The Amatasi canoe.
Posted on December 13, 2007
My first comment regarding this canoe dates back 12/5/07 and when writing it I really thought to have the canoe finished by the following day.
I should have known better. Indeed it took me a few more days to finish the sail and rig the canoe. Has it ever happened to you that you visualize this or that project you intend to do and in your mind things look pretty easy ? Like changing a faucet…piece of cake…or the door lock. no sweat…and you find yourself battling with tape measurer, screw drivers and chasing a ton of other tools and appliances down the nearest hardware store over a few hours, even days ? Well, I may have all the tools necessary to build ship and canoe models, and still it took me another 5 days to finish the darn canoe. The trouble started when having to lash the counterweight boom to the hull. When making a model, assembling steps have to be done in a very chronological way. If not, one will loose enormous amount of time working around things were space to use tools is at a premium ! I had also forgotten to install the mast step prior to lash down the beams. Also, the rigging of the sail was much more difficult than what I had imagined. All those difficulties added up and it took me 5 more days to finish the model. I was very happy with the end result but would not like to do a similar model. It will stay one of a kind.
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The Amatasi canoe
Posted on December 5, 2007
It took me nearly the entire day to lash and brace the iakos to the ama of this new canoe. Speak about how much the plumber would have charged me for same amount of hours! True, it is the first time I do the Amatasi, which is very similar to the Pao Pao, only with a larger body and with 4 booms instead of 2 . There are 8 paired stanchions connecting the booms, or 2 pairs per boom. In addition there needs to be a vertical brace for connecting each boom to the float. Further to this the Amatasi is decorated with a beautifully carved finial sitting at the bow of the canoe. Tomorrow I will complete the canoe by mounting its paneled sail.
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