An "Eun Mara" is born...

[HR]

After lots of hard work, and some neglect while other projects took priority, we finally launched our Eun Mara "Meander" yesterday.

Here she is with her sails up before the launch (no comments on the set - they're just up for test purposes!)...

http://malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1962.jpg

We had to move her back from where she sat to the head of the ramp, then pivot her 90 degrees so that her stern was aimed down the ramp. We did it with log rollers, greased 2x8's and lots and lots of help.

We are lucky to count a couple of professionals from local boatbuilders among our friends - they know how to move boats and made sure that everything went smoothly. Here's the moving crew at work..
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1971.jpg

http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1973.jpg

http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1975.jpg

I don't have any still pictures of her splash yet, but here's a video of her launch down the ramp (http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/MeanderLaunch.wmv) (it's a WMV file).


Here she sits at our float. She sure looks small compared to "Malolo"...

http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1983.jpg

And some of the crew enjoying a well-deserved, adult beverage aboard...
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_1981.jpg

We still have some rigging to do, but hopefully we'll be out for our inaugural sail in the next day or two.

Howard

[gert]

Huge congratulations, she's beautiful.

When did you start?
Pretty nice part of the country to be building a wood sailboat eh?


More pics please.

[hokiefan]

Sweet! Loved that you caught it on video. Beautiful boat, wonderful place to launch it.

Cheers,

Bobby

[StevenBauer]

That's what I've been waiting for. :) She looks great Howard. Now all we need is a sailing report. ;)



Steven

[Tar Devil]

Awesome!!

[outofthenorm]

That's wonderful - Congrats Howard. The launch video is a keeper.

- Norm

[MiddleAgesMan]

Why does that make my eyes leak?

Great video! :)

[chill]

fantastic boat. I have always loved that design

[abe]

After you led us through the early stages of construction, we were wondering what happened to the boat. Looks great from here and Congratulations !!


abe

[TonyH]

Great work Howard. She looks just like a proper boat should, at home in her natural element.

[Lew Barrett]

An achievement! Very nice!

[S/V Laura Ellen]

beautiful,
you earned your adult beverage on that build!

[JimJ]

Congratulations on a great looking boat.
Jim

[Ed Armstrong]

Lovely, simply lovely. I'm green with envy!! Eun mara and Grey Seal were at the top of my list of wanna-builds when I used to dream that I'd have the time & motivation to build a small cruiser. Unfortunately, the 4 years it took me to build an Acorn dinghy convinced me that I should stick to small boats, at least until I retire!

Great boat!!

Ed

[David G]

A real treat. Beautiful boat, great day. Thanks for sharing.


"May the winds of Misfortune follow your boat the rest of it's life... and never catch up!"

[PaulC]

Hurrah! Hurrah! A great job by you in creating her and all of your neighbors for launching her! Again, Hurrah!

[Dale H]

Well done, Howard! Congratulations!

It's great to see another Eun Mara hit the water. I hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoy ours.

Dale

www.alistego.com

[johngsandusky]

Dear Howard,
Jane and I are very happy for you. Seeing the pics brings fond memories of our visit. A picture of us aboard Malolo is on the mantle.
Jane says Meander is beautiful, asks if you need her for ballast.
fair winds

[Rational Root]

Too Cool.

It's one of the ones that I would consider once the nippers are older.

Any thought on things you would have done differently ? Or general reflections on the whole process ?

Dave

[htom]

She's a beauty.

[Concordia...41]

Congratulations and a big Woo Hoo!

- Margo, Marley & Sarah :)

[Bill7254]

Very nice boat. Congratulations.

[Kaa]

Another Eun Mara in the water :-) Congratulations!

Kaa

[esingleman]

Multiple mast envy here!!! Great job.

[davidagage]

How sweet is that. A great looking boat, and what a neat launch too!!!

[SaltyD from BC]

Take a bow buddy. That's just gold there man.:D Love the vid, pics and certainly the boat...

