Edwin's photo is up on the web-site. Go to http://www.geoss.com.au/eun_mara/index.htm and follow the link.

I'm looking forward for some "turning over" photos, Edwin!

After I framed the foredeck for my Eun Mara I found it was going to come out concave. I didn’t think that would look good so I built up the beams and recut them to have a straight center plank. That all worked out fine.

Hi Peter,
Are you building an Eun Mara too? Iain's hardcopy catalogue gives the name as Eun na Mara, translated as "Scots Gaelic for Sea Bird". My plans envelope had "Eun na Mara" written on it, but the plan sheets are labelled Eun Mara, so take your pick. Also, there is a 1907 William Fife yacht in Australia called "Eun na Mara". (Just ask Mr Google.)

That deck thread is interesting, Dale. I think we have all found that EM's fore kingplank is slightly concave, but with a join down the centreline of the deck, cut slightly concave, there is no problem! There is even less problem with a fore-hatch.
Ian

Hello Edwin,

Here's my take from the ``what it /could/ mean'' branch of your question. I think Eun Mara is (in this context) correctly translated as ``sea bird'' and the name chosen to pay recognition to Thomas Day's original ocean-cruising yawl design (1911) named /Sea Bird/---which Iain
Oughtred's Eun Mara somewhat resembles. Compare also with William Garden's /Sea Bird II/; another reinterpretation of the same classic design.

Peter

At Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:30:58 GMT,
QT - alec Percival wrote:
>
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Morning All,

Just saw an interesting thread about building the decks on a Canadian Gray Seal which would apply to our Eun Maras too.

See it here:

http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97260

Interesting discussion with lots of photos, too.

Dale

Hi Edwin,
Eun is bird and mara is the sea (or ocean) in the Scottish Gaelic language. A friend of mine who speaks it a little says "eun na mara" is grammatically correct for "bird of the sea", but "eun mara" is acceptable, as we say "sea-bird". Iain uses both versions of the name in different places. A friend of mine has a boat called Ceol Mara, which means "sea-music" or "song of the sea".(The "C" is pronounced "K".)
Ian

Edwin

I believe that Eun Mara (or more correctly "Eun na mara") is Scots gaelic for "sea bird".

I'll put your photo up on my web-site soon.

Hello all,

Thanks for all the information to think about. I've send Richard a picture of the stadium "de Notedop" is right now. So Richard would you please so kind to put it on your site and share it with all others. thank you.

Does anybody know what it mean "eun mara", or what it could mean?

Edwin

Just thought some here might be interested in a Gray Seal in Texas that has just been turned over:

http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98140

It's great to see such a lively discussion of late. Burton, I had my lead cast by the Delburne Foundry, near Red Deer, AB. If I recall correctly it was one of only 2 approved lead casting foundries in Canada at the time. This may not be true, but it was sure hard to find a place that would work with lead.

I've been very busy with work lately and so have been pretty scarce around here. Just two more weeks and then summer vacation begins! Updating the web site, contributing more often here, and oh yeah, got out sailing!

Keep well all.

Dale

Edited by author 06-12-2009 08:34 AM
Burton: I think you idea of starting drilling from the top would work fine. I did it that way but only drilled enough into the lead to indicate where the holes should be. Doing it this way required that I develop some way of keeping the proper angle for completing the drilling through the lead. So I then lowered the keel a bit and moved it to the side about 2 inches; inserted ½” rod through the holes in the keelson and keel and scribed on the side of the lead keel the angle for the bolt holes. I then lowered the keel to the ground, made a jig to help me keep the angle and finished the drilling. I had also made a jig to make certain I got the correct angles for drilling through the wood. This made the process of finishing the drilling through the lead easier as all of the holes were at the same angle and plumb athwart ship. I thought that starting from the top was the only way I could make certain that I got the fasteners centered on the cross members.

Thank you so much, Alan, for putting this information together for the lead-casting neophytes among us. I remember reading the Grey Seal building article in WB so many years ago, and was quite amused by the photo showing the builders' full of myrth as the runaway lead oozed onto the surrounding soil. As I recall, there was no great harm done - they were able to recover the errant rivulets, once hardened, and re-melt for pouring the keel.

Burton

The following summarizes the discussion of pouring lead keels as included in the indicated issues of WoodenBoat magazine. I would recommend getting copies of issues #89 and #159 for anyone planning such an activity. Back issues of WoodenBoat are available from their website http://www.woodenboat.com/wbstore/

These articles include the following recommended safety practices.

