Series

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Simmons Sea Skiff

A seaworthy outboard fishing boat

The Simmons Sea Skiff was first developed as a beach-launched, oar-powered fishing boat for coastal North Carolina, and it eventually evolved into an outboard-powered range of sizes, from 18’ to 22’. The 18-footer above was built by its owner, for family fishing excursions on and near Narragansett Bay.

MUSTELID – Episode 1

Intro, Who We Are, How We Live, What we Propose

In this, the first installment, they introduce us to who they are, how they live, and what they propose in a boat.

Small Boats Annual 2014

DragonFlyer 3.2

Brooks Boats’ lively sailing dinghy

ZIP is the prototype model of the DragonFlyer 3.2, a design intended as a versatile and dynamic sail trainer. She can be sailed with main alone, main and jib, or main and asymmetrical spinnaker.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The New Hampshire Snekke

A Norwegian motor launch descended from Viking ships

Low-powered, double-ended launches called snekker are ubiquitous along the coast of Norway, but rather exotic in New Hampshire, where Andrew Wallace’s Traditional Boatworks builds these boats.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Sid Skiff

A boat to take personally

The classic transom-sterned skiff that became known as the Sid Skiff, here with cobuilder Zach Simonson-Bond at the oars, first came to Ray Speck’s attention while he was living on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. The boat is as much as joy to look at as it is to row.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The McIntosh Canvas Boat

An unusual and useful double-ended tender

Canvas sheathing over a wooden framework makes Ned McIntosh’s 9’ dinghy extraordinarily light, at only 35 lbs, yet it remains a versatile tender that is easy and quick to build.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Thistle

A pedal boat with a fin drive

Harry Bryan’s 12’ Thistle is powered by a large rudder shaped like a fish’s tail and driven by foot pedals. With steady pedaling you can keep pace with about any rowboat of the same length.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Spindrift 12

A performance yacht tender

The Spindrift series of dinghies from B&B Yacht Designs promises a range of capable yacht tenders that offer plenty of sailing excitement. Here we see a 12’ model built by Meredithe Stuart-Smith of Castine, Maine.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Making a Boat a Home, Part 2

Four more small boat tents

In Southeast Alaska, rocky beaches, insects, and a large resident bear population often make tent-camping on the beach an unappealing option,” James Danner writes from Juneau. “Having a boat tent has really opened up the family’s beach-cruising options. It can be set or struck easily while at anchor and has seen regular summertime use since it was created. My wife,…

Small Boats Annual 2014

Making a Boat a Home, Part 1

Boatbuilding never ends with launching day

In small-boat cruising—particularly under sail—having an absolute destination and schedule can be hazardous. At times, getting into a sheltered cove can be a necessity, but you can’t always count on finding a legal or comfortable place to camp ashore. Being able to stay aboard the boat gives the small-craft sailor the same kind of cruising freedom a yachtsman has.

The Paine 14

A Herreshoff 12 1⁄2, in miniature

"Paine noted that AMELIA, in light air, literally sails circles around his 12½...”

The Faering Cruiser

A stitch-and-glue solo expedition boat

For if you want to go where kayaks go, but faster, with more gear, less exertion, and more excitement…

A Cape Cod Oyster Skiff

A historic sharpie type— with variations

Andrew Kitchen of Irondequoit, New York, had always wanted to build a sharpie, and he settled on Reuel Parker’s adaption of a historic boat recorded by Howard I. Chapelle, originating from Cape Cod. The sail reefs by being drawn to the mast.

Beach Pea

Tender, daysailer, trainer

Beach Pea is based on the well-known peapod type that evolved on Maine’s Penobscot Bay in the 1870s, but built of lightweight plywood. It retains the earlier type’s oar steering and simple sprit rig.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Outfitting for Safety Part 3: Emergencies & Flotation

The right preparation and equipment should get you through most emergencies. Often, it’s best simply to avoid situations that could turn ugly.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Outfitting for Safety Part 2: Navigation & Seamanship

Small boats are certainly less demanding to navigate than large ones. However, navigation skills are still important to understand.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Outfitting for Safety Part 1: Introduction & Minimum Legal Requirements

Part of common sense is good preparation

The author heads to his boat for a day’s outing. He has his life jacket on, a sea bag full of gear over his shoulder, and an anchor and rode in a bucket.

Small Boats Annual 2012

XLNC Utility Skiff

A simple, efficient hull from William and John Atkin

For an easily driven motor launch, John and William Atkin developed the XLNC design with home builders in mind.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Hampton Sloop

A family boat

Simplicity is the hallmark of this boat. All of the hardware is shop-made, and auxiliary propulsion is provided by a pair of ash oars.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Peregrine 18

A fast pulling boat

This boat will not go down by the stern while being rowed at maximum speed or when loaded with wine, cheese, and cookies for an afternoon on the islands.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The Shaw & Tenney Whitehall

A classic, reinterpreted

A hull of traditional lapstrake appearance, but without the traditional worries of leaking and drying out.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The No Mans Land Boat

A challenge with great potential

This heavy old fish boat holds her own and then some against other displacement hulls.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The Sea Bird Yawl

Simplicity in a hard-chined cruiser

Simple enough to be built by amateurs, small enough to be singlehanded, and big enough for long passages

Small Boats Annual 2013

The Rambler 18

A runabout for adventure

The Rambler 18 is for people seeking comfortable cruising, not the exhilaration of speed. Riding in this boat is a pleasant and relaxing experience.

Small Boats Annual 2013

The AS-17

A working class skiff

It’s an advantage for a work-boat that will be used by many different operators to be dead simple, and this boat is.