From The Editor

November 2021

Disappointment

Built for long-distance cruising, paddled only a few yards

Forty years ago, our editor put his best work into building a replica of a King Island kayak. The goal was to use it for cruising, but shortly after his first outing in it he put it away and never paddled it again.

October 2021

A Light-Blue Tarp

From dumpster to camp-cruiser

A simple homemade tarp sewn of lightweight nylon pulled out of dumpster pulled more than its own weight and provided shelter for a variety of cruises that covered thousands of miles.

September 2021

A Coracle

The history of coracles stretches back to Roman times, as much as 2,000 years. Made of sticks and string, small and shaky, there are still things to be learned from building, portaging, and paddling one.

August 2021

Inches to Feet and Feet to Inches

Building boats and making models

Making models and building boats have had a practical connection for centuries. While technology has changed the nature of models used to develop designs, a handmade model will always have roles closer to the heart.

July 2021

Father’s Day

In 1988, our editor built a tandem lapstrake canoe to a century-old design with a 2,300-mile cruise down the Missouri River in mind. That voyage never happened, but a 12-mile outing with his son was reward enough for having built the canoe.

June 2021

Checking my work

Plywood of a certain age

Our editor takes a look at how the plywood has held up in some of the boats he has built over the past four decades. The boatbuilding books he’d read had left out the most important factor in deciding what finish to apply to it.

May 2021

Chagudax̂

The Aleut bentwood visors of Andrew Gronholdt

The baidarkas built by Aleut hunters were extraordinarily sophisticated vessels; the bentwood visors they wore, called chagudax̂, were no less elegant in their design and inspired our editor to make a version for cruising.

April 2021

Hannes Lindemann

Dr. Hannes Lindemann made one of the most daring ocean crossings ever attempted by taking on the Atlantic in a stock folding kayak in 1956. An important part of his training was fixing in his mind that he would succeed and conquer whatever hardships he would encounter.

March 2021

Palau

A lesson in history

Palau was the site of an historic battle during World War II, and while some remnants of the fighting remain, most are now concealed by lush forests, white coral sand beaches, and turquoise waters.

February 2021

“Not because they are easy”

Almost 60 years ago President John F. Kennedy said we’d go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard. The same holds true for boatbuilding; many of us are drawn to it precisely because it’s not easy.

January 2021

Lost in Thought

After a slight deviation in a routine repeated hundreds of times, our editor drove off to go paddling without tying his delicate mahogany kayak to the roof racks. He examines the damage to the boat and to his psyche.

December 2020

Not Home for the Holidays

While the holiday season is best spent with family and friends, this year many of us will have to forgo the usual gatherings. Our editor takes a look back to 1985 and a Thanksgiving and a Christmas spent while rowing the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

November 2020

A Magnificent Clutter

While the Friday Guild boatbuilders were busy planking a Nordfjords faering, master boatbuilder Jay Smith gave us free rein to explore his Aspøya Boats shop and boat sheds. We take a look at two boats there and the impressive array of tools and lumber that created them.

October 2020

Twin Ponds

During the pandemic lockdown, when boat ramps were closed, our editor longed to get afloat and took his smallest boat, a 4-1/2’ folding coracle, to circumnavigate a pair of ponds hidden in an urban forest.

September 2020

Glory

Frank Prothero's GLORY OF THE SEAS, a 65’ schooner, is not a small boat, and Frank was a man who loomed larger than life, but his devotion to boatbuilding could leave a deep impression on anyone.

August 2020

The Mustached One

Breakfast with Brko

Our editor’s sea-kayak tour of islands off the coast of Croatia had more than its fair share of wilderness adventure, but his brief stop at a small costal village brought one of the trip’s most memorable moments, breakfast with a fisherman known as Brko, the mustached one.

July 2020

Lost and Found

A marlinespike knife that our editor had taken apart and then lost track of resurfaces after being missing for over a decade. He puts it back into working order and recalls its history.

June 2020

Projectlessness

Our editor, having discovered the word “projectlessness” and the possible connection between anxiety and immersing one’s self in projects, wonders what drove him to build boats that he didn’t need.

May 2020

Puttering Around

Under state-wide orders to stay home as much as possible, our editor resorted to puttering around in his shop to pass the time during the pandemic. The tool tote, rudder yoke, Viking chair, jigsaw table, and spinnaker he made weren’t things he needed but they provided welcome distractions.

April 2020

Social Distancing

Our editor is under a statewide stay-home order, but there’s an exemption for exercise, so he can still go out rowing, as long as he keeps his distance from other people. He was the only one at the launch ramp with a boat and trailer and very much apart from others while at anchor.

March 2020

Navigation

With a new virus spreading across the globe, our editor looks to the rewards and risks of building and using small boats to temper his approach to the health crisis.

February 2020

An Aleut Baidarka

During a visit to an anthropology museum in Berkeley, California, the frame of an Aleut-built baidarka collected in 1934 inspired our editor to build a usable copy of it to see what it could do on the water. He got a very fast kayak and a glimpse of the original’s sophisticated design and construction.

January 2020

Slip Thwarts and Side Benches

Sail-and-oar camp cruisers usually have thwarts spanning the cockpit, but those seats restrict where you can plant yourself and get in the way when you’re moving around. Slip thwarts and side benches provide nearly unlimited seating options and clear out the middle of the boat.

December 2019

Breaking the Ice

When winter comes, is it time to haul out or head out? When cold weather doesn't entirely freeze the water, boating offers daunting challenges and memorable rewards.

November 2019

Longevity

Among his fleet of small boats, our editor has a 130-year-old English river wherry collected decades ago and made rowable once again. The oldest of the boats that he has built is now 40 years old. Will anyone be rowing it a century from now?