THE HAKA BENCH SEAT - AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRAMPS

Here is what CaptnChaos is talking about, The Supermodels love them.

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“Remember life is short- eat dessert first.”
The world is 70% water – So that means we should spend 70% more time sailing than mowing lawns!
Larry

What sun E said!

sun E,
Wood!?
You've gone over to the dark side. I thought you of all people would have used aluminium! What next a wooden apel cart?

Seriously though ...very nice work!
I did notice your clever use of aluminium. The wood does look great though. There's something special about a wooden deck (apart from the splinters).

The cushions were from BCF our local camping/boating store. They weren't that dear but I'm going to have to change the open cell foam for closed cell. After doing the float test it felt a bit heavier!

CC,

Thanks.
Now if we could just get some nice steady wind over here (not these crazy storm driven bursts that last only 2 hours) I could go out sailing again.

I know about the seats at West, I checked them out and they do look very comfortable and inviting. My only concern is that when I unzipped the material and looked at the mechanism inside that allows them to go up and down it was plain metal not ss. I'm afraid they'd rust up pretty fast. West does have a 90 day warranty though so that might be work, at least through November .

As for the RAM stuff, I ordered my parts through this company: http://www.gpszone.com they were extremely helpful. They use the same part numbers that RAM uses. If you want to see the parts first go to http://www.rammount.com These are the 3 parts I ordered through gpszone. With shipping it came to $28.65.

1, RAM 1" Tough-Ball with 1/4"-20 x 6.25" Male Threaded Post - Part # RAP-B-379U-252062
1, Male Octagon Button with 1/2" Pipe Clevis - Part # RAP-321U
1, RAM Single Socket Arm with Octagon Socket - Part # RAP-B-200-1U

What I did to attach the RAM 1/2" Pipe Clevis to my old aluminium measuring stick was I made a short, 3 1/2" stub from solid 1/2" aluminium rod. I first tapped 12/13" threads into the inside of the end of the measuring stick. I then threaded down about an 1 1/2" on the end of the aluminium rod stub with the same 1/2/13" threads. The rod then easily screwed into the end of the measuring stick with about 1 1/2" un-threaded rod exposed. It fit right into the end of the Pipe Clevis and made a very strong connection into my old measuring stick. I should post some pictures of what I did.
Stringy, are you following this?
See, I'm not just a wood purest Tree Hugger .

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Sun E Sailor
Ezra Appel
Palm City, Florida
2014 Tandem Island

I hear you about the tropical weather Sun E. Seems like every time I go out, storms roll in with the lightning and thunder. Lightning struck the tree next door yesterday and there's about 5 burn holes in the tree 3 feet up where it exited the tree and then blasted holes into the ground and knocked pavers out. A nice little reminder about the power of lightning.

Thank you very much for posting those links about the ram mounts. Much appreciated.

Oh and it's ok to embrace being a wood purist tree hugger.

One of my teak hakas has a mascot now. I also painted on a couple of places I've been. I saw a giant turtle about 3 feet wide, either a green sea turtle or loggerhead, I'd say, down in Bahia Honda (in the Florida Keys).

Stringy, how did you know that?. That's just BRILLIANT, a wooden Appel Cart! ... Now why didn't I think of that in the first place .
Truth be told, I have been secretly working on a new prototype for a long time now - it kind of got away from me, but it's almost done now and it's going to float too. It just needs a touch more work, some 42cm beach wheels and a little paint. Here's a sneak preview, what do you think .


Thank You I have to agree with you - the wood sure looks nice and I'll take a wood splinter any day over a rusty ole metal cut .

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Sun E Sailor
Ezra Appel
Palm City, Florida
2014 Tandem Island

Nice Teak hakas Kevin. The carved turtle and lettering on your hakas look beautiful (I'd have to put a roadrunner on mine ). I've seen big turtles in the water in the Everglades and it is a nice experience seeing them while sailing.

I'll be in Key Largo the 28th of August without my AI unfortunately. Is there anywhere around there that rents AI's or TI's that you know of?

Cute. We call them "Honu" here.

We see them by the dozens in places. Some big ones are like floating islands.

They are considered good luck signs. Unless you own a trifoiler.

Where can I get a pair of those seats? Thanks.

OK Woodites. From the Batcave - here's the layout for cutting 2 truss-style braces from a standard 1"x4"x96" board. The wood can be your choice of flavor.

NOHUHU,
Are your latest benches really 8' (96") long? and the wood looks like Hard Pine, is that correct?

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Sun E Sailor
Ezra Appel
Palm City, Florida
2014 Tandem Island

Opps, I see now what Batman did. He made two braces, each 60" long out of one 96" long board - correct? So your benches are 5' long then yes?

I like the 6' length of mine, but if I made them again I would be tempted to go 7' with more of the length extending off the back end - where I'm finding myself sitting most of the time. Any 7' Haka Benches out there yet?

Still curious about the wood choice (ie weight factor) though.

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Sun E Sailor
Ezra Appel
Palm City, Florida
2014 Tandem Island

Sun E, I still think you have got it wrong... the braces don't cover the total length of the haka, as the ends are supported by the akas. The braces are there to provide torsional stiffness for the part of the haka which spans the gap between the akas, and I would imagine around a foot at each end not needing bracing.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Introducing haka to Maui: Picked up the wood, glue and finish today...

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006