Eolian is a Downeast 45 ketch, manufactured by Downeast Yachts in 1978 in Costa Mesa California. Originally named Sequoia, her second owners renamed her Malolo. We used John Vigor's proper De/ReNaming ceremony to rename her to Eolian in October 1997, when we became her latest owners. (By the way, if you are reading this and know anything about Eolian when she was named Sequoia or anything about her original owners, we would very much like to hear from you - they did a superb job of layout and fitting out.)
Vital Statistics
- Length, overall: 52'
- Length, on deck: 45'
- Length, waterline: 36'
- Beam: 14'
- Draft: 5'9"
- Displacement: 39,000 lb
- Ballast: 12,000 lb (lead, internal)
- Sail area: 1100 sq ft
- Fuel: 320 gallons
- Water: 320 gallons
- Waste: 45 gallons
There were 28 or 29 Downeast 45s manufactured altogether. For the time, this was a quite a large boat, and every one was semi-custom. Although there was a suggested factory layout for the interior, most of the boats had some departure from that stock interior. As the layout shows, the stock boat had 3 cabins and two heads (bathrooms). The aft cabin (back of the boat) had a private head, but it was split with the sink and the toilet and shower in separate compartments. There was a single hanging locker in each of the cabins.
The original owner of Eolian spec'ed out a slightly different interior. First, there are only two cabins. The aft cabin now has a queen-sized berth, and the head compartment is enlarged to contain all the facilities. And now there are two hanging lockers in each of the two cabins. Next, the foward head is moved to the port (left) side of the boat, into the space where the second cabin was, making it much more spacious. Where the head was in the stock layout, an office with a built-in swivel chair and bookcases was installed.Now you probably will be thinking that we prefer the layout we have, simply because we have it. Not so. In fact, two of the key selling points for the boat were the office, and the raised settee and table, which allowed a person seated at the table to enjoy the view out the windows. Over the years, I have collected pictures showing the interiors of 11 other Downeast 45s, and I have studied them in detail. There is none that I would exchange for Eolian's layout.
So let's take a quick tour of the below-decks spaces.
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| Forward Cabin |
The forward cabin has a vee-berth (that is, one end comes to a point), and two hanging lockers, one of which is just visible at the right of the image. There are also a total of 6 drawers, and additional cabinet storage. The chain locker (where the anchor rode is stored) is behind the doors at the bow.
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| Forward Head |
The forward head also opens to the main cabin thru a separate door. It is equipped with the usual amenities.
Just forward of the main saloon, on the port side is the office. Here is plenty of convenient storage for books and reference materials, as well as a desk for the laptop.
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| Galley |
There is a 3-burner propane stove with oven, a microwave (under the stove), a deep double sink, a built-in freezer compartment (not visible - its a top-loader, to the right of the sink), and a built-in refrigerator (the large black door). Oh yeah, and the espresso machine is USCG required equipment too.
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| Saloon to port |
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| Saloon to stbd |
Now, there is a little story about this. Some time during Prohibition, folks apparently thought that the traditional name for the main gathering area on a boat, the "Saloon", would give the wrong impression about activities that might be expected there (really?). So they changed it to "Salon". I like the traditional name. Note that when you are seated at the table, you are ideally positioned to enjoy the view out the large cabin windows. This design was a novelty in 1978, and has only recently been recognized as having merit. In the way of all marketing departments everywhere, a new name was coined for something which already exists. A boat with large windows and raised seating in the main cabin is now called a "Deck Saloon" (note the return of the missing 'o').
To port is a settee which can be pulled out to make a double berth. It is not raised. The liquor locker is behind the stained glass doors
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| Aft cabin |
The aft cabin is equipped with a queen-sized berth, two cedar-lined hanging lockers 5 large drawers and various other cabinet storage. There is also a small vanity to starboard (left in the picture, as I was facing aft when I took it).
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| Aft head |
The aft head is private to the aft cabin. (I should have straightened the towels before I took this picture.)
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| Cabin sole |
Throughout the boat the cabin sole is the traditional "teak and holly", heavily varnished. Teak is a fairly soft wood (about like cedar), and was therefore traditionally laid in narrow strips separated with even narrower strips of holly, a very hard wood, to protect the teak. I apologize for the quality of these pictures. It is difficult to take pictures inside a boat without using a fish-eye lens, which then severely distorts perspectives.
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