Series

August 2018

Barry King Hammer-Style Mallet

More than setting grommets

With its nylon head and leather-and-brass handle, the 48-oz Hammer-style Mallet from Barry King Tools is ideal for setting grommets as well as doing many other jobs in the boatshop and it’s as pretty as it is persuasive.

August 2018

A Sturgeon-Nose Canoe

Tradition brought forward

The Sinixt, a First-Nations people of southwest British Columbia and northern Washington, developed sturgeon-nosed canoes with reversed prows for traveling and fishing the rivers lakes of their homeland. When Paul Montgomery was asked by a member of the Sinixt tribe to build a reproduction of the canoe, he set his other projects aside and went right to work.

Small Boats Annual 2019July 2018

Ski King

A fast inboard in plywood from Glen-L

Glen L. Witt, the founder of Glen-L, could have had any of the countless boats he designed for his company’s offerings of plans and kits, but it was the Ski King he chose to build for his own use. Among the first boats he designed, it is once again in the Glen-L catalog, 65 years later.

10

July 2018

Periwinkle

A camp-cruiser for oar, sail, and outboard

When one of Ross Lillistone’s regular customers asked for a fast camp cruiser for sail, oars, and motor, Ross drew up a 17’ lug-rigged cat ketch for glued-lap plywood. The Periwinkle hit the mark and is a great all-rounder.

July 2018

TORNGAT

Biography of a trailblazer

In 1979, Dave Getchell bought an aluminum skiff that he could use as a base for a climbing expedition to the Torngat Mountains at the northern tip of Labrador. He never reached the mountains, but the boat, christened TORNGAT, found its destiny along the Maine coast in the creation of the Maine Island Trail.

Small Boats Annual 2019July 2018

Transom Extensions

Adding buoyancy and planing surface

Most small outboard skiffs carry a lot of weight in the stern—skipper, outboard, and fuel tank—and suffer the consequences. Homemade transom extensions add both buoyancy and planing surface that can improve trim and performance over a wide range of speeds.

July 2018

Blackbird XLC and Thunderfly

A hammock system from Warbonnet

Hammocks provide minimum-impact shelter ashore and can be set up on wooded terrain that's too steep or uneven to accommodate a tent. We take a look at a system that includes a hammock, bug net, winter cover, and rain fly.

July 2018

Knipex Plier Wrench

Getting a grip

The Knipex plier wrench is a versatile and well-designed tool with extraordinary gripping power. It’s a worthy addition to an on-board tool kit.

July 2018

ARGUS

A family-built Chester Yawl

Born to a family of Alabama river folk, James Fullton grew up around boats. His interest in them waned when his parents moved him and his sisters inland, but when he started a family of his own in New Haven, Connecticut, he felt the impulse to build a boat of his own.

June 2018

Crabbing Skiff

A Chesapeake Bay working boat from Chapelle

The traditional craft documented in Howard Chapelle’s books are well known, but a number of his drawings are tucked away in the Smithsonian Institution. Among them is a handsome 18’ crabbing skiff with many of the characteristics of the turn-of-the-century working skiffs used by Chesapeake Bay crabbers. With plywood construction, it is easy to build and lively under sail.

June 2018

Hitia 17

A beach catamaran, a micro cruiser

James Wharram’s Polynesian catamaran designs have inspired countless backyard boatbuilders with dreams of ocean voyaging to exotic tropical destinations. His Hitia 17, with its dry-storage holds and kayak-like cockpits, features real camp-cruising capability for sailors who don’t mind roughing it a bit.

June 2018

The Canoes of Guna Yala

Panama's sailing dugouts

The Guna people of Panama have been building dugout canoes, called ulus, in the same way since they populated these waters two centuries ago, and still rely on them for their livelihood. When visiting yachties brought a sport-sailing mentality to the islands, the Guna crews took to racing their ulus.

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.