Chuck Holton's Page

Hi Chuck,
Nev and I built our Tiki 46 in Britain and launched in 2002. We sailed across the Atlantic immediately and have been living aboard these last 7 years. We travel the US east coast from New England to Bahamas with the seasoons and it is a good life.
Now you are retired, would you be interested in seeing a finished Tiki 46? We are in Rhode Island. Our summer plans are to sail to Maine in late June and haul for painting and some mast work and rigging work before returning to RI in late July. We will head south again around Oct 1.
We are associated with Wharram Designs and sell plans for them.
Ann and Nev

Hi Chuck,
How old are the kids? Will they be sailing with you? Building with you?
Did you know there is a large Wharram meet in the Keys each spring? You just missed it this year, but it will happen again next year. We cannot usually attend that meet, but...
We almost always go to the meet near Stuart in Florida early in December. We missed it in 2008 due to family member being ill and needing me, but that was a rare miss for us.
Keep in touch. We likely will have a meet in New England this summer also.
Ann and Nev

Sounds doable for sure. You are a good age for this and being retired means you can build full time. For the bigger boats, a helper is a good idea - just somebody who can hold the other end of the ply sheets, mix glue for you, cut fiberglass, etc. A lot of our builders save time and money by using inexpensive and fast to assemble agricultural poly tunnels, but your barn idea sounds nice too.
If you do not actually NEED the 46 feet, you could be finished with the build in half the time if you decided on the 38. There is a nice one nearly finished and built to plan in New Jersey near Sandy Hook at the bottom of NY harbor. Jacques is on this web and has been kind about letting folks see his build. He is a really nice guy, building alone, and he has done a great job.
Well, you have a lot of thinking to do. Dreams are what make life worth living and if a dream has been pestering you for a long time, perhaps it is a good idea to allow it to get into the planning stage. Good luck to you. Write us at any time for any help we can give.
All the best, Ann and Nev

Hi Chuck,
Which study plan do you want? Have you decided which boat to build yet? There are lots and lots of plans. Perhaps we can help you make the selection. Weekends are free calling for me on my cell phone. 401 261 7816. Most people try to build a boat much larger than they need and the larger plans take a lot longer to build and there is more material to buy too. If you are not living on the boat full time, perhaps a 38 would be a better choice than the 46 in the Tiki range, for example. The classics are nice too. There is a Narai that is good. Also the Pahi range is good. But you will have a dream which may not want to be compromised. Just don't make the project so big the dream turns into a nightmare.
The study plans are not a whole lot more info than what you can get off the Wharram web site ( just google in James Wharram Designs) and you can see lots of photographs and the basic idea of each design is there there. There is a design booklet that you can browse through also.
Probably the easiest way would be for you to order on line and for me to let Wharrams know you come to them through me. They will then send me a commission which costs you nothing. IF you buy plans through us, we will be eternally grateful and answer emails and phone calls offering technical advice throughout your build.
Here in our summer mooring, we have 3 Tiki 46s starting to be built right close by within an hour of us. So it is a little boat building community here and lots of fun.
This might be a good time to build because a lot of stuff is not as expensive as normally. I am about to suggest a discussion sujbect about managing finances for a build in these hard times. The basic suggestion is that some folks might want to start building the smaller pieces of the boat like in a garage. These things take time but are not as expensive as starting with the hulls in a large building. The little things like deck boxes, engine boxes, deck houses (pods) or crossbeams can be built in the basement or garage and covered in a tarp in the back yard until there is time or money to build the hulls. Even building the wheel takes time. Not much cost there.
I will write Wharrams tonite and let them know you are considering purchasing study plans. Your cost is the same but you help our budget and for that I say, Thanks!
Ann and Nev

Hi,
The problem with having somebody build a boat far away from you is that you cannot be there to see how they are working. If you build it yourself and maybe hire a helper as needed, you are in charge, you know the best work is done following best practice. When you are in a storm at sea, you know it is built right.
The thing to do now is to get a copy of the Gugeon brothers epoxy book and read it as your falling asleep reading. We read it out loud to each other each night from the time we started thinking of building a boat. We then have to suggest, sadly, that you not use West System glues which are caustic and quickly cause allergy issues. If you use MAS epoxy, that is just as good glue but it is not as caustic. My husband is highly allergic to West but can use MAS with no trouble. Always wear gloves, wash with vinegar when finished, take a bath, and have a super ventillated work area.
Read that again!
We have no trouble with steering. Come see us.
If you have a V bottomed dinghy, it will not fit on the ramp unless you have short tillers. We like long tillers because of an innovation we have on our boat regarding steering issues. Our flat bottomed inflatable works fine. It has served us well for over 30,000 miles of cruising. We live aboard so it is our car equivalent.
The problem with head sails on the Tiki 46 is that the sprit is shorter than it needs to be and the angle for the jib is too narrow at the top. This results in the sail being smaller than it needs to be and it also is blanketed by the foresail. So we suggest to our builders that they lengthen the sprit a couple of feet. This improves the angle, opens the jib to catch more wind, and also supports the foremast better. We also have a suggestion for the foremast case. Well, lots of suggestions but I think most of them are already in the plans since Wharrams agree with us now.
If you can make some time, it would be great to have you come see Peace either here in RI or else when we are in Florida on our way to or from the Bahamas. Bring Jen and her husband.
If you have a lot of visitors, the 46 would make that easier on you. Also if you ever need to have the boat earn her own keep, you can use the extra guest rooms for paying customers. If you ever look at the cost of chartering a boat, you will see that even one week a year of paying guests can make a great difference. Our annual budget for cruising full time is about 15,000 currently but we have done it for half that. We anchor out and eat aboard and do all our own boat work, but it is affordable and we feel free. One can spend lots more by eating out and using marinas. Lots and lots more. But there is not the simplicity and free feeling that way. Whatever suits!
Keep in touch. Ann and Nev