Series

January 2022

Thwarted

A solo row to Florida’s Dog Island

Something would be missing if every cruise went as expected and that’s the satisfaction in rising to meet the unexpected. A lot of things went wrong during Bill Hutton’s short cruise to one of Florida’s barrier islands, but the experience was more fulfilling than what he’d imagined.

January 2022

Oarlock Extensions

DIY devices for forward-facing stand-up rowing

If you want to get a good look at where you’re going while you’re rowing, a pair of oarlock extensions is all you need. Ben Fuller explores the ways Maine watermen rowed standing up and facing forward.

January 2022

Third Reef Foulies

A waterproof jacket and bibs from West Marine

The waterproof, breathable foulweather gear from West Marine has lots of features well suited for use aboard small boats. Kent and Audrey Lewis share their experience with their new affordable foulies.

January 2022

Woodboy

A fine-toothed saw from Silky

Silky’s Woodboy folding saw with its fine, non-set teeth, is a tool for fine joinery. Folded, the handle protects the teeth from damage and keeps them sharp.

January 2022

RIPPLE

A good-natured dory skiff

Sean Russell is the author several novels about naval warfare in the days of sail, but RIPPLE, the dory skiff he designed as a tender to his sailboat, is meant to lead a more tranquil life.

Small Boats Annual 2010

North Star Kayak

A modern take on an ancient design

Basing his design on the skin-on-frame baidarkas used by the Aleutian hunters, sculptor and boatbuilder Rob Macks developed the North Star kayak, a stripped version of the type.

Small Boats Annual 2010

Biscayne Bay 14

Genius on a small scale

The Biscayne Bay 14, designed by N.G. Herreshoff, is a delightful, low-cost daysailer that transports easily and is a good performer. Jim Austin built his for exploring Muscongus Bay, Maine, with his wife, Darcy.

Small Boats Annual 2010

Going Down the Road

A guide to trailer safety

A proper towing vehicle, a trailer well-matched to the boat and properly maintained, and a good grasp of procedures, are the elements of safe trailering.

Small Boats Annual 2010

Zimmer Utility Launch

Sleek—and silent.

The Zimmer utility launch, designed by Great Lakes area designer Nelson Zimmer, can comfortably carry six to eight passengers. At the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, Michigan, instructor Pat Mahon and students built this launch over the course of a year.

Small Boats Annual 2010

KATIE

Harry Bryan’s 20' cruiser

Inspired by N.G. Herreshoff’s Buzzards Bay 12 1⁄2-footer and Joel White’s Flatfish, the 20' cruiser KATIE, designed and built by Harry Bryan, cuts a handsome profile underway.

December 2021

A Twin Cities Boat

A tale of two cities and a boat in three parts

When Matt Morris of Waterloo, Ontario, learned that the restoration of a silted-in lake in the middle of town would include a boat launch, he began to design a sectional boat he could tow to the lake behind his bicycle.

December 2021

Sealskinz

Waterproof warmth for the extremities

Clothing that blocks rain and spray but lets sweat vapor pass through can make boating much more enjoyable. Sealskinz adds an extra level of comfort with waterproof and breathable stretch fabrics.

December 2021

Outboard Winterizing

Maintenance for long-term storage

Small outboard motors like regular exercise but when they’re going to sit idle for the winter months they need some special care. A bit of maintenance assures good performance in the spring and a longer working life.

December 2021

Downed Trees and Muddy Feet

Rowing the Chippewa River Floodplain

For his rowing cruise of Wisconsin’s Chippewa River delta, Tom Pamperin intended to find a loop of the interconnected waterways but found only one dead end after another.

December 2021

Magswitches

Hold-downs for shop machinery

Table saws, drill presses, and bandsaws often require feather boards or fences to do work safely and accurately, but clamping these devices is awkward. Magswitches hold them to ferrous tables and can be turned on and off.

Small Boats Annual 2023December 2021

Ptarmigan 17

A Selway Fisher pocket cruiser

Created by Paul Fisher of England’s Selway Fisher Design, The Ptarmigan 17 is a pocket cruiser with a comfortable cabin with berths for two and the choice of a gaff sloop or gaff yawl rig.

Small Boats Annual 2023December 2021

66 Canoe

A canoe-building system from Cape Falcon Kayak

The 66 Canoe from Cape Falcon Kayak was not designed as a set of plans for a single canoe, but as a system to create canoes of different sizes and for different purposes.

Small Boats Annual 2010

The Chebacco Boats

A trio of options

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - There were three original Chebacco boats, all designed by Phil Bolger for Brad Story. Story was a friend of Bolger’s and a boatbuilder, now retired, of considerable talent in Essex, Massachusetts. All three boats feel very much alike on the water.

Small Boats Annual 2010

The Ladybug Pram

It’s a wheelbarrow, and it’s a boat

The Ladybug pram, a small dinghy with a wheel permanently fixed in a case in its bow, allows for a nearly seamless transition from the water to a beach, all the while keeping its passengers’ shoes dry. The boat can be built in either a 6' or a 7' model.

Small Boats Annual 2010

Swallow Boats SeaRaider

A purpose-designed Raid boat

The SeaRaider, a design from the UK-based kit boat manufacturer Swallowboats, was purpose designed for point-to-point small-boat racing events called Raids.

Small Boats Annual 2010

The Kingfisher Power Dory

A self-bailing power dory

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Kingfisher is an outboard-powered skiff whose lineage can be traced back to New England dories. Her topsides are planked in lapstrake plywood, and she has a double bottom that provides both flotation and self-bailing capability.

Small Boats Annual 2023November 2021

Devon Scaffie

A trailerable keelboat for camp cruising

The Scaffie was designed by John Watkinson, founder of the Drascombe line of small boats, and has been in production in the U.K. since 1978. It is 14′9″ long with a beam of 5′9″ and, at 462 lbs fully rigged, ideal for trailering behind even small vehicles.

Small Boats Annual 2023November 2021

A Tale of Two Boats

Building the PM-38 once as a teen and again 50 years later

A 7-1/2-page article published in a 1962 issue of Popular Mechanics might seem, by any standard, to be an insufficient guide to building a boat, but Terry McIntyre built the magazine’s PM-38 twice, once in 1962 and again in 2019.

November 2021

A Hitch Mount Canoe Loader

With the help of a trailer-hitch-mounted loader, you only have to lift one end at a time—safer for your boat and your back.

Loading a heavy canoe or kayak on a roof rack can be difficult, if not impossible, if you try to lift it all at once. With the help of a trailer-hitch-mounted loader, you only have to lift one end at a time—safer for your boat and your back.

Small Boats Annual 2023November 2021

Deblois Street Dory

Clint Chase designed the Deblois Street Dory in the spirit of New England’s dories. The lapstrake hull, graceful curve of the bow, the tombstone transom, and low sweep of the sheer are all Swampscott dory.