Eastport Nesting Pram - 7'9"

[David_Old_Jersey]

Anyone built (or simply used) an Eastport Nesting Pram? or a rigid dink of similar (small) size:-

Eastport Nesting Pram

Sails (with a dagger board and simple rig, takes decent sized oars, is stuffed full of foam, not made of ply......and most importantly would fit on top of my Aft Cabin (and as a Ketch have a means of bringing her onboard).

The idea is that I practice my boat building skills (develop some? ) before I tackle the Trimaran in the summer.







The trimaran - lots of curves........

[Auspicious]

Hi David,

I haven't built one. I have rowed and sailed many CLC boats including the Eastport Pram. I've been generally impressed with all of them, some more than others. I quite like the Eastport Parm. Can you get them in Jersey?

Let me know if you need a local contact. I was just in their shop the other day while waiting for some hoses to be made up in the hydraulic shop next door.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Hi David,

I haven't built one. I have rowed and sailed many CLC boats including the Eastport Pram. I've been generally impressed with all of them, some more than others. I quite like the Eastport Parm. Can you get them in Jersey?

Let me know if you need a local contact. I was just in their shop the other day while waiting for some hoses to be made up in the hydraulic shop next door.

Cheers for that offer

Plan A is to go for plans only.

Plan B is to try ordering a Kit So didn't want to waste there time at the moment, particulary on the international delivery stuff ($$$).

On paper, she (a "she" already ) looks ideal (unfortunately a bit too much varnish for my laziness - Love the look. hate the work )......but IMO certainly worth a punt I will need to buy a few new tools though

[jkleins]

I have built the regular (non-nesting) Eastport Pram and it was easy and came out very well. I didn't varnish as I was using it as a working dinghy so I painted it light on the inside and dark on the outside and it looks nice and cleans up easily with the bailing sponge. I power mine with a Torqeedo electric motor and it is great but a little 2 HP would work well too, I think. It rows very well but I don't have the sailing rig yet.
If you have access to nice plywood you can easily make the boat from plans. The precut pieces are nice but they would not have been hard to cut from the plans.
Good luck if you get one. It was fairly fast to put together. Took longer to paint then to build.

Jim

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by jkleins

I have built the regular (non-nesting) Eastport Pram and it was easy and came out very well. I didn't varnish as I was using it as a working dinghy so I painted it light on the inside and dark on the outside and it looks nice and cleans up easily with the bailing sponge. I power mine with a Torqeedo electric motor and it is great but a little 2 HP would work well too, I think. It rows very well but I don't have the sailing rig yet.
If you have access to nice plywood you can easily make the boat from plans. The precut pieces are nice but they would not have been hard to cut from the plans.
Good luck if you get one. It was fairly fast to put together. Took longer to paint then to build.

Jim

Hands on experiance, that's good to hear and different colours inside and out is a useful tip.

Have just re-read the blurb - and didn't realise that "Okoume" is actually plywood . Figures.

Just FYI, seems that to make into a Nesting version you simply cut it in half (i.e. not built seperately). and add a couple of bulkheads.

[HopCar]

That is stunning! What a pretty little boat. I'm not sure it would make a good first boat building project. There are an awful lot of parts to be made. You can do it. Just make it one part at a time. Don't get frustrated if it takes longer than expected because it will. You should enjoy the building process as much as using the finished product. You'll learn new skills and it gives you an excuse to buy new tools!

[four winds]

On the linked web site, be sure to check out the construction gallery of photos.

There are 71 photos, lots of clues to construction.

Looks like some parts are glassed over and those, plus the rest of the part's surfaces are coated with epoxy in a clear form or something similar. At any rate, no varnish to worry about.

Lots of wood colored fillet work as well, which shows close up. I think a painted version would look better.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just been back to the CLC Website - They have an international distribution network, including the UK

Build your own Fyne Boat Kit at home

[Boracay]

It would make a great project.

Rowing out to Boracay on a mooring every other day in a small pram dinghy I keep on thinking about what makes the best tender.

Good points about your intended include looks, beam (48" = good) and a nice bit of rocker forward.

However it lists as 75lb (35Kg?) which is a lot of weight to lift, drag or otherwise manhandle. Particularly when other parts are added.

There are designs (non nesting) that weigh 20 kg or less which from my perspective shoud be the maximum wight to be moved by one person. The nesting part may only be a few kg more so these would be more practicable from a weight viewpoint.

This one looks light enough, though I'd be tempted to cut off some of the bow!

With my small fibreglass pram the forward 12" part of the boat is not necessary and is just dead weight.

The other bit of kit I would love on my tender is forward facing rowing. This one could be light enough to be practicable.

Other bits that I would add from scratch if building would be aluminium or SS strips to resist abrasion as the dinghy is dragged. They're all too heavy to be lifted by one person and a soft gunwale cover (I'd try swimming pool noodles first) to help prevent the dinghy from scratching me mates stunning piece of tupperware.

