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December 2015

From The Editor

Joshua Slocum

I trust Joshua Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World needs no introduction here. I have three copies of it: the paperback volume I read in seventh grade, my father’s 1950 hardback, and a 1905 edition I received as a gift from my friend Paul Thomas. Every time I pick up that oldest book, I think of the hands that opened the cover over a century ago to sign it.

Profiles

Penguin

The comforts of home in a 21' trailer yacht

John Welsford designed this trailer-yacht to be a roomy and comfortable cruiser with aesthetic appeal and excellent seakeeping ability. The gaff rig elicits images from a bygone era, but there is nothing old-fashioned about the Penguin.

Calendar Islands Yawl

A boat that almost builds itself

Clint Chase’s new 15’ 6” daysailer, sized to get planks from pairs of scarfed-together sheets of plywood, is designed to make the most of its sailing capability without compromising the pleasure of rowing.

Rann backs the ELSIE MAE from the ramp with his mother, ELsie Mae, and Art Arpin aboard. Rann's daughter Heidi, aboard his ARCUS with her fiancé Sean, records the moment.

The Power Dory and the Pilot

Bringing history back to life

In a garage in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, an all-but-forgotten design and moment in history come back to life when an eccentric neighbor volunteers to help build a Hammond power dory.

This small fence of locust wood took about five minutes to make.

Planing Edges Square

Shop-made fences for planes and routers

When you give a plane a sharp edge and set it to make a fine cut, it’s easy to come neatly up to the pencil line you’re cutting to. It’s not so easy to keep the plane square to the work, especially if its sole is teetering on a narrow edge.

Reader Built Boat

From Aerodynamics to Aesthetics

Building Soap Box Derby Racers and Stand Up Paddleboards

A serial stand-up-paddleboard maker got his start doing strip-built construction in an unlikely place—soap-box derby cars—and three decades later shifted his focus to artistic expression in wood.

Reviews

The author's double ender has a short outrigger for a sculling. The lock needed to be slightly elevated to keep the handle from making contact with the outrigger.

The Scullmatix

Sculling's simple solution

If the technique for sculling has eluded you and your oars are too short for it anyway, there’s a stainless-steel solution for you.

Linseed oil soap, a 7 oz sample of linseed oil paint, and purified raw linseed oil

Linseed-oil Paint

Better for your boat

Made as it was centuries ago, linseed-oil paint allows wood to breathe, preventing peeling and rot. It may just let you off the hook for regularly repainting your boat.

News and Curiosities

BARBASHELA

Kent and Audrey Lewis of Small Boat Restoration in Navarre, Florida, were asked by Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis and now a museum, to restore BARBASHELA, an 1880s bateau that had been built for and used by Davis's daughter.

Voices Across the Water

Four traditional indigenous watercraft including a Spruce Dug Out Canoe, a Birch Bark Canoe, An Inuit Skin Kayak and a Moose Skin Boat.

Stealth Propulsion

Eric Dow Boatshop recently delivered SKIMMER.

Three New Books for Boatbuilding Teachers

Joe Youcha, the dynamo behind the “training the trainer” program Building to Teach, has just published three new books for boatbuilding educators.

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Featured Classifieds

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Penobscot 17

New 

Posted 3 days ago

Beautiful glued lap strake wooden boat for sale.  Penobscot 17 designed by Arch Davis, built in Santa Cruz.   See http://www.archdavisdesigns.com/davis_penobscot17.html   This boat was built with...

 Sailboats /  North America / 122 views

$7,500.00

18′ Simmons Sea Skiff

Posted 2 weeks ago

Classic inshore picnic/fishing boat from the shop of Nelson Silva. One of four yachtsmen models made for recreational use. Stored indoors. Sold with motor and...

 Powerboats /  North America / 88 views

$8,900.00

1953 Du Craft Runabout

Posted 3 weeks ago

Built in Port Orange, Florida. Refinished in 2013. The boat is 14′10″, made of redwood and white oak with some teak. Truly one of a...

 Powerboats /  North America / 78 views

$5,500.00

Parker Dinghy Rowboat

Posted 3 weeks ago

This carvel-planked rowboat was built to professional standards in Chimacum, Washington, in 2016.  She was designed by Linden Parker of Deer Island, New Brunswick, in...

 Oar & Paddle /  North America / 94 views

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