Outrigger Attachments

11/11/15 - Here is an Outrigger Attachments page.  I'm showing 3 basic types.  My approach and terminology may be a bit amateurish but at least it's a cursory look at this fascinating topic.

Type I (for want of an actual name) is what I used on Voyager.  Suitable for the smaller sizes of outrigger.  I suppose I first saw this type being used on the Amatasi in Herb Kane's illustration below:

I notice that the actual lashings cannot be seen in the above - they do show in the pics below:

From Gary Dierking's site

Also from Gary Dierking's site

The "struts" only

An excellent Cherini "schematic" of the struts

Voyager's arrangement

Note that the "struts" may cross below the outrigger boom or above it.  I believe either way is fine.  The key to the success of this method is the spread of the struts and the tightness of the lashing.

 Type II is what I see on the Carolinian canoes.  Below are some good examples.

On Mau's restored canoe in Hawaii

A beautiful drawing found at Gary Dierking's site

Also on Mau's canoe

The structure consists of 4 Y-shaped timbers sunk into holes in the float with the outrigger booms nestled down into the top crotches and a yoke timber across the top of it all - bowsed down very tightly with massive lashings.  The whole setup seems very robust and suitable for larger size craft.

Just as with Type I, the key here is in the tightness of the lashing.  Note in the picture below - the circumferential turns of the lashing (indicated by the blue arrow) pull the other part (indicated by the orange arrow) tighter and tighter as they proceed downward.  The whole thing becomes bar-tight at some point.

Type III connections are from the Marshall Islands.  They are elegant to look at and, no doubt, work very well - but for the life of me I cannot see how the strut is actually secured to the float.  All I can see is some beautiful lashing but there must be some way of attachment which I cannot see.  Here are some pics:

Beautiful and elegant - it just looks like there's too much play in that attachment, must not be seeing things correctly.

You can read about the Marshall Islands method here:
http://artofwayfinding.blogspot.com/2015/07/canoes-of-marshall-islands.html

(from the referenced article)