14 Bachelorettes, 10 Nudists, and a Family Reunion (a Mon Tiki Project Update)

My fellow gentlemen and dear readers may have noticed I’ve been scarce around these parts of late. Two weeks ago we got our structural approval letter from the US Coast Guard Marine Safety Center, and the week after that they issued approval for our mast, rigging, and sail plan. Every novel aspect of our design — the plywood hull plating, the lashed akas (crossbeams), the textile rudder hinge arrangement, etc — has been approved.

We’re also starting to get inquiries for trips, including 14 bachelorettes, 10 nudists, and a family reunion of a dozen or so; all trips we would been obliged to say “Sorry, no. We can’t take you.” on our previous boat, but now, with the expenditure of effort, energy and imagination, we can say “Yes.”

This is good for my family; well make more money, money for braces and college and rainy days and opportunities yet to come.

This is good for our community; MON TIKI will be the only Inspected Passenger Sailing Vessel on Eastern Long Island, and a reason for people to come to our town and spend money on lodging, food, and t-shirts.

So it’s crunch time. With the only further obstacle to completing and launching the Inspected Passenger Vessel MON TIKI being our own efforts, a redoubled urgency has seized the shop. I feel it, of course, and my build crew feels it too. Spring is in the air, and there’s a spring in our step too. Craft, camaraderie, commerce!