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from the boat via dinghy, orjust wanting to dangle feet inthe water. The boat was a 20-year-old design, and fashionshave changed somewhat sincethen, but I knew I certainlywanted a transom that wouldbe user friendly. Our GBE definitelydid not have easy accessover the transom, and I wasoften found trying to hoistmyself while levering my feetagainst the side of the rudderboxes. This was something thatI would like to avoid if I couldin this boat. We decided that amock-up with customwoodwould give us a good indicationon her new extensions.The addition of a boardingplatform also allowed for anextension of the waterline. Thiswould help the vessel’s performance,as the curvature ofthe hull would bring the transomout of the water.Craig removed what hethought was only going to beone set of steps, but after theirremoval, he found there wasanother set underneath! Obviouslythe transom was definitelya part of the originaldesign that needed attention.With the removal of all the littlealterations we could applyour addition which wouldhopefully be the last.One of the issues we noticedwith our mock-up steps wasthe need for an additional stepin order to get into the cockpitarea. The new step shape hadto consider the extension of thedrum rudder on removal, andthe restriction of access to thestern platform. A smaller,curved step took form, andonce it was fixed into place,consideration to replace theoriginal stainless steel was discussed.Obviously the changeto a lashing backstay wasn’t inour original design brief, butafter removing the plates, wefound that there was slightcorrosion. We didn’t want tohave to replace these platesanytime soon, so we decidedon their new lashing replacement.Creating a new carbonfiber plate meant no need forstainless steel fixings. Thebackstays would be lashed tothe new plates — somethingthat always appealed to uswith our previous boats, so itwas great to apply thosechanges to Mazuran.Working on the exterior ofMazuran has been exciting, aswe have felt the need to changeoriginal ideas for more modernpractical solutions, thus possiblycreating a better performingvessel. The changes wehave made will improve buoyancyand comfort.I have trusted Craig in allthe suggestions for changes toMazuran. He has been so creativeand is constantly thinkingof better solutions. Theexterior has taken longer thananticipated, but we are buildinga better boat, and are makingsure everything is “justright,” so there is much attentionto detail. This is the waythat Craig builds boats. I amvery excited that the boat isprogressing into more thanwhat I ever expected. ■Karen Taylor and CraigNickalls are New Zealand multihullenthusiasts who plan tocruise aboard Mazuran.The completedhulls are deeperand providemore buoyancythan the originalhulls. Taylorand Nickallsalso changedthe hulls byadding plumbbows.www.oceannavigator.comSEPTEMBER 2010 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 49