Series

June 2018

Trailer Tires

Age before wear

It’s easy to take trailer tires for granted—they don’t log many miles and don’t usually show much wear—but they deserve more attention than a glance to see if they appear to have enough air in them.

June 2018

Dynamic Dollies

Lightweight rigs for hand launching

Dollies reduce dependence on paved launch ramps and open up new areas to explore. And the less effort it takes to move a boat, the more often you’re likely to use it.

June 2018

On-Demand Paper Charts

Government charts, private printers

In 2014, the US government brought an end to printing the lithographic charts that it had been producing since 1862. Printed charts did not cease to exist, but their production was taken over by NOAA-certified, on-demand printers.

June 2018

Auklet

A tender built by father and son

Ernst Glas and his family sail the Baltic Sea aboard a 43’ sloop his father built in the early ‘90s. He had sold its tender, but his young son missed the boat. Ernst struck a deal with him: they would get a new dinghy, but they would do as Grandfather did and build it themselves out of wood.

Small Boats Annual 2019May 2018

Beer Beach Boat

A workboat for pleasure

Beer is a village located in the middle of England’s Lyme Bay coast and the boats built there have evolved over many years. They come in various shapes and sizes but they are seaworthy enough to cope with exposed coast and durable enough to be hauled up the steep, pebbled beaches there.

Small Boats Annual 2019May 2018

Spring Run

A versatile kayak from Redfish

This lively performer has enough cargo space for multi-day cruising, and when you’re not out paddling it, the fine workmanship and decorative touches make it something you might want to hang in your living room.

May 2018

LEGOLAS

A great escape

Peter Knape was once stuck behind an office desk in the business district of Arnhem, Holland. He mustered the courage to make a break, sold almost everything he owned, had a Drascombe Longboat Cruiser built, and left home, bound for the Mediterranean.

May 2018

EP Carry

Compact power for dinghies

The EP Carry, an electric outboard developed and manufactured by PropEle Electric Motors, is designed specifically for small boats; with its battery it weighs under 15 lbs.

May 2018

HouseFly

Shelter afloat and ashore

Designed as a rainfly for hammocks, ENO’s HouseFly has a feature simple tarps do not—overlapping doors on both ends. They make the fly readily adaptable to many open boats as a great ready-made boom tent.

May 2018

Catherine

Whitehalls in the Netherlands

A Dutch boatbuilding school that has taken an interest in American sailing and rowing craft launched its seventh Catherine. It’s a lapstrake boat in the Whitehall style that fits well in the canals, inland seas, and coastal waters of the Netherlands.

Small Boats Annual 2019April 2018

Runabout 14

A plywood speedster from Bateau.com

If the Runabout 14 looks like a classic, its designer, Jacques Mertens-Goossens, the founder of Bateau.com, has hit his mark. The boat’s appearance was inspired by a 1950s design, but its structure is a contemporary blend of plywood, fiberglass and epoxy.

April 2018

First Mate

A Lillistone beach cruiser for sail, oars, and outboard

The Phoenix III is Ross Lillistone’s most popular design, but its glued-lapstrake construction, with its bevels and gains, was not the easiest method for novices to take on. His First Mate is a stitch-and-glue equivalent of the Phoenix III with the same hull, rigs, and cockpit layout. It provides an easier path to the launching and the same performance afloat.

April 2018

From Father to Son

Five generations of boatbuilders

Nick Blake is a boatbuilder living on a plot of Mississippi land that has been in the family since the 1830s. Nick built a modified version of a Chapelle Whitehall with the help of his father, tools passed down from his grandfather, traditions established by his great-grandfather, and lumber milled from trees grown on his great-great-grandfather’s land.

April 2018

Eton Oar Stands

Quick work without clamps

A 1950s newsreel offered a glimpse of English craftsmen making racing shells and oars in the Eton Boathouse on the River Thames. The system they used to hold the oars while working on them did away with clamps and was fast and efficient.

April 2018

Luci and LuminAID Lanterns

Inflatable solar-charged lighting

Camp-cruising requires lighting, and these three solar-charged, waterproof, and inflatable lanterns illuminate tents, boat canopies, and camp kitchens with a bright diffuse light at night, can charge your phone, and recharge themselves during the day.

April 2018

Poseidon Sliding Seats

Power without outriggers

Most sliding-seat rigs come with outriggers that require long, racing-style sculls. The Poseidon sliding seat provides power without changing the nature of the boat. It’s meant to be used with gunwale-mounted oarlocks and the same kind of oars used for fixed-seat rowing.

April 2018

KUPENDANA

A kayak with a purpose

Barb Geiger’s father had dreamed of building a stitch-and-glue kayak but when a stroke restricted him to a wheelchair, he thought his dream was out of reach. Barb didn’t agree. They ordered a kit and got started on the project. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see the boat finished and launched. He would have had good reason to be proud of the kayak—it carried Barb and her husband safely on a 2,000-mile journey across America.

March 2018

BEULAH

An Escargot with a difference

Curt White made a number of modifications to his Escargot to turn it into a roomy, well-furnished, and warm living room afloat. BEULAH takes Curt and his wife in style and comfort to the lakes near their home in the hills of western North Carolina.

March 2018

Copper Guards

Traditional protection for oars

Oar blades, ideally, should only come in contact with water, but they often do battle with rocks, sand, and barnacles in our comings and goings to and from landings. Copper tips will take the abuse and not show their age as easily as paint and varnish will.

March 2018

Flexpoxy

A versatile epoxy

Pettit offers a multi-purpose epoxy that makes flexible bonds as well as fills that won't sag or shrink. Dispensed from a cartridge that fits common caulking guns, it is easy to dispense for jobs small and large.

March 2018

The Portable Buddy

Radiant heat for tents and cabins

It's easier to extend your small-boat cruising into the shoulder seasons when you have a way to stay warm when the weather turns chilly. The Portable Buddy from Mr. Heater uses standard 1-lb propane canisters to create radiant infrared heat to warm small cabins and tents.

March 2018

From the Channel to the Med

Rowing the canals and rivers of France

Polly and Mat Hilton left their home in Devon, England, rowing and sailing a lapstrake skiff that Mat had built. Fifty-six days and 870 miles later they had crossed France by river and canal and reached the Mediterranean Sea.

Small Boats Annual 2019March 2018

Ebb

Easy, efficient rowing

WINONA, a pulling boat built for a mountain lake in New York State's Adirondack Mountains, inspired Tom Regan, a boatbuilder living on the tidelands of Washington State, to create a version of his own. We take a look at the Ebb from Grapeview Point Boat Works.

March 2018

Tiki 21

A Wharram catamaran

James Wharram is well known for his catamarans. His Tiki 21, designed in 1981, it took advantage of stitch-and-glue construction and has proved itself in ocean crossings and has remained a popular trailerable gunkholer.

February 2018

Nova Scotian

A Grand Banks dory from Spira Boats

Kevin Power's grandfather was born in Nova Scotia and grew up using locally-built dories. The affection for the Banks-style dories was passed down to Kevin's father and to Kevin, so when he decided to build a boat it was fitting that he ordered plans for Jeff Spira's Nova Scotian.