About Me

Hi my name is Tom Raidna and I have been messing about in and with boats since 1994. The name Purjekas is Estonian for sailboat, and I thought it was an appropriate name for my blog.

I started by building an 8′ kayak from plans and lumberyard material and have since refurbished or built:

Toto Double Paddle Canoe
Blue Crab Sailboat
Stevenson Projects Skipjack
2 ComPac 16’s
Jim Michalak – Trilars – Trimaran
Chrysler Mutineer
MFG19
Precision 18
Wildness Systems Tsunami 145
Shearwater Sport Kayak (in progress as of Feb 2020)

In 2018 I went to Great Lakes Sailing Company in Traverse City Michigan and earned my ASA 101,103 and 104 certifications (Basic Keelboat, Basic Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Cruising). I was interviewed by Jeffery Wetting of the Shooting the Breeze podcast episode 99 .

I’ve also written two articles for Small Craft Advisor magazine

Issue 64 – Owner Review – Trilars

Issue 80 – Owner Review – Com-Pac 16

And some web based articles over the years :

Building the Trilars Trimaran – Duckworks.com

Building and Sailing the Trilars Trimaran – SmallTrimarans.com

I hope my blog here provides you some boating entertainment!!!