December 1958 saw the building and launching of the 36ft Maris, the first of the Alan Payne-designed Tasman Seabird. She had a beam of 9.5ft and was commissioned by the globe-trotter and famous marine artist Jack Earl. Maris, previously owned by round-the-world yachtsman and Clean Up Australia founder, Ian Kiernan, is now owned by Tiare Tomaszewski and her brother Ben Hawke.

 

Maris was built using Huon pine planking over hardwood ribs and backbone. She had a beam of 9ft and a draft of 6ft. 

 

Maris was particularly special for Muir’s because she was the first boat on which splines were used. The splining did away with the cotton caulking and putty traditionally used for sealing the planks. When splining, you take two planks and cut a normal 'V' shape, then take a cut spline and run it through a small trough of glue and hammer it in with a club hammer and a lump of wood. The hull then becomes one solid skin instead of a series of planks on their edges. 

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