[almeyer]

What a beautiful boat. Congradulations on the splash.
Al

[skuthorp]

Congratulations on your launch, I love the way a build project suddenly becomes a boat as it touches the water. Funny how they seem to shrink too, this elaborate, awkward, gigantic concoction of wood and glue takes life and somehow shrinks to manageable proportions. First time under sail is special too, one boat I sailed first in a dense fog, had to keep my wits about me but I remember that as a good moment.

[HR]

Thanks for the nice words.

We finally went out for our first sail today, after spending most of the week working on the rigging (read as "running into town to get just one more eyebolt"), when it wasn't raining too hard. All I can say is that after sailing our 20 ton cruising ketch "Malolo" (the 40' ketch on the end of the wharf in the photos) for the past few years, it sure was a treat to be out in a boat that is so responsive.

Winds were blowing (if you can call it that) between 0 and about 8 knots. "Meander" moved beautifully in the lightest breath, tacked nicely and handled like a dream. We have no auxiliary power for now, and I've never sailed a gaff rig before, so it was a fun learning experience short-tacking our way up the cove to our mooring. The rain has started again, but hopefully we'll get out in some heavier air over the next few days.

In answer to some of the questions, I started building her in September 2003 and worked on her pretty much full time. We turned her over in February 2004, and by the end of 2004 I had a lot of her cabin and deck built. We bought "Malolo" in the fall of 2004 and my priorities shifted to getting "Malolo" ready for cruising so the work on "Meander" (or "the Eun Mara" as she was known until a couple of days before launch) slowed down.

When we returned in June from a 9 month cruise to the Bahamas and back, I worked steadily on "Meander" to get her ready for launch.

I kept pretty detailed records, and here's a breakdown of time...

From start of construction to rollover...645 hours (Sept '03 to Feb '04)

Rollover to completion of decks and cabin, excluding some trim and details (hatches, etc)...880 hours (Feb '04 to Aug '05)

Spars, finishing, etc...270 hours (Jun '08 to Aug '08)

In addition, I made the sails from a Sailrite kit during the winter of 2005 - I didn't keep track of the time, but it was a good winter project. There are also a lot small details to be finished such as trim pieces, a proper tiller, companionway boards, etc.

As to costs, here's the breakdown (and remember, the CDN $ was nearly worthless during this period so )...

Wood...$4,100 (white oak, douglas fir, mahogany trim and marine ply)
"Consumables"...$2,650 (paint, epoxy, sandpaper, etc)
Hardware...$2,800 (bronze fittings, custom metalwork, fasteners, etc)
Sails...$1,225 (main, mizzen, jib from Sailrite)
Plans...$435

For a grand total of about $11,600 (I'll entertain offers starting at 50k!).

I found the plans to be relatively complete, even for a novice such as myself, although lacking in details in some areas. Because Iian Oughtred (the designer) does not make himself available by e-mail, it makes it difficult to ask questions (or at least to get answers!).

Overall, it's not a difficult boat to build, and I really enjoyed the process, even with all the frustrations and things that I wish I could do over again (well, in hindsight I guess I could have done them over again!). And now I have a big empty boatshed...hmmmm.

Here's some more shots from our launch, taken by a friend...

The official naming ("Keith's" of course)...

http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_0726.jpg

Touching the water...
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_2975.jpg

And she's afloat...
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/Meander_2987.jpg

http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/Meander_3014.jpg

The visiting boats rafted (the white with green trim hull is our "Malolo")...
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_0711.jpg

And on our mooring...
http://www.malolo.ca/images/forumimages/DSC_0712.jpg

[Dale H]

Excellent, Howard! Thanks for posting the follow up.

Dale

www.alistego.com

[JimD]

Marvelous :)

[Richard A]

Howard

Thanks for taking the time to post the sailing update. Sounds great!

Richard (from the Eun Mara Builder's Discussion forum)