12' Skin-on-Frame Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe (2020)

Ultra lightweight outrigger canoe

The ribs are made from willow branches [ala Hillary Russell] The skin is nylon with a urethane coating [ala skin boat store in Anacortes] The ribs are whittled to a 3/8″ mortice [ala Veritas mini tenon cutter]. On the smallest branches, I found I could cut a tapered tenon with my carpenter’s pencil sharpener!

Launched in the open Pacific at Morro Bay and Cayucos and San Simeon, CA
A delight on the Napa River.
I can also replace the outrigger with a 12′ pack canoe and two people paddle tandem.

Next up is a hybrid skin on frame whaleboat for family excursions on the Napa River.

The design is truly remarkable. I have plunged into 3′ swells, and the hand-sized “Stop-water” splits the water as the bow dives below the water surface creating a negative pressure – for a millisecond – and the clap back of water into the hole lifts the bow back to the surface without shipping water. Phenomenal understanding of negative pressure and the physics of hydrodynamics that was completely intuitive, developed indigenously over centuries all pre-contact. Way ahead of supercomputers which would be required to map out the forces involved. The wall of green water is like peering into an aquarium. Even surfing, the bow stays at least a foot under the surface, yet rides the “hole” without capsizing. Modern wave-piercing hulls could learn from this ingenious design.

At high speeds, water “ventilates” up the bow tending to drive the bow down and risking a capsize. Watch closeups of the America’s cup races, and you can see the effect in action. This Stop Water does not slow the hull appreciably, but helps protect against Pearl Diving your hull. Woe to those who think there is nothing to learn from ancient discoveries.

Mike Smith