To the Black Sea

Small Boats Annual 2009

Tremolino Trimaran

What’s old is new again

The Dick Newick–designed Tremolino blends ancient technologies with high-tech design and construction methods. The strip-built trimaran gives even the less-experienced builder a chance to own this fast and fun-to-sail craft.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The King

A strip-planked kayak from Redfish

Redfish Kayak specializes in kits and plans for a range of strip-planked paddle craft. The King has plenty of volume for gear stowage, yet is fast and responsive.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The Asa Thomson Skiff

A humble gem

Asa Thomson was a New Bedford, Massachusetts, boatbuilder who clearly had a great deal of experience in skiffs. His design, devoid of any “wow” factor, has all the attributes of a craft born of lifelong learning.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The 16/30 Sailing Canoe

An easy-to-build racer finds its inspiration in history

The 16/30 class sailing canoe is the product of a long-term project on the part of John Summers, General Manager at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. He designed the canoe while at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York.

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Small Boats Annual 2022July 2021

Morbic 12

A versatile lapstrake dinghy

Inspired by the workboats of France’s Atlantic Coast, François Vivier designed the Morbic 12 to have the look of a classic, use contemporary plywood construction, and be powered by oars, sail, and outboard.

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July 2021

Solo Carry

A skin-on-frame double-paddle canoe

A canoe that weighs 25 lbs or less almost begs to be put on the roof racks and taken to the water. The Solo Carry was designed by Hilary Russell to be built quickly and used often.

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July 2021

Gile Flowage

Working with the wind

The Giles Flowage, a reservoir in northern Wisconsin, can get rather choppy when the wind picks up, but Tom Pamperin wasn’t going to be deterred from taking a weekend getaway there.

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July 2021

Fixed-Clothesline Anchoring

Comfort in close quarters

A small cove might not provide enough room for a boat to swing at anchor, but it can make a worry-free night aboard with a system that keeps the boat precisely located regardless of wind and current.

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July 2021

Sherpak Quick Loops

Handy tie-down anchors from Seattle Sports

Many of today’s cars may have roof racks that can be used to carry canoes and kayaks, but lack tie-down points to keep them from shifting at highway speeds. The Sherpak Quick Loops create those points at hoods and hatches.

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July 2021

Neoprene Knee Pads

Protection without bulk

Small boats can require a lot of kneeling and crawling, and knees can take a beating. Neoprene knee pads designed for dinghy sailing provide protection and comfort without being cumbersome.

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July 2021

CARACOLE

Far beyond a floating hut

A couple living on the coast of Brittany had already accumulated a small fleet of boats when they decided to build an Escargot Canal Cruiser designed by Phil Thiel. It would be a boat they enjoyed using even without leaving the dock.

Small Boats Annual 2008

Lumber Yard Skiff

The Model T of boats

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Walter Baron’s Lumber Yard Skiff is so-named because its materials can be procured from local lumberyards. The boat is rugged, inexpensive, stable, and meant for a variety of purposes—from fishing to recreation.

Small Boats Annual 2008

Acorn 13

A jewel of a boat

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Designer Iain Oughtred’s Acorn 13 has evolved from a series of designs, starting with a 7' 10" dinghy. With his 11' 8" Acorn, he used a finer hull for rowing and sailing, and the 13' version of the Acorn is simply the 11' 8" version stretched by spacing the construction molds a little…

Small Boats Annual 2008

Redwing

A power skiff for simple cruising

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Karl Stambaugh’s REDWING 18 is a plywood boat based on a Howard Chapelle design of traditional construction. Stambaugh designed his version “to make her easier to build while keeping the traditional appearance of the Chapelle design.”

Small Boats Annual 2008

Shearwater

A pulling boat with auxiliary sail power

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Shearwater is a lithe, easily built adaptation of a traditional Norwegian design—the oselver, or Os estuary boat.

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June 2021

Lunatec Spray Bottle

A better bottle under pressure

A built-in air pump equips Lunatec’s spray bottle with a lot of functions that ordinary water bottles don’t have. From cooling off in the heat of the day to taking a quick sip of water in the middle of the night.

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June 2021

Fixing Checked Plywood

An epoxy cure for weathered plywood

When plywood hasn’t aged well, it can crack the paint covering it, letting water in and accelerating the damage. Kent and Audrey have restored several old plywood boats and share their methods for stabilizing the vulnerable veneer with epoxy.

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Small Boats Annual 2022June 2021

Expedition Rowboat from Angus

A sliding-seat cruiser from Angus Rowboats

The Expedition Rowboat from Angus Rowboats was designed by Julie and Colin Angus for their 2,600-mile journey from Scotland to Syria. The stitch-and-glue cruiser has the speed and seaworthiness to take on less ambitious adventures with ease.

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Small Boats Annual 2022June 2021

Oz Goose

A box that takes flight

The Oz Goose from Australian designer Michael Storer may look a bit like a sandbox but it is a high-performance sailer that can get up on plane and fly at speeds around 12 knots. Easy and inexpensive to build, it has achieved remarkable popularity as a racer, cruiser, trainer, and day boat.

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June 2021

Baker Lake

The mirror of a mountain

Baker Lake is an 8-mile-long reservoir that lies at the foot of a 10,781’ volcano in Washington. On a summer weekend it can be crowded with hundreds of boats, campers, and beachgoers, but on a midweek cruise in May, our editor had the lake almost all to himself.

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June 2021

Porta Potties

Dometic 972 and Thetford 135

Adhering to the most difficult principle of the Leave-No-Trace ethic is a whole lot easier if you can bring a portable toilet along. We take a look at two compact porta-potties from Thetford and Dometic.

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June 2021

A Tubby Tug

From lumber to launch in 33 hours

John Lee, his father, and three friends rose to the Edensaw Boatbuilding Challenge to build a boat during the three days of the 2018 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. Their Glen-L Tubby Tug turned out to be a charming keeper.

Small Boats Annual 2008

The Core Sound Series

Camp-cruisers with attitude

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Designed by Graham Byrnes, the Core Sound 17 was a development of his earlier Spindrift 10-footer and Bay River Skiff 17. The latter, inspired by the traditional working skiffs of the Hatteras area in North Carolina, was conceived in the late 1980s as a “good utility boat that could be rowed, motored, and…

Small Boats Annual 2008

WAYWARD

An efficient canal and river cruiser

An easily driven hull needn’t be unattractive, as designer Paul Gartside has proved with WAYWARD, which relies on a 25-hp outboard for propulsion.

Small Boats Annual 2008

The Weekend Dinghy

High pleasure per pound

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - The Weekend Dinghy, designed by Karl Stambaugh, is a quickly and simply built stitch-and-glue skiff. The Weekend Dinghy may be kept a simple rowboat, or rigged to sail.

Tremolino Trimaran

The King

The Asa Thomson Skiff

The 16/30 Sailing Canoe

Morbic 12

Solo Carry

Gile Flowage

Fixed-Clothesline Anchoring

Sherpak Quick Loops

Neoprene Knee Pads

CARACOLE

Lumber Yard Skiff

Acorn 13

Redwing

Shearwater

Lunatec Spray Bottle

Fixing Checked Plywood

Expedition Rowboat from Angus

Oz Goose

Baker Lake

Porta Potties

A Tubby Tug

The Core Sound Series

WAYWARD

The Weekend Dinghy

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