Do the work outside, wear protective clothing (long-sleeved shirt, long pants, heavy socks, work boots and gloves), face masks or goggles and use respirators (like those available at welding supply stores). Make certain any place that might become in contact with molten lead is dry to prevent a steam explosion. Carefully cleanup the work site afterwards being mindful of the need to contain lead.

#15, p70, Fred Ajootians, Pouring the Lead Keel
Mold - Recommends wood with furnace patching cement used in the corners and water glass (sodium silicate [sodium metasilicate]) coating of the sides.
Process - Suggests making a box shaped melting pot using a conversion type oil burner gun as a heat source. Recommends against using pure lead as it is too soft and will bend.

#63, p106, James L Meriam, The Careful Creation of Mele Kai. Part 1
Mold - Wood coated with two coats of plaster of Paris
Process - Not described.

#80, p6, Bruce M Gallup, Jr. (letter to the editor)
Content - Questioned using a wet board on the centerboard due to the risk of a steam explosion and suggestion possible use of whitewash (hydrated lime) coating. The original article by SF Manning (#78, p41) dealt with casting lead into a wood centerboard.

#89, p52, Richard Furneaux Remsen, Casting Lead Keels
Mold - Guidance is provided for wood, steel and molding sand; suggests ceramic paper (Fiberfrax 970 is mentioned) or refractory material covering of the wood.
Process - Prefers ¼” or greater steel tank rather than cast iron tub as the tub may break if not heated evenly. Suggests a tapered drain plug.
Comment – I believe this is the best of the WoodenBoat articles reviewed. In 1974 the author started The Brass Foundry in West Rockport, Maine.

#129, p84,James Wagner, Building Grey Seal, Part 2
Mold - Wood
Process - Used a water tank supported horizontally as a melting pot and wood as the mold. The lead flowed through an un-noticed hole in the wood (which quickly grew bigger) onto the ground and down the driveway picking up grass, stones and horse manure on the way. Revision B of the mode was sealed with water glass and buried in the ground. Final trimming of the keel was with a router.

#129, p46, George Sherlock Maynard, Zulu
Mold - Wood; no details
Process - Used a discarded steel boat cockpit for the vessel, 2” drain with and ell and extension that was rotated up to prevent drainage and down to drain into the mold (near the end of the pour it plugged)(this is the same arrangement as for #159, p38 below) and charcoal fuel.

#159, p38, Thomas K Boardman, Heavy Metal, Casting a lead ballast keel for Joel White’s Flatfish
Mold - Wood, not coated but mentions possible use of drywall mud or ceramic paper. Make certain joints are very tight.
Process - Bathtub with metal stopper plug and a rotating drain line. Used two pickup truck loads of wood which was about six times too much for the 1290 lb keel. The keel was poured in four batches and took a total of three hours.
Lessons Learned - Too much initial heat caused porcelain on the tub to fail. But forced air supply still good idea. Important to preheat drain line. Weld the pipe fittings (don’t rely on the threaded connections). Channel iron under drain pipe to catch leaking lead was needed. Put the lifting chain under the mold before making the pour!

#197, p38, Jack M Thompson, I Long Ago Built a Boat, The creation of Turtle Dove
Mold - Used plug to obtain the centerboard slot, keel had a complicated geometry, not coated but poured slowly to allow gases produce by charring to escape.
Process - Two bathtubs with drain valves and wood fuel
Results -Valve on one tub plugged; needed to bail it out; took two days for the 8,500 lb keel.

Hello again, Edwin,
Alan's references may have the answers to your questions about lead casting. I think I have read somewhere about the lead ballast being put on the floor, or it might have been on the trailer, and the hull being turned over on top of it, but then you still have to position the hull to continue building, and I found it easier to do that before attaching the lead. You can see my sequence on Richard's website. As you see, we have all done it in different ways. You don't need to delay turning the hull over just because you haven't got the ballast ready to put on. There is plenty of work you can do inside the hull before you need to install the ballast. Incidentally, when I was jacking up my ballast under the boat for its trial fittings, I slid pieces of timber under each end and the middle, in case it fell off the jacks. It did, once. I don't think I would like to have a strip of metal exposed under the ballast and welded onto the keel bolts, in case of corrrosion travelling from the strip into the bolts.
Regards,
Ian

Hi Alec and all:

This morning I purchased 410 LBS of lead pigs from a local scrap metal dealer (paid $1 CDN per LB) on the off-chance that I might get up the courage to melt it and cast the keel myself after all. On the other hand, I might just look up a local boat builder and see if I could get some assistance with melting and casting.

