Minke

These are photos of "Minke", a beautiful wooden boat built by Chris Lowrey, shown discussing building techniques with two visitors.

Chris is a New Zealander who sailed for 5 or 6 weeks with the Larry and Lin Pardey and still keeps in touch. The experience seems to have inspired Chris to build a boat very similar to the Pardey's.

I heard Chris say that the length on deck of Minke is 29 ft 9 in. However, the length over all is a whopping 41 ft.

Chris and his wife Helen have sailed the boat extensively, including through the French canal system where even with a draft of only 5' 5" they touched bottom once or twice. Pachuca would have no chance with her 7' 6" draft.

The top three photos are of Minke on the way to the island of Kawai, the next island in the chain, an overnight sail to the northwest.