THE HAKA BENCH SEAT - AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRAMPS

That is SO cool! It is a wonder nobody else has done this, as it combines practicality with a "Kontiki"dash of tradition! Well done!

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

Made me think about "Castaway"

Fantastic! Thanks Betsy.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Tony and Betsy,

Nice jobs. Very impressive!

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Is it just me, or does anyone else keep thinking of a pan flute?

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

Wood, alloy, plastic spineboard, ladders, load ramps, inflatable SUP ...I thought we'd exhausted all Haka categories but you've added another that is cheap, lightweight, simple, all natural and looks great. Very nice work Betsy!

Also I think you could use 1" bamboo, and maybe use 12 poles for each haka, instead of the 1.25" with 10 poles for each. That would be less expensive, and would have fewer poles left over. Although who knows, maybe I'll come up with some great idea with my remaining bamboo. I could have used more poles and made the hakas wider, but I was trying to keep them light, and they're certainly wide enough for comfort, and I think they will be wide enough for carrying gear when I get around to a camping trip.

Would be really fun if they started playing a tune while sailing upwind!

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

That's odd, 'cos when I think about that movie, I get a little bit of sick in my mouth!
I can't think of a worse possible reason for Tom Hanks to lose all that weight...

(Sorry Betsy, no reflection on your awesome hakas.)

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

So after 8 or 10 trips, several in quite windy conditions, and several with 3 people aboard, I noticed that my hakas were beginning to loosen up a bit. I don't know if it's just that I didn't pull all the zip ties tight enough, or that they are stretching a bit, or that the whole structure is just sort of shifting a bit as each pole finds its "happy place." With an adventure on Lake Erie planned for this afternoon with a crew of 3, I just spent some time tightening up the zip ties. Some were still quite tight, but about half were somewhat loose. In most cases, there was enough of the tie left to pull on to tighten, but in a few cases I just cut off the loose tie and replaced with a new one - maybe half a dozen total replacements. So in hind sight I'd recommend first of all to be sure to pull the zip ties really tight. Use pliers and pull hard. And also don't cut them off too close until you've used the hakas for a while. Then you still have a bit to grab to tighten later on if needed. It doesn't take much to be able to grab them again with the pliers - an eight of an inch or less. And finally, carry some extra zip ties with you just in case.

When I had my outrigger canoe, I learned about these: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM ... 7TLuebLBDH

They are approximately 1" strips of rubber cut from an old automobile innertube.

In the canoe days, they served as ama attachments: https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP ... yCF2hRWq6k

They are strong and useful general-purpose lashings for anywhere you need something lashed..... as in using a paddle shaft to jury-rig a broken aka.

Cheap, effective, long-lasting..... I will always have some as part of my on-water toolkit.

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2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

I can't see those w/o a google account, but lashing is the way to go. Spectra should do it.

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Ditto for lashing, it will work much better than cable ties and look cool too. If you google "bamboo lashing" you will find the correct techniques. I have seen bamboo scaffolding all over SE Asia tied in this way.
Spectra would probably work great, I'm guessing it has decent resistance to sunlight since our boats have exposed bits that last a long time. A thicker cord might provide more bulk between the pieces of bamboo and both secure and space them at the same time.

Chris

And you should be able to lash all the Haka crosspieces on the bottom. They'll make better seats and camping beds that way.

They will rub your Aka paint away over time, and that's not good, but you can split a piece of wide diameter pipe insulation or a pool noodle and slip it over the bars when you rig the boat. Works great.

Hope the bamboo holds up to the freshwater baths. I have a bamboo flute that I've been slobbering on for years, and it still looks fine

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The Wind Is Your Friend...

Best thing for avoiding aka damage is 10mm closed cell yoga mat. Buy one for under $10 and you and all your friends will have a lifetime supply. You can even get matching colours!

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

I did try lashing, but I just couldn't get it tight enough. I might not have been using the right type of line. And yes, they make all kinds of stuff like scaffolding out of bamboo in Asia, but it's a bit different when you're lashing pieces so close together. It makes it difficult to get in there and tighten each one as you get more poles lashed to more cross pieces. But hey, if anyone makes one using lashing successfully, I'd love to see photos!

Also, I like the cross pieces at the ends on the top. I'm thinking that eventually when I go camping and am strapping things to the hakas, they will help keep things from shifting/sliding off. But you certainly could put all the cross pieces on the bottom, and it would give you a couple of inches more in length. To each his/her own!