheers Jim.

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