Kavenga2

Comment by Rogerio Martin on December 28, 2011 at 10:38am

Hi Ralf, our cockpit will be like yours, but I wanna do some icebox's down the seats, along all seats, and one seat in front mast foot. What do you (or anybody who read this) think about?

Good winds for KAVENGA

Comment by Ralf on December 28, 2011 at 8:34pm

Rogerio, an icebox under the seats (if I understand you rightly) will not be very deep. The cockpit is about 30 cm deep, minus the insulation you will get a very shallow icebox unless you make it deeper than the cockpit. I would not do that because you want all the clearance from the waterline to the bottom of the cockpit in order not to catch waves with your cockpit/icebox.

A seat across the cockpit behind the mast foot would not work for me for 2 reasons. First I like to stand right at the mast to work with the sails. As I have no halyard winch I need a good angle to be able to pull the hallyards hard and standing on a seat doing that would give me a less secure feeling.

Second I will need some space in the cockpit to keep my dinghy. I am thinking plywood dinghy 8ft by 4ft nesting into two 4x4ft pieces. Being stowed in the cockpit it does not create additional windage as it will be lower than the crossbeams and is much safer than on the foredeck (trampoline).

Furthermore there is already so much seat space, I really do not plan to sail with so many people that could fill all the ten seats the boat has now.

Happy New Year to you!

Comment by paul anderson on December 29, 2011 at 11:55am

Love your work Ralf,p.s why the name Kavenga?

Comment by Rogerio Martin on December 29, 2011 at 2:39pm

Shallow icebox but long...1 box each side 1m x 0,3m x 0,4m = 120 l (x2) icebox, and 2 box each side (the same size) for dive equipments and ropes etc.. forget third seat

Comment by Ralf on December 29, 2011 at 9:30pm

Rogerio, of course it can be done, but if one adds 5cm of insulation foam to each side, it will be only 20cm deep and 30cm wide.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that a long slim box has more surface area than a square box shape of the same volume. This will give it poorer insulation qualities which means you will need more ice.

The boxes for ropes etc. under the seat are a very good idea. I was thinking about it as well but skipped the idea because I want to avoid the extra work now and be ready to go sailing when the spring comes. I would have put some holes inthe bottoms of mine to let rainwater and spray run off. 

Comment by Ralf on December 29, 2011 at 9:55pm

Paul, thanks for your encouraging comment. The name KAVENGA is a polynesian word and stands for the navigation method where a sailor follows a number of known stars as they rise over the horizon. The old polynesians and micronesians navigators were using these 'star paths' to stay on course to islands already known to them and their ancestors. It was only one method amoung others but seams to have been wide spread in the pacific. It is descibed in more detail in David Lewis very good book 'We the navigators'.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Henry_Lewis

What made me choose the name besides its meaning was the fact that it is easily pronounced in English, German, and Korean. The Korean writing says 'KAVENGA - Sogwipo' which is her home port.

Happy New Year!

Comment by paul anderson on December 30, 2011 at 11:43am

Ralf,excellent,i  have read another book by Lewis,what a character,i believe he died at anchor just a bit north of here,i will get hold of the navigators.I have decided to call my girl Tuwakka,as in two canoes, PIdgin english  '' dispela,he belong tuwakka''.

Comment