Wharram and webbing beam straps

The Polynesians used Oral Traditions and Story to pass down technical knowledge.

There were terms for the lashings purpose (connecting two parts together at a specific point) but lashing technique was somewhat individualistic and a sacred and ceremonious process.

Here is some basic info.

You’ll see the last example looks familiar:

https://www.hemakeewaa.org/lashing

 

Thats fascinating stuff Solgato. Thank you for posting that. My impression from reading the various books about the voyaging renaissance was that much of the knowledge had been lost in the mists of time after they stopped building large vessels. So good to know that detailed and extensive traditions did survive.

 

BGW,

Thank you for your considered response.
Unfortunately, I think you've missed my point.
With all our modern day materials you can't seem to make it work to your satisfaction.
Perhaps you need to go back to the basics and/or adjust your expectations.

Best of luck.

 

Hello everybody, I sailed a 50 years old Narai for around 10 000+ offshore miles, here is my opinion. Lashings are a vastly superior system than the original rubber blocks and through bolts. I originally had this old system, very wobbly boat and a rig that I had to tune every time I would sail few days offshore. Plus the weaknesses, the stress in the structure, the potential (if not inevitable) leak and rot. Arriving in Gambia I decided to adress the issue before crossing to Brazil. Without changing the beams, I could only do my lashings on the inner side of the hulls, which is where most of the stress is anyway so it was an acceptable compromise for me. I through bolted 4 wooden block (hard wood is cheap in Africa) and added strong plywood backing plates. I then walked around town to look for the less stretchy rope possible. For the lashings, it helps at each turn to clamp the rope on the beam in order to keep the tension even. I never had to adjust them again.
After this little modification, the boat was much, much, stiffer, a very different boat altogether, a much better boat, so much nicer to sail. Didn't need to take the slack anymore from my standing rigging anymore.
In my opinion (but not only mine, of course) the beam to hull connection on any given multi-hull needs to be as stiff and strong as possible. Traditionaly, because the word has been used, no natural fibers used in Polynesian boat building had any stretch at all. I worked extensively with natural fibers in my life. I can tell you that lashings from hemp, nettle, palm tree (etc) fibers are rock solid and do not move a bit.
Fair winds to all !

 

I had a Tangaroa with the rubber blocks and bolts. Never had to tune the rig. The rig was supposed to be loose anyway.

 

Loose beam connexion, loose rig, what else are we suppose to leave loose on our boats? There is just that much slack in the rig I tolerate when sailing to weather. I didn't mention but my rig was inspired by Haitian sloops, basically Ontong Java style (new rig, not the crab claw). Not the traditional Wharram rig (not that I have anything against it). I like to sail, not actively drift with the best possible wind. So again, a stiff boat sails better. Beating and tacking out of tricky Bijagos channels . Same out of the Amazon river, against trade winds and the Atlantic swell, etc. I tried both configuration on the same boat : day and night. I can mention a bunch of sailors (including a Tangaroa and another Narai) that changed their rubber blocks for lashings and never ever looked back... I suspect you were satisfied with your rubber, but would have been even more so with a stiffer boat, had you tried it. Cheers and fair winds !

 

That is a personal preference.

That is also a preference. It may be what you like, but not what is better for everyone.

I would not be satisfied with a rig that has to be tuned continuosly. When I race that is acceptable. When I cruise it would interfere with my drinking.

 

Hi Gonzo, well we absolutely agree on that except for the drinking part. I hated having to tune my rig constantly, thus my modifications. And because you want to go that way to appear more credible (it happened so fast...), in years of racing multis and monos 4 seasons on the north west coast of France from where I come from, I am yet to remember a wobbly boat. And if tuning the rig is taking more or less tension in the backstay, this is just trimming really. Anyway, I see this seems to be a hotly protected opinion like anything Wharram related. In my original post I dropped a trick for the OP to keep even tensioning in his lashings (ie the clamp technique) which was his original question. I guess anything else is again personal opinion and noise, mostly. I hate to have to throw and be thrown at some nautical curriculum to try and make a point. It stinks insecurity. Cheers and fair winds to all.

 

Some of us have a double personality: racing and cruising.

 

my idea to tighten & retighten lashings: drive a wedge under them. If they need retightening drive it in further. Of course there has to be some form of locking mechanism for the wedge & some form of protection for the lashings from the friction of the wedges.
BTW lashings would only be acceptable to me if they were completely invisible (& preferably) inaccessible for a passersby

 

The black piece under the beam is a piece of industrial conveyor belt used as padding to protect the wood. Its in the plans although JW didn't specify the thickness. It's maybe 1/2 inch thick. And yes, its polyester double braid used for the lashings, if thats what you mean by jacketed?

 

This may help with definitions. I’m curious whether Wharram used double braid as indicated here:

Rope constructions https://www.maximropes.com/home/tech_info/rope_constructions/

my own opinion is that double braid would have not likely been used in Polynesian lashing systems, but not wanting to enter into the debate as I’m not even a sailor, much less know a thing about Wharram cats

 

FWIW, JW does specify pre-stretched 8mm polyester double braid for the lashings, not single braid.

 

Hope this reply is not too late and offers some insight. Seems tapping with a mallet is used to set the lashings. I think coconut fiber is their lashing material.

 

The beam wrapping & frapping saga continues.

I used my mainsheet 6 part blocks anchored to a halyard to tension each individual wrap of the beam lashings. I got them as tight as I could. I locked them off with a clamp as I added wraps. Once tied off, I used a ratchet strap to pull additional tension between the two sets of strands and did the frapping turns.

The lashings were pretty evenly tight and tight enough to dig into the beam a little. (I have a friend making me some plates to distribute the pressure). I worked each strand with a lever to even the tension, stopping only when additional tension no longer moved the line further up.

Despite that, after my last sail, 500 miles across the Caribbean, with only 24 hours of fast and rough sailing, (160 miles in 4-6 foot seas at about 75⁰) the rest being dramatically slower when the trades faded, several of them are loose again.

So, where to go from here? I could perhaps accept that they will just be loose, but that doesnt seem right. Come up with a way of wrapping them that can easily be done from the deck while underway, which might be the compromise I have to make, or come up with a way of lashing them that is solid and stable. I prefer the 3rd option but have yet to work out how to do that.

I am tempted to have long SS bolts made up, with plates top and bottom resting on a bit of rubber to provide some yield, and just make the boat more or less solid.