The building of the Sailing Yacht Sea Dragon

The outrigger canoe dhow is present in parts of the Indian Ocean including, East Africa, Comoro Islands the Maldives and parts of India which are substantially older cultures than that of Oceania and so some would speculate that the outrigger canoe may have its origins in this region.

 

However many believe that the outrigger canoe in whatever form it first appeared, originated in the region of Indonesia, spreading outwards with the migration of these people across into Samoa, (the birthplace of Polynesian culture) and also to Micronesia and Melanesia.

 

Shipbuilding must run in the family.  While Emily has not yet started designing nuclear submarines like her dad, she has been honing her skills by making a local craft.  The project started when we found a canoe hull and outrigger parts in the tide line on  a beach.   We have been looking closely at the dhows as they sail and/or paddle by and have been gathering details to make the parts that were missing. Emily has her own knife and whittled and carved and gouged and sanded away at some local wood and branches.

 

Outriggers provide stability to the narrow hollow log dugout which would otherwise roll over in the water.  They consist of one or more booms tied across the dugout.  To the boom ends are fixed connectives and they, in turn, are attached to the outrigger floats.  The outriggers floats are fixed to poles and are attached to the hull usually by rope bindings. The single outrigger canoe has a substantial float set out on one side only.  This float is always kept on the windward side – a sort of counterpoise.

 

Here you see how a real boom is tied (left) and how ours came out (right).

Here you see the joints fitting a real float (left) and how ours came out (right).

Emily wove the small palm basket but some might argue that the cowgirl might not be authentic.

A bit of (non-traditional) fiberglass resin gave us a waterline and some waterproofing.  Most real dhows have a bucket for the near-constant bailing required to keep them from sinking.

We proudly present the formal unveiling of the SY Sea Dragon.  

Tom (and Emily)