The Mertailor Eric Jonathan Ducharme

Eric Ducharme became enticed by the folklore of mermaids as a very young boy, vigorously pursuing his interests through the art of drawing, costuming, and underwater performance. Eric’s first encounter with mermaids was at the age of four when his grandparents, who then lived in Hernando Beach, took him to the enchanting world of Weeki Wachee Springs. Having previously seen pictures of the mermaids, he could not wait to get to the park. He sat in the theater enthralled as the curtains rose and a beautiful mermaid swam across the theater windows, waving and blowing kisses to the audience. Fittingly, the show at the time was “The Little Mermaid”. After the show Eric was insistent on having his picture taken with several of the lovely mermaids. Year after year Eric spent many days visiting the park, getting to know the park staff and most affectionately, the mermaids. For his sixth birthday, Eric’s father arranged to have his birthday part at Weeki Wachee Spring’s water park, Buccaneer Bay. Little did he know the special surprise his father had in store for him later on in that day. As he sat on the island, finishing cake and opening presents, he saw two beautiful mermaids swimming up to the dock. One of the lifeguards brought two green tailed mermaids over to the bench where he was sitting. Their names were Tonya and Sativa. They sat and talked with him for a while, wished him a happy birthday, and gave him a birthday kiss before saying goodbye and returning to the water. After that birthday, Eric’s interest in mermaids grew by leaps and bounds. He began drawing pictures and portraits of his favorite mermaids. He also became increasingly interested in the tails that they wore. Eric started making tails out of anything he could find, including plastic garbage bags put together with glue sticks. His first fabric tails were hand sewn with a needle and thread. Wanting to improve and perfect his mermaid tails, Eric engaged the help of his grandmother to help teach him how to sew on the sewing machine. When Eric was nine he attended his first “Under the Spring” camp at Weeki Wachee and finally got the opportunity to experience first hand what it was like to swim in the springs alongside the Weeki Wachee Mermaids as a camp student. It was at this time that he met Barbara Wynns, a former mermaid at Weeki Wachee who was, and is still, very actively involved in the park. They shared storied of their passions about merfolk and became friends Barbara too Eric under her flipper and showed him some of the ropes, teaching him how to swim as a merman By the age of twelve, after spending many years of wonderful Weeki Wachee experiences Eric decided to start his own business, calling himself “The Mertailor” so he could share his enthusiasm and creativity about these mystical underwater creatures known as merfolk. Today, Eric creates mermaid tails from various materials such as silicone, urethanes, and latex rubbers to produce a realistic looking product.

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