JUNK RIG VENTURES

The Boat

← Kokachin

Design & Spec

Kokachin is a 12.5 metre Le Forestier Jonque de Plaisance — designed by Dimitri Le Forestier (jonquedeplaisance.net).

She is a traditional Chinese-looking junk schooner with a relatively shallow hull with a long keel giving 1.2 metre draught and a centreboard increasing the draft to 2.20 metres. The 3.3 ton ballast is internal.

Her hull is cold moulded double diagonal over strip planking. She has sapele laminated frames spaced 1 metre apart set on a laminated sapele keel. The hull is planked with 20mm strips of Mediterranean pine. Externally two layers of 4mm sapele, all glued and coated with epoxy. Deck beams are laminated sapele. Decks are 25mm plywood.

Specifications:

Finished Boat

Our requirements were:

We were aware that not all of the requirements could be met as it is obvious that the ideal boat does not exist. We were looking for a live aboard home that could take us where we wanted to go. We wanted a shallow draught boat because it gives us wider access to cruising and anchoring grounds. Keeping the boat warm was important. Many boats failed to meet these requirements. The advantage of a half built boat was that half of the work was done but the disadvantage is we have to live with what is already built. Some compromises have to be made. All efforts were made to make the boat as simple as possible. However, due to her features she proved to be a complicated and therefore time consuming boat to finish to match our needs. Kokachin, as any mistress, was demanding, very hard work and full of challenges for both of us.

For a detailed list of work on Kokachin see the blog.

Original Build

Daily hard and long hours of work was followed by household chores and researching / ordering the material. Covid worked in our favour — we had a committing project to complete. Just before the lockdown Pete spent three whole days ordering everything we would need for the boat building. All the material had to be stored either inside or outside the boat on which we were now living. The biggest nightmare was finding a place to store things, and having to move them around all the time. I spent frustrating hours searching for something which had been moved (who knows where) but we needed it there and then. After the first year Blossom was sold and we moved onboard. While this sounds like a living hell (and probably was), it was much better than living on Blossom, for many practical reasons. Kokachin was warm and cosy, although cramped. Often we asked ourselves: "Why on earth did we embark on this madness yet again?" While laughing at her bizarre shape I dreamt of the day when I would sail her. Most of this hard work would be forgotten by then.

As well as giving us the photographs and permission to use them, this is what Mr Josset sent us when asked to comment:

"At the age of 43, I decided to build a boat a bit off the beaten track and as a carpenter to do a different kind of work. During her construction, I met several extraordinary people who helped me a lot, especially with the epoxy work, but also in discovering the world of the amateur builder. Although life does not always grant us success, I am delighted to have sold it to Linda and Peter because in their hands Kokachin will be able to live. While waiting for her to be launched, I can't wait to be able to walk up her deck, no doubt, filled with real emotions."

Boat Building → ← Kokachin