And finally don't forget to add some security surprises for the light fingered gentry. Epoxied in screws, holes for stranded wire cables, oars secured as well, just so your nice dinghy stays yours.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Boracay

It would make a great project.

Rowing out to Boracay on a mooring every other day in a small pram dinghy I keep on thinking about what makes the best tender.

Good points about your intended include looks, beam (48" = good) and a nice bit of rocker forward.

However it lists as 75lb (35Kg?) which is a lot of weight to lift, drag or otherwise manhandle. Particularly when other parts are added - was thinking of a mini trolley (I will have 1/4 mile to shore , twice a day ) I suspect one of the secrets will simply be having a number of dinks.

I have a 9 foot Avon already - Father has 3! and an 8 foot Avon I gave him (needed work), but he's been boating longer than me Am intending to get something smaller / cheaper to keep onboard - just in case (when!) I mess up juggling the dinks and the tide times and it may even be my liferaft

There are designs (non nesting) that weigh 20 kg or less which from my perspective shoud be the maximum wight to be moved by one person. The nesting part may only be a few kg more so these would be more practicable from a weight viewpoint.

This one looks light enough, though I'd be tempted to cut off some of the bow! - that weight difference is attractive and also the simplicity of the design. - I figure that if I added a centreboard and beefed up accordingly a chunk of that would be lost (and even 20kg is probably too much for me to carry or drag along for 1/4 mile ).

and in any event my boatbuilding skills are not quite up to converting a dink into a Nester.

At 30' I don't really have many options on deck, otherwise I would go for full sized. With the Eastport Nester it's pretty much an exact fit (although I am expecting an inch or 2 of overhang in places).....I really want to keep decent access to the aft deck - for seamanship reasons (having a piss overboard)...............and because it's where my Deck Chair (Armchair?) will be (no kidding!) come spring

With my small fibreglass pram the forward 12" part of the boat is not necessary and is just dead weight.

The other bit of kit I would love on my tender is forward facing rowing. This one could be light enough to be practicable.

Other bits that I would add from scratch if building would be aluminium or SS strips to resist abrasion as the dinghy is dragged. They're all too heavy to be lifted by one person and a soft gunwale cover (I'd try swimming pool noodles first) to help prevent the dinghy from scratching me mates stunning piece of tupperware.- yeah those already on my list

And finally don't forget to add some security surprises for the light fingered gentry. Epoxied in screws, holes for stranded wire cables, oars secured as well, just so your nice dinghy stays yours - over here dinghy theft not really a problem - my plastic dink which is used to travel around 3 yards from quay to boat has been unlocked for a number of years (including the oars!), "security" is provided by looking like crap and often being full of water. with a decent dollop of mud inside ..........but appreciate that won't work elsewhere, hadn't thought of building that in - cheers.

Now I have to add something outside the Quote box - like this!

[Matt Johnson]

I built a Spindrift 9' nesting dinghy a few years ago... it's a great dinghy. Unfortunately, with all the epoxy I used, the dinghy ended-up over 115 pounds. I also spent over $1500 making it as the wood, epoxy, paint and other items really added up. In the end, it just sits behind my garage while I use the RIB.

spindrift

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just for info, this is what I am dealing with:-



BTW photo taken from a quay upon her arrival (from UK, a year after I purchased her ) in new home port (Harbour entrance ) - me father's liferaft on the aft deck, it's almost as if he didn't trust the Skipper

I have measured the Aft cabin carefully - but to honest even if it does fit, might decide that simply too much aggro and use her in the conventional manner.....so being a bit bigger than I thought not a complete disaster (yes, I will share ).

[FecklessDolphin]

David Gerr also has plans for a nesting dingy which he refers to in his book The Nature of Boats. I am not sure how it compares to the one you are looking at. He says one of the complicated parts is the pair of brackets that hold the two parts together.

[Cruiser2B]

I have the 8ft nutshell pram. It tows well and rows nicely. i have the sailing version and have sailed it....this is for one person only when sailing. I am thinking of converting it to a nesting version as it just barely fits on the bow of our Alberg 30. I have never used an aux engine...just rowed it. i have not had any other type of tender, but i dont think i could deal with blowing up an inflateable all the time. but thats me. mine weighs 80lbs and is not bad to handle. i've used a halyard and winch to assist hauling it on deck...mainly so it dont bang it around. it is a bit tippy..... good luck with yours.

[jkleins]

The kit has some teak sacrificial strips on the bottom that you could replace with something else although multiple coats of epoxy seem to be doing pretty well on mine except the paint is now gone.

It was also my first boat project and was a good one to learn the "stitch and glue" technique.

It is not light but one person can carry it pretty easily by lifting it on its side up onto your shoulder and carrying it like kayak. It also would be very amenable to some wheels on the stern. It has a nice handle on the front if you could roll it that would be sweet.

Jim