Series

December 2025

Nexus Marine San Juan Dory

A plywood skiff for crabbing, trolling, and overnight camping

A workaday skiff that can plane with ease and has space for passengers and lobster traps, the San Juan Dory is a challenging but satisfying build for amateurs.

December 2025

Malahini

A classic 16′ runabout from Glen-L Marine

Even though it’s powered by an outboard motor, Glen-L’s Malahini looks like a classic runabout from a bygone era, but its hull is of plywood on oak frames, and it’s designed to be built by amateurs with some experience.

Small Boats Annual 2013

Phoenix III

A sail-and-oar beach cruiser

Sailing to windward, reaching, running, the heading doesn't seem to matter; the Phoenix III slips easily through the water.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Amphibi-ette

The camper bus of sailboats

The Amphibi-ette is aimed squarely at young families for whom absolute practicality is more important than traditional aesthetics.

Small Boats Annual 2012

St. Ayles Skiff

Inspiring the community rowing revival

This double-ender is sleek, with a finer bow than stern, and both ends flowing to flatter floors as one moves toward amidships.

November 2025

Building a Piranha

A young Polish woodworker tackles his first boatbuilding project

Stanislaw Klupś was 13 when his parents gave him a set of boat plans and some plywood for Christmas. The ensuing building project came together in the family’s backyard, and after many hours of hard work Stan had built a 10’ sail-and-oar boat that he could enjoy alone or with his younger sister.

November 2025

Canvas Oar Bag

A protective carrier for well-loved oars

Carrying oars is often awkward and keeping them safe from damage when on land is never easy, but the Canvas Oar Bag solves both problems at once, creating a well-balanced load within a durable cover.

November 2025

NRS Deluxe Boat Sponge

A boat sponge with a difference

A sponge within a terry-cloth cover, the NRS Deluxe Boat Sponge is good at picking up water, grit, and bits of debris.

November 2025

Pivoting Daggerboard

Combining the best elements of a centerboard and a daggerboard

Sailing in shoal waters can be problematic for a boat with a daggerboard—an unseen submerged obstacle can stop the boat in its tracks, and even break the board. One solution is a board that both pivots and lifts when struck.

November 2025

The Crossing

Wind and tide wait for no man in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

When Colin Schehl left Port Townsend, Washington, at the beginning of his month-long cruise through the San Juan and Gulf islands, he had no idea that the first 36 hours of the voyage would test him and his boat to their limits.

November 2025

Whitmore Peapod

A classic working boat built the traditional way

Originally conceived as working boats for the lobstermen of Maine, peapods are appreciated for their maneuverability, load-carrying capacity, and good looks. A new replica build of a 1920s original proves the type’s long-lasting appeal.

November 2025

Guppy 9

An all-around dinghy for a first-time builder

An all-around small boat that looks good, performs well, and can be sailed, rowed, and motored, the Guppy 9 is also a fine introduction to the technique of stitch-and-glue plywood boatbuilding.

October 2025

Wooster Shortcut Brush

An inexpensive short-handled brush

The Wooster Paintbrush Company has been in business since 1851. In 1999 they introduced the Shortcut, a synthetic-bristle brush with a short flexible handle and suitable for all paint types.

October 2025

Cressi’s Minorca Shorty Boots

Neoprene booties with style, comfort, and practicality

Christopher Cunningham enjoys sailing barefoot, but when it comes to going ashore he reaches for his favorite neoprene booties.

October 2025

Liz Pulling Boat

A boat suited to amateur builders and novice scullers

An elegant rowboat for sliding-seat rowing, the Liz offers good stability combined with pleasing performance. And, although originally designed for lapstrake construction, it can now be strip-planked.

October 2025

Winterizing Small Boats

A quick and easy guide to laying up boats for winter

Ben Fuller offers some tried and tested tips on what to do—and not do—when it comes time to lay up your boat for the off-season.

October 2025

From Hope Cove to the Helford River

Dinghy-cruising off England’s southwest coast

When someone gave him an old 11′ Heron dinghy, Alex Latham knew the time had come to learn to sail. Two years and two more boats later, he embarked on his first overnight solo voyage off the south coast of Devon and Cornwall.

October 2025

Candu E-Z Mini Tugboat

An easily built family boat that brings smiles and joy

A tugboat nearly always raises a smile, and the Berkeley Engineering Candu E-Z Mini Tugboat is no exception. Fun to look at, the boat is also easy to build and well-suited to family use.

October 2025

The Voilier Nord Bassin

How one man’s dream built a boat and a community

Michel Sailhan, a retired journalist, passed the time in a Covid lockdown designing a sailing scow suitable for the shoal waters of Arcachon Bay near his home in southwest France. When people could again gather, he inspired a group of volunteers to build the boat for their community.

How to Shelter a Wooden Boat for the Winter

A good cover will shed snow and rain, give room to work—and most important, allow ventilation.

Maintaining the right moisture content is Goal No. 1

September 2025

LARK

Building a Bob’s Special from Plans

When Justine and John Diamond decided to build a canoe from plans, neither of them had built a boat before and John had only been in a canoe once.

September 2025

Harpswell Island Designs

Handcrafted boat pillows

Harpswell Island Designs’ pillows look good, wear well, and come in myriad styles from club burgees and state flags to abstract and whimsical designs.

September 2025

Project M23 Waterproof Field Bag

A protective bag from Expedition/Units with inserts for a camera

For years, Bill Thomas has sought a small waterproof bag to keep his camera equipment safe and dry on small boats. The Field Bag with Camera Block is rugged, waterproof, and just the right size.

September 2025

Modifying Trailers

Adding posts and platforms can make a trailer more versatile

Ben Fuller describes how to modify a trailer using easy-to-find materials and common tools, so it can be used in different ways and for multiple boats.

September 2025

A Shakedown Cruise in Tampa Bay

Sailing a new homebuilt Angus RowCruiser in Florida

When Bill Hutton set sail in his new homebuilt Angus RowCruiser, he hoped to explore Tampa Bay from east to west. The breaking of his centerboard made upwind sailing impossible, so instead he kept to the eastern shore and explored under sail and oar.