Neville Saunders's Page

Hi and welcome.
Ok, you have my curiosity tweaked. What unconventional stuff are you doing? Sailing backwards, or upside down? If you want unconventional, check out Bertran Fercot's site. He is a friend of ours and has biplane junk rig on his Tiki 30 and soon on his Tiki 46.
What boat might you build?
Ann and Nev

Hi,
It is nice to know another Neville. My husband rarely finds someone with the same name as his!
When we were building Peace IV, a man came to visit our boat shed with the idea of building Tiki 46s in foam core. He had the Wharram's approval to do this, so the idea is approved by the designer if that helps you any. I think wood or foam core, the boat will be good either way. But perhaps wood is more direct and easier to build and if it is glassed properly from new, it should last fine.
But boats always contain our dreams so if your dream goes better with foam core, and you have that in mind, that is the way you must go.
We visit the boat yard of Walter Greene in Maine. He is a designer, builder, and racer of fast trimarans and he hauls Peace for us every few years for bottom paint, etc. We see foam construction there using vacuume infusion. There are many ways to do foam and folks can learn a lot and good boats are built that way.
The fellow who visited us was Darrin Newton who builds the Dazcats in Britain. We have seen his work which is lovely. The boats built that way are light and fast. There are builders here on this web who use the foam core method, so lots is known about it and available to you if you ask around. We are friends with Dave who is on this web as boatsmith.
I guess I just prefer to build the boat directly rather than build a mold and then make the hull and toss out the mold. If you were building several boats from the mold, that would make more sense to me. And, of course, building the dream the way you see it is always the best plan...
We have been living on our Tiki 46 for 7+ years now and traveled over 30,000 miles in her including a trans Atlantic. These days we go north and south with the seasons from New England to Bahamas each year and return. Nice boat and nice, affordable life style. Our dream was wood, the boat is wood, and we like it that way. Everybody is different, thank goodness!
We are plan associates of James Wharram Designs and can help you select and buy plans plus provide technical help. Buying through us is the same cost to you as it is if you buy direct on line, but we get a commission. We would be endlessly grateful and helpful if you buy through us.
Ann and Nev

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 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