Series

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.

November 2021

A DIY Roller

A table-saw accessory for ripping and crosscutting

While roller stands make it easier to rip long boards on a table saw, a do-it-yourself roller made of a 2x4, fender washers, and joist-hanger nails works for ripping and crosscutting, too.

November 2021

Drop-Center Sawhorses

Better support for boats

Reuel Parker’s drop-center sawhorses do what ordinary sawhorses can’t. They’ll hold a flat-bottomed or round hull upright, upside down, and at almost any angle in between.

November 2021

HIYU and CLATAWA

Pondering pedal power

After taking a few liberties to improve upon a classic Edwin Monk design, inveterate tinkerer Clay Wright equipped the 9’ skiff with a pedal drive of his own design with twin props and on-the-fly shifting from forward to reverse—a masterpiece in pulleys, pillow blocks, and copper pipe.

Small Boats Annual 2010

The AF4 Beach Cruiser

A weekend cruiser from Jim Michalak

AF4, an outboard powered beach cruiser with 4" of draft, can boldly go where most boats can't.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The Hvalsoe 16

On its way to becoming a Northwest classic

Although its construction is substantially different from the classic Whitehall pulling boat, representing as it does a compromise between good rowing and sailing performance, the Hvalsoe 16 is squarely in the tradition of the historical type.

Small Boats Annual 2009

GRACE’S TENDER

Easy to love, easier to build

GRACE’S TENDER is a kindly little plywood boat that Arch Davis designed to build with his daughter, Grace. This handsome and capable craft is an exceptionally good first boatbuilding project.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The Hird Island Skiff

Comfortable—and quiet

The reedy shallows of Georgia call for a shoal-draft boat that can easily navigate the channels—and with its electric motor, the Hird Island Skiff can do so without disturbing the peace and quiet.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Sunshine

A much-admired yacht tender

With excellent load-carrying capacity and rowing characteristics, low weight, and great looks, the Sunshine makes a wonderful yacht tender.

Small Boats Annual 2009

MARCUS NOER

A Danish four-sail double-ender

MARCUS NOER is a particularly fine example of a traditional double-ender from Denmark, with a shapeliness to her hull that will take your breath away. The design is one descendant—one of many—of a Nordic boatbuilding tradition that should properly stand beside the great cathedrals of the world and the sculptures of antiquity as among the loveliest creations ever made by…

October 2021

Meeting in the Middle

A strip-lapstrake hybrid

Paul and Sharon LaBrie have been enjoying boating together for their 40-plus years of marriage; a difference of opinion between the two led to a novel hybrid hull that combines two different types of construction.

October 2021

The Hornet-Lite

A packraft from Kokopelli

For small camp-cruisers that are better left at anchor instead of beached, a tender can come in handy, but most would take up too much space. An inflatable packraft can serve the purpose and yet be easily stowed.

October 2021

A Quiet Time in a Big Estuary

A Columbia River cruise

Bruce Bateau takes a California couple cruising on his home waters, the tidal reaches of the Columbia River that form the border between Oregon and Washington.

October 2021

Alamitos

An outboard V-bottom skiff from Spira International

The Alamitos is a 15’ V-bottom dory designed by Jeff Spira for quick and affordable construction. Its ample 7’ beam provides plenty of stability for fishing and taking on a bit of offshore chop.

Small Boats Annual 2022October 2021

The Rhodes 19

An uncommonly enduring one-design

The Rhodes 19 didn’t catch on when the design was introduced as a wooden boat in the late ‘40s, but when it was reproduced in fiberglass in the ‘50s by George O’Day, the daysailer gave rise to a popular and enduring one-design class.

October 2021

New Life for a Vintage Kayak

Replacing fabric with plywood

Reuel Parker offers a way to transform an old fabric-covered kayak by giving the frame a new skin of plywood.

October 2021

Chef’s Knife and Floating Sunglasses

Offerings from MSR and Rheos

Floating sunglasses from Rheos reduce the risk of loss and a camper’s chef knife from MSR is a capable addition to the galley.

Small Boats Annual 2009

RETRO-ROCKET

Glen-L’s Super Spartan makes a splash

RETRO-ROCKET was built from Glen-L Marine Design’s plans for Super Spartan, a three-point hydroplane. Constructed in marine plywood, RETRO-ROCKET weighs less than 100 lbs and darts across the water, mostly on a cushion of air.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Fenwick Williams’s 18’ Catboat

A frisky little cat

Fenwick Williams designed 17 catboats from 8' to 30' in length. All of them are legendary; but his first, an 18-footer created during the height of the Great Depression in 1931, stands out as a little gem.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Duckling

A sliding-seat skiff

When Sam Devlin of Devlin Designing Boat Builders was commissioned to build a rowing skiff to be carried aboard a 45' motoryacht, he was given two requirements: it had to be short enough to fit on the yacht’s cabintop, and it had to be equipped with a sliding-seat rowing rig.

Small Boats Annual 2009

BUFFLEHEAD

A high-end hybrid for paddle and sail

While you may not want to try building BUFFLEHEAD without some experience under your belt, when ready, your hard work will pay off in an eye-pleasing, seaworthy craft for daysailing or extended coastal passages.

September 2021

Patrick’s Scow

A boat for Bliss Creek

Patrick Blake of Vicksburg, Mississippi, is 11 years old and the sixth generation of his family to take a serious interest in boats. In the company of his little brother, father, and grandfather, he built a little scow for the creek that runs through the family land.

September 2021

Downshifting Oars

Snap-on oar sleeves for rowing into a headwind

Rowing into a headwind can put a strain on the rower. Jim Tolpin devised a clip-on plastic sleeve and button that gives the oars a lower gear to provide them with a greater mechanical advantage.

Small Boats Annual 2022September 2021

Bobcat

Bolger's adaptation of the Beetle Cat for tack-and-tape construction

Phil Boger designed the Bobcat as an adaptation of the legendary Beetle Cat for tack-and-tape construction to put a small, stable catboat within the reach of amateur boatbuilders.