Proa building blog
Proasis proudly participated in the international climate strike on September 20th.
250000 people marched in Berlin, 1.4 million in whole Germany and multiple more around the entire world!
We are amazed and grateful to be part of making environmental protection and conservation a mass movement!
As promised in our last post we managed to the sail this week!
As sailcloth we got a strong PE sheet (also known as polytarp). That’s exactly the sort of stuff the people in Micronesia using for there sails.
Exceptionally we bought it new but spend only 40 bucks.
We hope to setup the sail for test purpose during the next days. Read more in our next weekly update!
Maybe an odd way to start building a boat, but the very first part of proasis will be the rig (naval term for mast, sail and all other parts belonging to them). Why? That’s a bit of a story:
Originally, proasis was supposed to get a free standing carbon mast (free standing means no shrouds to hold it up) with a soft wing sail on it (see a video of something similar here).
Aside of the not very sustainable carbon part we never got happy with the design:
We thought about many workarounds and fancy designs but eventually came back to the (Marshallese) oceanic lateen sail!
Proofed for centuries on the pacific, the biggest ocean of our planet. For us the best sail possible:
For the spars we were lucky to get tons of old windsurfing mast for free by our sailing club:
The windsurf mast were simply transferred into mast and booms and laid out to test the geometry for shunting:
Next week we will get some cloth and sew the sail. Stay tuned!
Now, after the 1:5 model proa proofed our general concept by amazing sail performance it’s time for something in real size!
To get an impression of what the living conditions on proasis will be we made a full size mockup of the accommodation compartment in the windward hull. In manufacturing and design, a mockup is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. It is probably best known from the automotive industry for show cars, but is an important part of yacht design too.
Our mockup taught us a lot about usability, ergonomics and structural design of the cabin.
As you can see, its a quick and dirty construction from scrap wood and paper boxes. All of that was recycled by us and therefor for free!
The 1:25 scale model turned out to be very promising. As intended, it gave us a better feeling for the shape and led to some changes (extension of the beams to leeward i. eg.).
Next step: a 1:5 full functional model!
Originally planned to be radio controlled, we realized that the shunting process would be very difficult to build and stepped back from that idea. The 1:5 model (1,8m long btw) is now manually controlled and secured by a kite line.
The model will be used to experiment with two different types of rigs and various rudder/leeboard configurations: aside of a traditional oceanic lateen sail (also known as crab claw sail) a newly developed softwing gaff sail with unstayed mast will be tested. The platform is prepared to sail a double rudder configuration (oversized rudders are used for steering and leeway prevention) and leeboard/rudder configuration (leeboard to prevent leeway, small rudder for steering).
Stay tuned, we will post some sailing videos soon!
CAD software is a great tool to model complex 3-dimensional structures like boats. But as fast as a new model is created on the screen, so easy it is to loose the proper feeling for its shape and dimensions.
Real scale models help to get an impression how all the crazy things on the screen would look like in reality. We made a 1:25 3D-printed scale model of Proasis. Fortunately, 1:25 is more or less the scale factor of Playmobile, so we can use Playmobile manikins as size comparison.
Two different types of rigs will be tested: A softwing gaff sail with unstayed mast and a traditional oceanic lateen (also known as crab claw).
The design of our unique proa “Proasis” was born in a very special place: the Enewetok Atoll!
Never heard about that place? Well, honestly Bikini, Enewetoks neighbor atoll, is wider known (the swimsuit is actually named after it). Enewetok and Bikini, both located in the Marshall Islands, were used as nuclear test side by the US military in 1940’s and 1950’s.
In total, 67 nuclear bombs were tested in Bikini, 44 more in Enewetok. The native population of those islands was ruthless relocated. Most of them left home forever.
Further information regarding the Marshallese nuclear legacy can be found here.
Enewetok is such a special place, it can only be reached by a 900 nm boat ride – once or twice a year – on irregular base. Unless you are lucky and catch the ride of your lifetime on a traditional polynesian catamaran replica!