I had considered casting lead shot in an epoxy slurry, but was somewhat put-off by a recent report from another builder on how this can go very wrong when done on a large scale (see the last instalment in the following website http://members.shaw.ca/pgron/ArcticTern.htm).

As I understand matters, the 1/2" holes for the keelbolts can be readily drilled using an ordinary woodworkers hand drill fitted with a long bit(and some patience)? I had thought about simply positioning the cast lead block in the keel slot, then getting inside the boat and drilling all the way through the floors/keel/lead from above to ensure perfect alignment. Then I would tip the lead block on its side, bore out a larger hole on the bottom to accommodate a nut and washer, then pass the bolt up through the lot and fasten in place (using lots of Sikaflex, or some other such marine adhesive/sealant). I hope I am not being too naive or optimistic.....

Burton

I agree with Bob L’s comment that if the S/S bolts are coated with epoxy or other sealant they should not corrode. My concern is that this requires perfection and there are a number of references on the internet to the manufactures’ practice of coating of exposed keel fasteners in bilges where the coatings failed and the nuts and washers were pitted. When the bolts were pulled the uncoated parts were fine. My main concern was if “embedded” means completely filling the bolt space such that they could not be removed for inspection and possible replacement then I still won’t go with that idea. My industry (nuclear power) has been on of chasing S/S failures in water since the early 1960’s and it continues today with the wasting of S/S piping by erosion due to the low oxygen content maintained in the cooling water.

Online Metals in Seattle sells ½’ C655 silicon bronze rod for $15.88/ft. The material is stated to comply with ASTM B98 / B98M - 08 Standard Specification for Copper-Silicon Alloy Rod, Bar and Shapes. They also sell ½” C954 aluminum bronze rod for $30.40/65” (note the odd length). http://www.onlinemetals.com/index.cfm. I have quoted solid rod as I believe it is better to buy rod and then cut threads at the ends.

I have dealt with Online Metals many times and have found they provide very good service. Their website indicates they sell directly to US and Canadian customers. I will be willing to serve as an intermediary with Online Metals for any non-US or non--Canadian boat builder who has an Eun Mara under construction.

I was fortunate in the casting of my keel in that I found a very modern foundry in Seattle that did it for $1.00/lb or $400.00 (labor and materials) (Non Ferrous Metals, Inc). This was several years ago when the price of lead was much less than it is today. If you have a foundry cast your keel you might consider having them add some tin as it will make the product a little harder. If you don’t also add antimony then plan on about 1/8inch/foot of linear shrinkage of the keel upon cooling. For those casting their own keels I won’t recommend adding these metals unless you can figure out a way to mix the pot. My foundry asked that I not coat the inside of my form with any material as, while the wood would scorch, it won’t burn when the lead was poured as it won’t see any oxygen. I made my form from 1 1/8” plywood which is often used in the US and Canada to build forms for concrete placement.

I drilled the holes in the keel after it had cooled w/o any problems using kerosene as a lubricant as did Alec. I made a guide to obtain the 87.5/92.5 deg angle. I then lifted the keel up to the boat and finished drilling the holes through the keel and keelson. Then lowered it an inch or so to add sealant and then bolted it together. I used two hydraulic floor car jacks (not bottle jacks) but I believe a pallet jack or forklift would work better and be safer. I had to temporarily raise the elevation of the boat for this operation to get the jacks under the keel and have room for the drill motor (with a pallet jack or fork lift this probably won’t be necessary). I didn’t have the bolts cast in the keel as I wanted them to be easily removable for inspection and possible replacement. In this regard I drilled the holes 1/64” oversized.

The following are some issues of WoodenBoat magazine that have articles on the casting of lead keels (some quite amusing) Nos. 15, 80 (a letter), 89, 129, 159 and 197. I am a charter member of the magazine so I have all issues. This message has gotten long so in another message I will summarize the important suggestions of any these issues being mindful of copyright laws. Also, all issues of WoodenBoat are available for immediate download at a cost from their website; http://www.woodenboat.com.