Introduction: Sailing Catamaran

By Opening September 2020!
About: The Valletta Design Cluster is a community creative hub in Valletta (Malta), including a makerspace, foodspace, co-working space, incubator for chagemakers, roofgarden, and more.

DIY tutorial (Age: 11+ )

This project uses materials easily found at home. Because we will be using: a craft knife, hot glue gun, nail and a hammer, adult supervision is recommended.

Attachments

Supplies

MATERIALS:

  • Cardboard
  • 24 corks
  • Recycled plastic container
  • Piece of fabric or paper
  • 1 chopstick + 2 skewers
  • 4 Kinder Surprise eggs
  • String
  • Transparent tape
  • Piece of paper (old magazine)

TOOLS:

  1. Cutting mat
  2. Scissors + craft knife
  3. Hot glue gun + glue sticks
  4. Ruler + pencil
  5. Paint + paintbrush (small jar with water)
  6. Hammer + large nail
  7. Glue stick

Feel free to print out instructions for handy reference while following the video:

Step 1:

For the first step, we will need a piece of cardboard to make the main deck of the catamaran. Let’s start with measuring its final size. Take a ruler and pencil and mark a rectangle 25x18cm. Cut it with scissors.

Step 2:

The next step is to cut two aligned rectangles with dimensions 5x10cm and 4x10cm on the shorter sides of the cardboard. Ideally in the middle. Cut it with scissors or craft knife if needed. Use a ruler to make your edges straight when cutting.

Step 3:

From the cardboard, we have left, cut two thin rectangle pieces for side rails - 20x3cm. Make a small incision close to one of the edges, make it 5mm wide. Remember to not cut it through. We need just a gentle incision so we can bend a smaller slice and glue it to the deck. Repeat exactly the same process to create another rail.

Step 4:

Painting time! Choose two favourite acrylic paints and start painting your cardboard pieces on both sides. Let it dry.

Step 5:

Grab an empty spreadable cheese container and paint both parts in the colour of your choice. Let it dry. Once the painting part is done wash your brushes and hands.

Step 6:

The next step is to create catamaran hulls. We need 24 wine corks to do that - 12 on each side. Remember, when it comes to using a glue gun, safety comes first. Be very careful to not burn yourself. Also, use the mat to not damage the table. Put a small drop of hot glue on the top of the cork and stick it with another to form one long piece combined from 4 corks. Leave it for 5 seconds and roll it gently to make sure our line does not stick to the mat. Make another one next to it and pour glue between them to fix them together. Lastly, pour glue on both inner sides of this construction and place the remaining 4 corks on the top of them - it will make a small pyramid. You can add some more glue on the top part between corks. One hull is ready. Repeat the process with the corks left and let them dry.

Step 7:

To make the catamaran waterproof I recommend covering all cardboard parts with transparent tape after the paint dries.

Step 8:

Grab the hammer and big nail. We will need either a mat or a piece of wood! We are going to make holes for the trampoline in the main deck. On the front of the catamaran, make 5-6 holes on each side. Do it 5 mm afar from the edges to not rip them. Gently push the nail through all the holes to make them slightly bigger, so it will be easier to thread the string.

Step 9:

Using the same nail and a hammer, make a small hole on the top of the previously painted cheese container. Be gentle, as the item might break. To prevent any damage you can try doing it from the inside. Do not worry too much if it breaks as we will cover it with the lid. Using a craft knife make a small hole in the middle of the lid. Then take a chopstick and push it through both holes pointing the inside parts of both objects. The wider part must remain hidden inside. Apply hot glue to fix parts together by pouring glue at the top. It is important to leave some space for the skewer to be placed later on next to the chopstick.

Step 10:

The next step is to make two holes on the top part of the rail, approx. 5 mm afar from the edges to not rip them. Gently push the nail through the hole to widen it for the string to go through.

Step 11:

Use hot glue to attach the cabin to the deck.

Step 12:

To make a sail you can use the fabric or paper. I used an old white bed sheet. It can even be fabric from an old, broken umbrella. Cut a triangle like the one shown below. Put the skewer close to the 15cm long edge, add glue behind it and wrap a small part of the fabric on it. Use another skewer to not burn your fingers with hot glue. For the bottom part, by using scissors make a tiny (0,5-1cm long) cut just behind the glued part with the chopstick. Cut or break another skewer (to be shorter) and place it in the bottom part of the sail. Repeat the same process to fix the mast with a sail. Once our mast is ready, push the bottom part of the skewer through a small hole on the container. Lastly, use a string at the top of the mast to fix the chopstick and skewer together.

Step 13:

Use scissors to cut another but smaller triangular sail. Then cut or break a skewer in a half - to be the same length as the bottom part of the smaller triangle we have just made. Wrap the fabric around the skewer to make it look like a closed sail. Wrap it around with a piece of string and tie two knots on both ends, so it will not unfold.

Step 14:

Use a hot glue gun to attach this part to the mast - at the line of the bottom sail. Use a string to attach its end with the top of the chopstick.

Step 15:

We are almost there! It’s time to stick side rails to the deck. Use hot glue to fix them on the long edges of the deck.

Step 16:

Now we can attach hulls. Pour hot glue on the wider part of the hull (both cork lines) and press them against the bottom of the main deck, just under the side rails.

Step 17:

Get 4 Kinder Surprise plastic eggs and use a nail to make a hole at the top of each. Open them all and cut 4 pieces of string around 12cm long each. Push the string through holes starting from the top and make 2 knots. Pull the string in the opposite direction and close the egg. Use the string to push through holes we made earlier inside rails, tie them high so they hang in the air and make two knots. Cut the excess of the string.

Step 18:

Grab a piece of paper - you can use an old magazine! Cut small rectangle windows to decorate the cabin. You can use a glue stick to fix them.

Step 19:

As the last step, we are going to make a trampoline. Take the end of the string and start threading it through every other hole alternately from two sides. You can use a needle or nail to push it through. Cut the string when it is done and make knots on both sides.

Step 20:

Some extras! Using pieces of cardboard you can easily create sunbeds to decorate your catamaran. Fix them with glue to not lose them!