After a bumpy sail of 6 days crossing almost the entire Marshall islands, first sketches and 3D-models were born out of a mixture of salt, sun, wind and nuclear radiation:
Imagine you live in a house close by the beach. The noise of the breaking swell, seagulls in the air and the salty taste of the ocean breeze will accompany you every day. Sounds great? Off course it does, at least one reason why 80% of the human population lives close by the ocean side. But the dream of a place by the sea is turning into a nightmare: a rising sea level is eating up the shorelines, causing soil salination and squeezing out the freshwater lenses of islands or low lying coasts.
I didn’t thought too much about all of this until I got a job at “Waan Aelon in Majel – Canoes of the Marshall Islands” about green shipping in Majuro, Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands are a small island nation in the central Pacific between Hawai’i and Papua New Guinea. The country consists of low lying coral atolls only with the highest elevation a few meters above sea level. Short after arriving in Majuro, the capital of Marshall Island, I found the most beautiful islands I could have dreamed of, settled by wonderful gold-hearted people. But at the same time the Marshall Islands are a cumulation of almost every problem humanity caused worldwide so far: cultural damage by colonization and Americanization, drug abuse, high radiation level by nuclear weapons, overpopulation, urbanization, plastic trash, deforestation, overfishing, coral bleach, (water) pollution and the most dangerous to a low island: sea-level rise (by climate change). Most of these problems are not caused by the Marshallese people, but they are suffering. The scientist’s predictions don’t sound very promising: a couple of decades, or half a century until the islands will be uninhabitable due to the rising sea level! The population will be forced to leave their ancestors homeland – a cultural genocide.
Not yet. The small NGO “Waan Aelon in Majel” (WAM) copy the upcoming challenges since 30 years by preserving native culture (especially boat building and sailing), offers a perspective for young people to make a living and creating awareness for the climate crisis.
As a child of the East-Frisian island Norderney I know the oppressive feeling of being surrounded by roaring waters during the storm season in winter since I can remember. But still, it was the work of and for WAM which was an eye-opener for me. Norderney and her 6 sister islands consist of fine white sand only and elevate a couple of meters above the north sea. Without any protection around they are as vulnerable for erosion as a sandcastle.
Back in Germany the daily routine and all projects I previously had been involved felt pointless compared to the real challenges of our future. Step by step the idea of combining what I’m good at (building boats and sailing) and the desire to be a part of the solution shaped out of the fog. Christian came back to Germany a couple of months later (he worked for WAM in Majuro, too) and was immediately hooked by the idea: Proasis was born.
Every island and every shore in the world shares the same ocean with each other and is already affected by the rising sea level. Its a fight for the island I call home, for the land of our Marshallese friends and for the far majority of the human population. We can only fight (and maybe still win) it together!
The Proasis project will carry the spirit of WAM from the Pacific Ocean to new, somewhat colder waters around northern Europe. To create awareness and demonstrate an alternative way we will design, construct and sail Proasis, a pacific based proa (outrigger sailboat, see “What is a proa“). Proasis will be powered fossil-free, simple and low cost. By using mainly recycled or degradable materials she will be eco-friendly with a small footprint.
Our goal is to be visible on the water as an eye-opener for as many people as possible, in the same way, WAM has been an eye-opener to us.
Inspired by the traditional boat building skills of the Marshall Island and the work ofthe NGO Waan Aelõñ in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) we will design, construct and sail a pacific proa, a very special and unique double hulled sailing boat. Proas.is or Proasis is a mix of the word Proa (the name of the pacific outrigger sailboat) and oasis. It will be our oasis when we cross the great water deserts of our planet.
The domain .is doesn’t sound familiar? It is the national domain of Ísland (Iceland). We chose this domain, because the server farms are powered mostly by geothermal energy (therefore carbon neutral) and for the side effect of the name combination.
