Hi Friends,
It is with much excitement (and perhaps equal amounts of naivety) that I share with you news that we have decided to BUILD our own sailboat. Yes, we are joining many folks around the world who, over thousands of years, adapted themselves to the Ocean: People of the Sea.
The James Wharram Legacy
James Wharram designed low-tech, wooden double canoe/catamarans inspired by the boat building innovations and cultural legacies of Polynesian seafarers. A curious wanderer, Wharram filled his young mind with books on early sailing pioneers and ethnic boat building and migration history. He dismissed Thor Heyerdahl’s theory that simple rafts transported migrants from West to East to settle the Pacific Islands; Wharram instead “convinced that the boats were more akin to double canoes with sails, capable of going upwind,” (Girardot, 2023) and thus enabling migration from East to West.
(Related reading: New research reveals Australian Indigenous seafarers were expert sailors and navigators.)
James, partnered by two German women Ruth and Jutta, designed and built Europe’s first successful offshore catamaran, the 23ft wooden Tangaroa, in 1953-54, then crossed the Atlantic Ocean on this same vessel in 1955-56. The snobby British yachting world remained indifferent; Wharram’s remarkable achievement was barely noticed.
In 1957, James built the 40ft wooden catamaran Rongo in Trinidad, and – with Ruth and Jutta again by his side - went on to complete the first successful North Atlantic Crossing from New York to Britain in 1959, this time raising more than a few eyebrows and strengthening his assertion that wooden double canoes could, indeed, sail upwind from East to West.
“At the time, catamarans were considered dangerous and eccentric, while yachting was a pastime largely reserved for high society…In puritanical post-war England, setting off to cross the Atlantic with two young women – and German ones at that – was downright shocking! But these three young people care not a jot about conventional thinking. They dream of adventure and their enterprise is an act of defiance,” (Girardot).
Narai Mk IV – A Wharram Classic Design
We have chosen to build the Wharram Narai Mk IV, a minimalist classic design and descendant of the RONGO, made of timber, plywood and epoxy. Our decision to explore alternatives to using glass reinforced plastic (GRP, better known as fiberglass) is informed by recent scientific findings on the negative environmental impact of this material (Ciocan et al., 2020). Wherever possible, we seek to use locally sourced and bio materials, and will be documenting our process of research and discovery as well as the building.
“…the term Narai amongst the Wharram builders has become a concept of the family ocean sailing boat” (Wharram & Boon).
Don Brazier's Katipo, a Narai Mk IV, via Wharram Designs
“I see design as a circle in which I constantly go around…shown as an ascending spiral because I am continually adding life experiences and knowledge of new materials to Basic Concepts. Each time I design a boat I think myself into the boat, I am the boat,” (Wharram & Boon, 1986).
We were introduced to the wonderful ethos of Wharram Designs by the remarkable Kiana Weltzien, and her project Women & the Wind. Through a twist of fate and a stroke of luck, Angie and Kiana began working together on the documentary of Kiana, Laerke and Alize’s North Atlantic Crossing on Mara Noka, a 50-year-old, early Wharram Designs Narai.
Copyright: Hanneke Boon
Falling in love with the idea of building a Wharram following her first viewing of the rough cut of the film, Angie suggested to Remy and the kids that they build their own wooden boat to which, initially, the family thought she’d gone crazy. Angie persisted, buying a Wharram t-shirt and both James’ books, diving ever deeper into his philosophy and realizing just how aligned Wharram’s ethos are with our Floating Stories Lab: family-led adventure, indigenous science, low-tech, art, storytelling. In no time, Remy and the kids were on board, Remy - having longed to build a house someday with wood and his own hands - appreciating now the genius of James Wharram’s boat designs in giving access to the everyday person to construct their own traditional, safe and stable boat on which to voyage the world.
What’s Next?
“Build Yourself A Modern Sea-Going Polynesian Catamaran” (Wharram & Boon) is the Wharram way. Today, Wharram Designs lives on through James’ partner and co-designer, Hanneke Boon – all boat plans are hand drawn by Boon from the Wharram Designs home and office near Truro, Cornwall. The plans are readable and the boats simple to build, enabling accessibility to anyone with a dream of crafting their own multihull to enjoy and explore the Ocean.
The open deck plan of the Classic Designs with no deck cabin means the hulls can be built seperately anywhere, including inland, and later assembled at the beach between tides or in the boatyard. Which sparked the question where should we build our Narai?
This is the current phase of our Wharram DIY boat build journey. We have our compass set on a relocation to Bretagne (Brittany), where we have discovered a few other Wharram builders along with a hearty sailing community and in-tact wooden boat building culture.
The next weeks and months are dedicated to downsizing our lives (again!) and seeking out the right location to take up residence, researching and sourcing materials, and then laying out the timber to begin the build itself.
Credit: Wharram Designs
Follow the Journey
Rest assured that we will keep you updated, and yes, if you’re one of the already many friends who are seriously interested in coming over and giving us a hand with the build, please get in touch!
We do intend to document the build process on YouTube, sharing the trials and tribulations of this unprecedented journey for us in the hope that those interested can learn from our experience.
If you’d like to follow along or support the project, please sign up to our newsletter here or on Substack, become a Patreon (this platform will become much more active once we begin the filming the build), or consider making a one time donation. Financial donations particularly assist in our ability to explore locally produced and bio composite materials wherever possible, along with of course prioritizing the build (as initially we will be juggling our ‘everyday’ jobs with squeezing in every spare moment into working on the project).
