It's slightly too late for the sailing season, but I've finished the middle section and now have a 24' wa'apa.
Here it is, assembled for the first time in my garden.
I made all four bulkheads at the same time, so all three parts line up well despite not having the ends for reference when I glued the centre section together.You can see the reinforcement for the leeboard in the above picture - the bolt goes through the central frame, which is also reinforced.
I think I need a longer, stronger steering oar but can reuse the bracket I made earlier. It should lash to the holes where the aka used to go, where it is in these pictures (but straight)
The aka lashings are copied from Mr D's later design,
'Tamanu'. I remove the akas for storage, and threading the lashings though holed in the gunnels is quite fiddly - and threading them through holes in a seat would be worse (it's bad enough with the mast partner I added). This way I can just wind the lashing around a block. The construction was slightly complicated by the block being split between two parts of the hull, and having to interrupt the gunnel but I think it'll be well worth it. I'm still undecided about using cleats to finish the lashings.
Right now, it's all in my garage, ready for another coat of International Woodskin. Some parts didn't get the recommended 3 coats last year but have held up very well. I really like how it copes with the wear and tear of lashing wooden parts together, something that would be a real problem for paint or varnish.
After that, I'll need to extend the cover and trailer, and build a second laser mast step and partner, and maybe a safety ama and some buoyancy bags, because we're bound to capsize a few times with that much power.
