Thursday 29 January 2009

Work continues on Toroa


















I was finally able to fit the recycled 9 mm, 5 ply pine panels to Toroa's bridge deck.
The work remaining to be done includes coving all the interior joins with epoxy dough (mixed flour and epoxy), then sanding and glassing the new planking from the keelson up to the cockpit floor, after which I will glue the cockpit floor panels into place with their barrel top hatches already glued in place.



















I'm laminating 2 layers of 9mm ply over the kiato splints to ensure adequate compression strength.


















Next bore the holes in the ama stanchions to accommodate the pegs on the ends of the kiato.








































The plywood covered the entire bridge deck area generously. I pinned it down temporarily and trimmed it to follow the profiles of the cockpit top, kiato splints & knees with my router ensuring a perfect match fit. Tomorrow I will glue and screw the decking in place, remove the screws when the glue has cured and plug the holes with doweling as before.
























The large hatches are the tops of plastic olive barrels with the screw top lids. The topmost part of the barrel is cut off, glued and screwed to the cockpit floor with sealant. They are watertight, very strong, dark polyethelene plastic (UV resistant and cheap)!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Harmen, Your work on Toroa is looking great. So where do you get these olive barrels? just what I want and might be a source down here in Rotorua, cheers, Dave

    ReplyDelete

Toroa by Harmen Hielkema & Mike Toy.

Header Photo: Toroa at Rawene by Julie Holton.

This blog is dedicated to the memory of my father Roelof Hielkema who instilled in me the willingness to learn.
These pages are intended to inform and add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the Canoe Culture of the Pacific, past, present & future, from the Tupuna, the Ancestors of the Pacific cultures to the people of the world.

These pages contain Images and text relating to our two proas, Toroa & Takapu, some history relating to our experiments & experiences.

The dissertation that I posted on this blog in April 2008 "Takapu The Proa" was written by me in 1997 in response to an assignment that I was set whilst studying for my design degree. The dissertation covers many issues that a proa enthusiast may benefit from reading about.

Waka define culture as culture defines waka

Waka reflect the individuality and uniqueness of a society which in turn is governed by the geography, geology, topography, climate, location, resources, isolation, origin, flora, fauna, flotsam, jetsam, etc.

Waka are our link to the past, they have shaped our present and define our future.

Waka are the vessels of knowledge, physical and mental development, freedom of bondage to the land, key to our inquisitiveness, expressions of our ingenuity and courage, our love of shape and form, the seat of our power.

Waka are the source of our material culture, from which all processes are derived.

Waka are who and what we are.