Eastport Pram, sailing version, built in Australia from kit, as a tender for a sailing catamaran. - Novice Building An Eastport Pram In Australia
Main menu:
Just launched our new wooden tender/dinghy, named Love me tender, an Eastport Pram with a Standing Lug sailing rig, after about two months of elapsed time building it from a kit.
The actual hours spent is estimated at 60, about 50% longer than some of the other builds on the web, but they probably did not include the sailing option. Most of the time one is waiting for epoxy to cure, varnish to dry, or getting some extra materials.
Everyone agrees that the result is terrific and that the effort was worthwhile. It is only a tiny boat and destined to become the tender to our 10.5 metre sailing catamaran.
On a personal level it has been a significant learning curve as I was hoping to do a short boat building course beforehand but this did not happen. I decided to 'just do it' and as usual, research on the web as required. Now the boat is completed, I feel like I have a useful set of new skills and that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with - project complete.
What?
This web is both a personal reminder and hopefully a useful source of information for anyone contemplating a similar project.
I have captured the job in detail, session by session and have given a lot of detail on the steps involved, the technique used and my approach to the significant task of final finish which happens after the kit (or scratch) build is completed. I have added on some extras to make sure that the result is fit for my particular purpose.
Why?
Our original tender was a small sailing catamaran in GRP. It was an interesting boat and sailed quite well, rowed and motored OK, but it was just too heavy for a two person lift and was a difficult thing to drag up the beach. It needed proper fendering or else...
After that we had two inflatables, the first with a wood slat floor and the second with an aluminium floor. Both tended to wallow and were pigs to row. Both started to go to pieces after 18-24 months, despite UV covers.
Finally, I had a big rethink and searched around for something more fit for purpose.
The CLC Eastport Pram was selected because it rowed well, sailed OK and could also take a small motor. Furthermore it was a perfect fit for hoisting on the davits of our sailing cat. I know there will be some who will not understand why; but I am completely over the compulsory motoring of RIB/inflatible boats and miss not having a small sailing boat to mess around in when there is not much else to do.
I was hoping to do a short wooden boat building course before embarking on this project but the local agent, Denman Marine had none of these scheduled in the near future. After thinking it through I was thankful that there was an Australian supplier of the Eastport Pram kit so I committed and started reading and watching Youtube clips etc.
Any feedback is welcome.
Vote: 5.0/5