Murielle Ovenden is an inspiration to all women that with hard work, dreams can come true.
The Ottawa area woman along with her husband, Mark, sailed into Cobourg earlier this week on their 50-foot sailboat that Ovenden built – herself.
The Mimi Jane weighs 27 tonnes, has a mast height of 55-feet, and 85 horsepower engine and the main said is 730 square feet.
The ship was transported down from Ottawa and placed in the water on June 4, but this weeks trip from Kingston to Cobourg and back was the first time with the sails.
Aside from the sails, a few portholes, and the electronics, Ovenden built, welded and pieced together the entire ship.
It’s designed after a tuna fishing vessels from the early 1900’s that was from the area Ovenden spent her early childhood in Brittany, France.
From the idea to finish it’s taken her approximately 20-years, but the building process started 17 years ago.
Ovenden said, “being stubborn has kept us going.”
She freely admits that her husband makes the money while working and she spends it.
“It’s something you just keep going. It’s not like I doubted we’d get it done, but at the same time when you do it’s so surreal. It’s still crazy that we actually did it.”
The couple and their three dogs took three days to get to Cobourg travelling eight hours a day.
With all the time and labour put into building the ship, the couple really don’t know how much the ship has cost them.
‘I don’t really have an answer and we didn’t really keep track. Even if we added the material, then we’d have to add time and it’s probably something we don’t want to know.”
All the wood used on the boat is from Eastern Ontario where it was milled. The mast is made from laminated pine.
With the couple living in the country outside of Ottawa and building a 50-foot steel hulled ship, they quickly became known around the neighbours.
“You start being known as the “boat people.”
“Whenever you’re introduced, “it’s the people that are building the boat.”
Over time, Ovenden said she’s sure the neighbours wondered if the boat would ever be finished.
For the story to come full-circle, Ovenden said she’d love to sail the Mimi Jane back to France.
“I always loved the traditional sailing boats, the traditional working boats from Brittany as a young kid, so for me to go back where this passion started would close the circle.”
When the couple took the ship out for the first time and hoisted the sails, “the boat came to life.”
“You start feeling the power, you start feeling a bit of the character of the boat – it comes alive.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
