To the Black Sea

15

July 2022

Norway’s England Sailors

Crossing the North Sea to honor Norwegian heroes of WWII

During World War II, hundreds of Norwegians took to small boats to escape their enemy-occupied homeland. Eighty years later, four Norwegian mariners repeated their North Sea crossing to Scotland.

14

July 2022

Dehydrating for Cruising Cuisine

Home-prepared foods that travel well and taste great

With a food dehydrator, you can prepare a wide array of camp-cruising foods that won’t spoil or crush, require refrigeration or protective packaging, or take up much cooking time and fuel.

5

July 2022

Sailrite Sail Kits

Precut panels and patches for a strong and efficient DIY sail

Sailrite’s pre-cut sailcloth kits for small boat sails provide a clear path to a well-shaped sail that can be sewn on a home sewing machine. Audrey and Kent Lewis make Sailrite’s lugsail for their Nutshell pram.

4

July 2022

The Kitchen Sink

A sink that can fit in a pocket

A folding bowl from Germany serves many purposes afloat or ashore and when it’s not in use it makes a flat, compact bundle that’s easy to stow out of the way.

10

July 2022

MEGOLA

From corrugated roofing and rusty nails to cypress strips and epoxy

Ernest Pattillo cobbled together his first boat at the age of 10 and built his last, MEGOLA, an electric runabout, at 78. Although his six boats may come and go, his memories of them remain.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Marsh Punt

A simple boat for calm waters

The punt, with its flat bottom and square ends, is among the simplest form of boats. Tad Lyford’s 13’6” Marsh Punt is meant for rowing in protected waters, and poling in shallows.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Goliath Mini-Tug

A fanciful cruiser with workboat roots

The Goliath mini-tug from Glen-L Marine, at only 18' overall, is more than a simple caricature: It’s a bona-fide pocket-cruising powerboat, well proportioned and well performing.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Starry Nights

A magic carpet on the water

The 20' Starry Nights launch from Onion River Boatworks is a picnic launch in the finest tradition. Powered by a 3-hp electric motor, she is a gentle, quiet presence on the water.

Small Boats Annual 2012

A Nesting Dinghy

PT 11, a fine balance of form and function

By extensive ocean cruising, Russell Brown came to know what he valued in a nesting dinghy, and his PT 11, which weighs just 85 lbs, balances conflicting purposes of sailing, rowing, light weight, and compact stowage while still remaining a handsome boat.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The Old Town Dinghy

A classic in cedar and canvas

The Old Town dinghy, a classic yacht tender, was once a staple offering in the catalog of the Old Town Canoe Company. It’s a lightweight beauty with a bright-finished interior and a painted, canvas-sheathed hull. Structurally, it looks like a canoe, but it has the shape of a versatile small boat—one that motors, sails, and rows respectably.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

A forgiving outboard-powered boat

The Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff seen here is a strip-planked, fiberglass-sheathed copy of a plank-on-frame hull designed by Joel White and built by Jimmy Steele in the 1970s.

6

June 2022

Brockway Skiff

A budget-friendly skiff for professional and recreational watermen

Richard Earle Brockway of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, built 5,000 boats before he passed away in 1996 at the age of 76. His utilitarian 14′ plywood skiff is quick and inexpensive to build.

7

June 2022

microBootlegger

A decked canoe with a Roaring Twenties flair

Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks combined the function of an 1880s Rushton double-paddle canoe with the look of a 1920s speedboat, to create an elegant strip-built tandem paddlecraft.

11

June 2022

Padre Island

Soloing along a Texan barrier island

Padre Island stretches for 113 miles along the Texas coast and separates the Gulf of Mexico from Laguna Madre. Roger Siebert, soloing his 15′ lug-rigged skiff, explores the protected west coast of the barrier island.

18

June 2022

A Spinnaker for Rowers

Running without rowing

With one oar for a mast, the other for a rudder, and a homemade spinnaker, you can put a following breeze to good use and take a pleasant break from rowing.

3

June 2022

Readywares’ Tool Roll Bag

A waxed canvas, 18-pocket tote for boat and trailer tools

With 18 pockets for tools and a zippered pocket for small items, this waxed canvas roll can keep the tools you need on the road or afloat in a compact water-resistant bundle.

5

June 2022

Ono Hatchet

A camper's hatchet from Silky

I like the configuration of the Ono—a small hatchet with a big blade—and found it as able a cutting tool as the other Silky tools I’ve bought.

7

June 2022

Thrown for a Curve

A second step, a leap forward

Reader Built Boat alumni Joe Lanni is back with his second boatbuilding project, an 11′ plywood double-paddle canoe

12

May 2022

A Take-Apart Boat Cart

An interlocking plywood frame for hand-truck wheels

A pair of hand-truck wheels, some bits of ¾” plywood and a steel axle are about all that’s needed to make a small-boat cart that comes apart for easy storage on board.

7

Small Boats Annual 2023May 2022

Little Crab

Doug Hylan’s 13’ V-Bottomed Skiff for Sail and Oar

The Little Crab is a 13’ flat-bottomed skiff by Doug Hylan to serve as a tender to a yacht, a weekend camp-cruiser for two, or a boat for exploring protected waters under oar and sail.

6

Small Boats Annual 2023May 2022

The Six-Hour Canoe

An easily built 15' double-blade plywood canoe

Designed by Mike O'Brien in 1977 to put two extra sheets of plywood to good use, the Six-Hour Canoe has been an introduction to boatbuilding and boating for thousands.

14

May 2022

Pond Island

A dinghy built for two

A September weekend cruise from Bass Harbor to Pond Island aboard an 11′ sail-and-oar dinghy made a pleasant Maine-Coast getaway for two.

4

May 2022

7 Seas 3-Eye Sneaker

A flexible boat shoe from Sperry

Sperry’s boating sneaker has scuppers and hydrophobic uppers to speed drying, 360° lacing that provides a snug fit at the heel, and a siped rubber sole for a sure grip on wet surfaces.

2

May 2022

TotalFair

Quick and easy epoxy fairing compound

TotalBoat’s two-part marine epoxy fairing compound isn’t fussy about mixing, goes on smoothly, and sands easily.

10

May 2022

The Education of a Serial Boatbuilder

When the work is its own reward

A Florida man confesses he’d rather build boats than go boating. With a half-dozen boats in his largely unused fleet, he’s running out of room to keep them.

Series

Norway’s England Sailors

Dehydrating for Cruising Cuisine

Sailrite Sail Kits

The Kitchen Sink

MEGOLA

Marsh Punt

Goliath Mini-Tug

Starry Nights

A Nesting Dinghy

The Old Town Dinghy

Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

Brockway Skiff

microBootlegger

Padre Island

A Spinnaker for Rowers

Readywares’ Tool Roll Bag

Ono Hatchet

Thrown for a Curve

A Take-Apart Boat Cart

Little Crab

The Six-Hour Canoe

Pond Island

7 Seas 3-Eye Sneaker

TotalFair

The Education of a Serial Boatbuilder

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