Series

Small Boats Annual 2018March 2017

Fairhaven Flyer

A light dory for solo or tandem rowing

The Fairhaven Flyer from Devlin Designing Boat Builders is a versatile 20’ light dory that can be rowed solo or tandem, with fixed thwarts or sliding seats, and used for exercise or adventure.

Small Boats Annual 2018March 2017

Saturday Night Special

More Bang for the Buck

The Saturday Night Special was John Welford’s idea for a fast beach cruiser that was so simple to build that you could arrive a few days early at a multi-day small boat cruise or raid, build the boat, participate in the event, and fly back home, leaving the boat behind for someone else to use.

March 2017

A Faering on the Inside Passage, Part 1

Washington and British Columbia

The Gokstad faering was the smallest of the boats found with a 9th-century Viking ship and in the eyes of our editor, Christopher Cunningham, a boat of unparalleled elegance. In 1986 he decided he had to build one. He tells the first part of the story about rowing his faering 1,000 miles north along the Inside Passage to Alaska.

March 2017

A Norwegian Tiller Keeper

Hands-off steering for push-pull tillers

Yawl rigs have become quite popular for small sail-and-oar cruisers. The Norwegian push-pull tillers call for a different kind of tiller minder; we take a look at a simple shop-made device that does the job.

March 2017

InReach SE

A satellite messenger from DeLorme

Cruising remote areas doesn’t necessitate being cut off from friends and family or help in an emergency. Alex Zimmerman carried DeLorme’s InReach SE on a summer cruise and reports on its performance.

March 2017

Aqua Bug outboards

Small, lightweight outboards

BikeBug, a company best known for motors that can be mounted on bicycles, manufactures two very small outboards, a 17-lb four-stroke and an 11-lb two-stroke.

March 2017

STILL THINKING

A Redwing 18

Barry Dusharm had built a few boats for rowing and paddling, so when he made the switch to power he built a Redwing 18 he named it STILL THINKING, the answer he’d given his wife when she asked if it would be his last boat.

Small Boats Annual 2018February 2017

Maine Coast Peapod

Joel White’s classic

The peapod might be one of the most easily identifiable, traditional small craft found on the coast of Maine today and Joel White’s classic take on this timeless design is perfectly suited for both sailing and rowing.

Small Boats Annual 2018February 2017

Tadpole Tender

Cottrell's 10' Whitehall

The Tadpole Tender from Cottrell Boatbuilding is a scaled-down Whitehall that can do well as a tender, a rowing trainer for kids, or a lightweight rowboat you can carry by cartop.

February 2017

The Wedding Canoe

A grand gift

After Dave MacDonald finished his first boat, a strip-built kayak, he couldn't wait to start another boatbuilding project. With two of his friends getting married in just six months, he started work on the perfect wedding gift for them: a canoe.

February 2017

Exploring the Poles

Propulsion where motors, oars, and paddles fail

When the water is deep enough to float a small boat, but too shallow for motors, oars, or paddles, try poling. We take a look at poles and how to use them.

February 2017

4-Way Clamping System

Quick, accurate edge-gluing

WoodRiver’s system produces flat panels by applying pressure on the faces as well as the edges of the boards being glued together.

February 2017

Bigboy

A saw for the out-of-doors

Whether you’re gathering wood for a campfire or salvaging windfalls for boatbuilding projects, Silky’s Bigboy cuts quickly and cleanly and is a lot more portable than a chainsaw.

February 2017

FIRE-DRAKE

A sail-and-oar cruiser

When Alex Zimmerman decided to build a camp-cruising boat for himself, he applied his mechanical engineering training to use and started by crunching numbers. What he ended up with, FIRE-DRAKE, is a lapstrake boat that is as much a work of art as of science.

January 2017

EMZARA

A Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

John Adamson visited the WoodenBoat campus in the fall of 2009 and was taken by two Jericho Bay Lobster Skiffs: the original plank-on-frame version built by Jimmy Steele in the early 1970s, sitting on a trailer parked in front of the WoodenBoat Store, and a strip-planked version built by Tom Hill, at anchor near the WoodenBoat boathouse. A few years later he built one for himself.

January 2017

Joe’s Roller Cart

Take a load on

Moving boats around can be difficult, but homemade rollers can be used on everything from pavement to soft sand.

January 2017

Pogies

Warm Hands in Winter

Rowing in winter with bare hands can be quite unpleasant. Warm gloves help, but can compromise grip. Pogies wrap around both hand and oar, providing warmth without coming between hand and handle.

January 2017

Thin Rip Table Saw Jig

An Aid to Lamination

The Rockler Thin Rip Jig is economical and makes reducing a board to a pile of uniform, ready-to-laminate strips a whole lot faster and safer.

January 2017

Seaclipper 16

A folding trimaran for the home builder

The Seaclipper 16 can be built as an open-cockpit cruiser or a daysailer with a tandem cockpit. Equipped with side decks between the akas, it offers good options for seating, moving around while under sail, and sleeping aboard while moored.

Small Boats Annual 2018January 2017

Wee Lassie

A classic in skin-on-frame

In the 1880s, Henry Rushton designed the original Wee Lassie as a beautiful lapstrake canoe and since then, his iconic design has been rendered many times, in many ways, by many builders. The skin-on-frame (SOF) version is 10′ 6″ by 27″, just like the original, and, at 19 lbs, about a pound less.

January 2017

A Lakeland Row

A father-and-son circumnavigation

Finland is dotted and laced with thousands of lakes and waterways. The Saimaa area is the country’s largest watershed with 9,300 miles of shoreline, more per square mile than anywhere else in the world. The 14,000 islands in the region add to the complexity of Finland’s vast Lakeland. A father and his 14-year-old son take a tour of Sääminginsalo, Finland’s largest island, circumnavigating it in a restored racing boat.

December 2016

WeatherMeter

Meteorology in your pocket

This compact and inexpensive device provides data that leads to a more objective observation and better understanding of weather conditions and patterns.

December 2016

BivyBag Duo

Exped's versatile shelter garment

The BivyBag creates not only an instant shelter but also the peace and presence of mind that comes along with that measure of comfort, allowing for the thoughtful decision making that is essential to any successful outing.

December 2016

The Sailing Light Challenge

Cruising France's Charente Maritime

The French love sailing, but the big and expensive racing and cruising yachts often get all of the attention. A group of friends got together and organized a new event, called Sailing Light Challenge, an unsupported, 100-mile tour along the Bay of Biscay coast in small boats under sail and oar. This year's participants arrived at the Corps de Garde harbor near Charron, and waited with gear-laden boats for the ebb to provide a favorable current down the Sevre River to its mouth at Aiguillon Bay.

Small Boats Annual 2018December 2016

Lightning Bug

Quiet power, stately pace

The Lightning Bug’s range of 35 miles between charges will theoretically get it to points with a 17-mile radius from home. That’s a lot of territory, but a boat that is so easy on the eyes and ears isn’t about merely getting from one place to another. The vessel is in and of itself the destination: a place to relax, enjoy solitude or the company of friends, and take in the view, both within and beyond the boat.