Eastport Pram

[Bolo]

I know that there has been a lot written about dinghies in this forum. Hard vs. inflatable and so on. But for my needs I'm considering a hard dinghy to use with our E-32 and one in particular. The "Eastport Pram" from Chesapeake Light Craft which is a kit boat. I know that Christian Williams (a major contributor of knowledge in this forum, for those of you who are new or not been paying attention) had built one of these for his E-32 when he owned one. At the time of this writing he's now on his return trip from Hawaii on his "new" E-38, so I expect not to hear an opinion from him till after he gets back to his home port.

Does anyone else have any experience with the Eastport Pram? I'm not so interested in building experience because I have the talent and knowledge to put one of them together but rather its real capabilities. To be specific, I want to know if it would be comfortable "ride" for my wife and I. Together we weigh in at about 350 lbs and the max capacity of the EPP is 375. This past weekend we rowed in a small homemade pram (not like the EPP at all) and with both of us in the boat there was only about 2 inches of freeboard. Now this thing was heavy and so it came as now surprise. But the EPP is built way different and looks like it could accommodate two adults but looks can be deceiving. We could go to the next larger boat, the "Tenderly" but that is a larger boat and could not be placed on the foredeck of our 32 although just towing it would probably be acceptable.

 

[Navman]

pram

I would think that you need to add some incidentals to your weight calculation such as a couple of bags of Ice, water jugs, grocery's and a case of beverages. that might total up to another 60lbs. +-. After doing that ask yourself" how you are going to like the row back to the mother ship on a windy choppy day with waves and tide and a full load"? Are you still going to be comfortable in these conditions with what free board is left after loading ? Answer these questions and I think you will have your answer. Good luck!!

 

[Bolo]

Pram photos

I would think that you need to add some incidentals to your weight calculation such as a couple of bags of Ice, water jugs, grocery's and a case of beverages. that might total up to another 60lbs. +-. After doing that ask yourself" how you are going to like the row back to the mother ship on a windy choppy day with waves and tide and a full load"? Are you still going to be comfortable in these conditions with what free board is left after loading ? Answer these questions and I think you will have your answer. Good luck!!

Since I posted I took another look at the CLC website and looked at the gallery for the EPP. To my surprise there are a number of images with two adults on board and they look comfortable. One even has two adult and a Honda 2HP. So maybe the 375 max load for the EPP is a very cautious figure. I just don't know. The only way to truly get my answer is to find someone with a EPP and take it out for a row with my wife. I call CLC and although they do have a EPP in their showroom, which I've seen, they don't do "test rides" even during Annapolis boat shows although they do offer rides in their kayaks.

As for choppy weather, if we needed supplies then I would probably go ashore alone. I did happened to see a EPP launched and rowed from a neighboring sailboat while I was on a mooring ball in Annapolis harbor. I talked to the owner and he said that the dinghy was a breeze to row and he did move very well when we finished our conversation. Unfortunately I didn't ask him about having two adults on board at the same time.

 

[Bolo]

Video

Since I posted I took another look at the CLC website and looked at the gallery for the EPP. To my surprise there are a number of images with two adults on board and they look comfortable. One even has two adult and a Honda 2HP. So maybe the 375 max load for the EPP is a very cautious figure. I just don't know. The only way to truly get my answer is to find someone with a EPP and take it out for a row with my wife. I call CLC and although they do have a EPP in their showroom, which I've seen, they don't do "test rides" even during Annapolis boat shows although they do offer rides in their kayaks.

As for choppy weather, if we needed supplies then I would probably go ashore alone. I did happened to see a EPP launched and rowed from a neighboring sailboat while I was on a mooring ball in Annapolis harbor. I talked to the owner and he said that the dinghy was a breeze to row and he did move very well when we finished our conversation. Unfortunately I didn't ask him about having two adults on board at the same time.

Click onto this video of the "nesting" EPP which is basically identical to the non-nesting version. Very impressive!

 

[Christian Williams]

There are three posts in my blog on the wonderful Eastport Pram. My avatar is an Eastport.

Have a scan here:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/entry.php?242-Table-of-Contents-for-Thelonious-Blog

Eastport Pram as Lifeboat
Building the Eastport Pram--7-Minute Video
Sailing the Eastport Pram--3-Minute Video
related: The Torqueedo Electric Outboard -- 6-minute video

 

[Bolo]

Seen it all!

There are three posts in my blog on the wonderful Eastport Pram. My avatar is an Eastport.

Have a scan here:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/entry.php?242-Table-of-Contents-for-Thelonious-Blog

Eastport Pram as Lifeboat
Building the Eastport Pram--7-Minute Video
Sailing the Eastport Pram--3-Minute Video
related: The Torqueedo Electric Outboard -- 6-minute video

First, let me say again, welcome home! After starting this post I went on a quest for more info and found all of your videos and postings, Christian. I even traded emails with CLC and took a better look at their photo gallery for the EPP. There I found a couple of pics with two adults in the boat and one with two adults and an outboard. The best was the video you made of a woman sailing the EPP (your wife?) with you on board at the same time. My wife actually giggled with delight after seeing it. So I think we're settled on building the EPP. A question of when is the big rub since I always seems to have less time these days after becoming a semi-retired professional photographer. But then again us photographers never quit, we just fade away. (A very old and bad photography joke.)

 

[Christian Williams]

Yes, that's Tracy sailing. The Eastport is very (very) small and does not work as a tender, which ought to be able to take four people. With an outboard on the stern, the EP is a disaster--and I tried a Torqueedo, which is very light. Two people and a dog is max.

But it sails like a dream and is so light that one person can haul it onto the foredeck with arm power.

 

[Bolo]

Just us 2

Yes, that's Tracy sailing. The Eastport is very (very) small and does not work as a tender, which ought to be able to take four people. With an outboard on the stern, the EP is a disaster--and I tried a Torqueedo, which is very light. Two people and a dog is max.

But it sails like a dream and is so light that one person can haul it onto the foredeck with arm power.

Well, it maybe just the best hung then because 99% of the time it's just my wife and I sailing and anchoring. Looking back over the years, when we had an inflatable with an outboard, most all of our trips ashore were within a 1/4 mile. So putting the outboard on for such a short trip and dealing with the gas was a pain. I'm looking for something I can row and I did see a sailor moored next to us once in Annapolis harbor row one from his boat on Spa Creek to the city dock with ease. I was very impressed at the speed too.