After selling our cruising boat "Tahiti", I decided to build a small wooden sailing boat. I settled on an "Eun Mara" design by Iian Oughtred. It is a double-ended (pointy at both ends) yawl (two masts, with the aft one quite far back). I sent off a money order to the designer who is based in Scotland and refuses to use the Internet, and a couple of weeks later the plans arrived.
While waiting for the plans to arrive, I started construction of the boatshed where I would build the boat. It is a temporary structure attached to my shop, big enough for the boat itself and some, but not much, walking room around it. I made one end wall removeable so that we could move the boat out without having to destroy the building. Amazingly enough, the building is still standing after six years, albeit a little worse for the wear!
Once the plans arrived, I spent some time pouring over them as I had never taken on a project like this and had a steep learning curve. While the plans are quite comprehensive, they are not a "how to" manual. They simply show the lines and measurements of the boat and the size all of the pieces that make it up, much like a house blueprint. Once I felt comfortable with being able to read the plans and get the information I needed, I set to work.
Boat plans divide the boat into "stations" which are slices through the boat at some regular spacing. The designer gives the dimensions of the hull at each station and from this the shape is determined. The first step in construction is to build the framework that the boat will be built around. This consists of "station molds" which are strong plywood pieces shaped to the dimensions specified by the designer at each station. These molds are then set up on a "strongback", usually constructed out of 2x4's, at the correct spacing. It is critical that the molds be shaped correctly and set up perfectly perpendicular and square or the final boat will not have the correct shape.
The molds are set up upside-down, that is the boat is built bottom up. This makes it much easier to plank because there is no need to clamber under the boat to access the bottom planks.
Once the strongback is built and the molds carefully set up, work begins on the "backbone" which consists of the keel, stem, stern and other structural parts of the boat. I built the backbone out of white oak, which is a strong, rot resistant wood. Once the backbone is in place, planking begins. The Eun Mara design is built using a construction method called glued lapstrake. Lapstrake means that the planks overlap each other where they meet. Each plank is a long marine plywood piece and is glued at the overlap using epoxy glue. The plans specify where each plank should "land" on each station mold, thereby defining the shape of each plank. Generally a template is made to test the fit before cutting into expensive marine ply.
Once the planking is complete (and she looks like a real boat!), the keel and outer stem and stern are made and attached. It is then time to roll the boat over and start work on the inside.
We started building in September 2003 and construction proceeded quickly. By February 2004 the boat was planked up and ready to flip right-side up to work on the interior and deck. By the end of 2004 the boat was almost complete, but...we purchased Malolo and that changed our priorities. Not much progress was made until we returned from our Bahamas cruise on Malolo in June of 2008, at which time we made it a priority to finish the boat. By August 2008 we had her ready for launch. There was still much "trim" work to be done, but she was "sailable". We had a big launch party and Meander hit the water, almost exactly five years from when she was started.
Here are the complete photographs of her construction.
We had the chance to sail her several times before cold weather set in and found that she sails like a dream. She is very responsive to sail trim, particularly in heavier air. It is virtually impossible to head her up into the wind if the jib is drawing and the mizzen is not, and impossible to fall off the wind with the mizzen sheeted tightly. That means that by trimming the sails properly, she steers herself with very little movement of the tiller. After sailing "Malolo" for the past few years, it sure was a treat to be out in a boat that is so responsive.
We are looking forward to getting her out more this summer (2009) and really putting her through her paces. In future years, especially if we leave Malolo down south, we hope to spend some time "Meandering" around our local waters.