Series

March 2024

TripTips Retractable Portable Toilet

An easier way to pack out waste

Packing-out waste from campsites is essential but not always easy in small boats. The Retractable Portable Toilet packs small, weighs little, and keeps campsites unspoiled.

March 2024

Sailing DORCAS

How a canoe built for paddling was reimagined for sail

Erik was happy paddling the strip-planked canoe he’d built, but he still longed to sail. He made his daydream a reality by designing and building an outrigger and a simple sail rig.

March 2024

A Duckbill for a Push Pole

A push-pole attachment for muddy shallows

In shoal waters, push poles are important tools, but many can get stuck in the muck. The Duckbill Attachment opens wide to limit sinking, then folds to afford easy retrieval.

March 2024

The Åland Islands

Sailing Finland's labyrinthine archipelago

The Åland archipelago is a small-boat paradise, with hundreds of islands and little traffic. The summer days are long and the nights cool. A German couple live out their voyaging dream under sail and oar.

March 2024

Chamberlain Gunning Dory

Dave Gentry's skin-on-frame version of a Massachusetts classic

Based on the design of a Marblehead gunning dory of the early 20th century, Dave Gentry’s skin-on-frame dory can accommodate a solo rower or the whole family.

March 2024

Fastening Floorboards

An alternative approach to securing floorboards

In small boats where the only place to sit is often the floor, floorboard fastenings can be obtrusive, but replacing traditional turn-buttons with threaded brass inserts is an effective alternative.

March 2024

Caledonia Yawl II

An updated sail-and-oar classic

Iain Oughtred’s lapstrake yawl updates the original from four strakes to seven but it remains an iconic double-ender for sail and oar.

Small Boats Annual 2015

Marsh Duck

A high-performance expedition boat

February 2024

Shop-Vacuum Filter Care

Making filters more effective and longer lasting

Cleaning shop-vacuum filters is never a pleasant job, but with a few shop leftovers, a bucket, and a power drill, it can be quick, effective, and tidy.

February 2024

Wyman 12

A traditional working skiff

David Wyman’s flat-bottom skiff is a contemporary version of a workhorse from the late 19th century, simplified for today’s DIY boatbuilders.

February 2024

Salish Coastal Cruiser

A coastal rower from Oyster Bay Boats

The latest sliding-seat design from Oyster Bay Boats provides stability and speed in a coastal rower that can’t be swamped.

February 2024

The ShelterTube Garage

ShelterLogic's cost-effective option for small-boat storage

Strong, stable, and spacious, the ShelterTube Garage is an excellent shelter solution when you have more boats than covered space to store them.

February 2024

Backcountry Boatbuilding

Marooned on a Maine island, two cousins build an escape vessel and sail home

Tyler Sauter and Ross Beane wanted to see if they could use minimal tools and supplies to build a boat seaworthy enough to carry them both safely home if they were stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine.

February 2024

Building CLEAR SKIES

A Newfoundlander goes back to his roots

Derrick Burry built a 17’ 6” Newfoundland punt by eye and then asked his father, a retired mariner from Greenspond Island, to teach him how to sail.

February 2024

A 10×42 Waterproof Monocular

A lightweight optical device from Orion for viewing objects near and far

The Orion 10 x 42 monocular is a handy and compact optical device capable of focusing objects as distant as the moon and as close as an arm’s length away.

January 2024

Pot Cozies

Keeping the heat in camp-cooked meals

Meals cooked outdoors taste better but they also get cold faster. Easy-to-make pot warmers prolong the dining pleasure at camp or at anchor.

January 2024

Banjo 20

Devlin’s compact, trailerable outboard cruiser

A trailerable outboard cruiser from Sam Devlin, the Banjo 20 has comfortable accommodations and is easy to operate.

January 2024

Compact Electric Air Pumps

Exorux 3-in-1 Solar Portable Air Pump and Flextail Tiny Pump 2X

At the end of a long day of cruising, blowing up an air mattress can seem a daunting task. The portable air pumps from Flextail and Exorux do the job with little effort.

January 2024

SOME PIG!

Jim Conlin builds a daysailer

Jim Conlin has always had a love for small double-ended keelboats with a classic style. When he found Joel White’s Fox Island design, he decided the time had come to build his own.

January 2024

The Boston Whaler Montauks

Unsinkable classic still going strong

The Montauk range has evolved over time and grown in size, but it remains a stable, unsinkable workhorse and family favorite.

January 2024

Eversprout Telescoping Boathook

An extendable pole and hook for a greater reach

A full-length boathook is impractical on a small boat, and telescoping alternatives are not always the most reliable. The Eversprout pole is stable, strong, and serves its purpose well.

January 2024

Lake Roosevelt

A summertime singlehanded cruise

For Bob Van Putten, traveling down the Columbia River’s Lake Roosevelt was a voyage of discovery through remote landscapes and scorching summer heat.

December 2023

A Canvas Lounger

A simple sewing project for comfort in camp

Two short pieces of wood and a quickly hemmed piece of fabric make it easy to relax ashore, sitting with legs stretched out and your back supported.

December 2023

Nor’wester

A traditional sou’wester from the Pacific Northwest

The Nor’wester from Best Coast Canvas keeps your head dry and warm and might have stepped out of a 19th-century Winslow Homer painting.

December 2023

The Heart of a Cruiser

One man's journey from long-distance rowing to shorter motor-sailing cruises

For many years, Alex Zimmerman has enjoyed long-distance solo rowing adventures along the British Columbia coast, but he was forced to rethink both the boat and the voyage plans when he was diagnosed with AFib.