Series

November 2023

XPL Oars

Carbon-fiber sectional oars from Duckworks

The stout but feather-light carbon-fiber oars from Duckworks not only make rowing easier but also can be separated into sections to take up much less room when stowed.

November 2023

Quick Cinches

Better than bungees, cheaper than straps

For rolled-up sails and inflatable pads, tarps and sleeping bags, these three simple cinches are easy to use.

November 2023

Georgian Bay

An affordable strip-built pleasure cruiser from B. Giesler and Sons

The Georgian Bay, an 18′ pleasure cruiser, is designed and built in Powassan, Ontario, by Giesler and Sons, a third-generation shop with over a century of experience building sturdy cedar-strip boats.

November 2023

Collapsible Water Bags

Convenient water-carriers from WaterStorageCube

How far you can cruise often is a function of how much potable water you can carry aboard. Collapsible bags from WaterStorageCube can fit in odd spaces and take up less room as they’re emptied.

December 2023

An RSS Lugsail

Mayfly 14 Pierce Expedition from Really Simple Sails

Finding sails for small boats is not always easy. Really Simple Sails is filling a gap in the market with well-built and affordable stock and custom sails.

December 2023

The Tuesday Group Builds a Boat

Building the Crandall Flyer 15

For the companionship, the challenge, and the want of another interesting project, a group of woodworking friends stayed together to build a Crandall Flyer 15.

Small Boats Annual 2014

JADE

A gaff-headed sloop from New Zealand

To develop his trailerable daysailer, Herbert Krumm-Gartner started by carving a half model, inspired by the boatbuilding methods and design aesthetics of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Pen-Hir

A modern classic pocket cruiser

François Vivier designed the handsome pocket cruiser Pen-Hir for his own use. He cruises the boat for up to two weeks at a time, often singlehanded, along the Brittany coast.

October 2023

Quick Coils for Throwing Lines

Two techniques for tangle-free tosses

Knowing how to coil a throw line correctly is as important as having one on board.

October 2023

Scotty Rescue Throw Bag

For quick deployment of a floating rescue line

Scotty’s Rescue Throw Bag houses 50’ of floating line that can be quickly deployed and easily thrown.

October 2023

Reverse-Reading Compass

Getting an accurate heading while looking astern

Most boat compasses are designed to be used while you’re facing forward. The Ritchie Rowing Compass is designed for aft-facing rowers.

October 2023

An Electric Journey to Knight Inlet

Exploring the wild beauty of British Columbia

Two friends explore the islands and inlets of the British Columbia coast in a solar-powered 20’ Whitehall.

October 2023

Candlefish 16

A stitch-and-glue skiff with plenty of volume

Sam Devlin’s Candlefish 16, a stitch-and-glue open outboard skiff, is a good introduction to boatbuilding and an excellent boat in which to go camp-cruising with the family.

October 2023

Joe Lanni’s LUCKY DUCK

The ultimate built-on-a-shoestring racer

Joe Lanni had thought of building a boat with graceful curves, but he built a Puddle Duck Racer instead. Despite its boxy hull, he was impressed by its ease of construction and its performance under sail.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Mirror

An engaging English dinghy

With an open-cockpit layout, relatively high boom, and lots of seating, the Mirror is ideal for taking kids out.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Point Comfort 18

A modern deadrise skiff

Doug Hylan’s Point Comfort 18 offers the seaworthiness and lineage of a Chesapeake deadrise skiff with the light weight and ease of construction a plywood hull provides.

October 2023

The Laker Canoe

An all-purpose strip-planked canoe

Gil Gilpatrick designed the 16’ strip-planked Laker Canoe with good stability for relaxed family paddling.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Ipswich Bay Skiff

Built by eye and shaped by batten

The Pert Lowell Co. in Amesbury, Massachusetts, designed the Ipswich Bay Skiff for a customer who wanted a lightweight but rugged skiff that he could launch from the beach on a dolly.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Ultimate Freight Canoe

The wood-and-canvas Moosehead Laker

Abundant cargo-carrying capacity was uppermost in Francis “Mick” Fahey’s mind when he designed a wood-and-canvas freight canoe for his own use in the 1960s. The canoe’s versatility has made its successors, including this Jerry Stelmok–built Moosehead Laker named FIELD OF STREAMS, popular among camp owners and fishing guides in the Maine lakes.

September 2023

Summer Breeze

The most boat from the least materials

An award-winning 11′ 8″ flatiron skiff designed by David Beede makes the most of three sheets of plywood for the hull and a poly tarp for the sail.

MUSTELID – Episode 7

Introduction to the Venture

In this installment, we are getting ready to cruise, intending to row and sail around Chichagof Island, a distance of about 450 nautical miles—if we were to limit ourselves to the straight and narrow. But first we recap a change of venue, from the Southern Admiralty Wilderness site where we built MUSTELID to our home port of Tenakee Springs, Alaska,…

September 2023

John Greiner, His Way

Fulfilling a dream on the Great Lakes

When approaching his mid 80s, John Greiner decided it was time to graduate from racing to cruising, so he designed and built his dream sailboat for exploring the Great Lakes.

September 2023

Flex Tape vs. Densyl Tape

Finding the right tape for emergency repairs

Tapes for on-the-go temporary repairs to hulls should adhere to wet, curved surfaces, but not all tapes are created equal.

September 2023

A Universal Marine Compass

A steering compass that also serves for hand-held bearings

Silva’s 70UN can be mounted on a bracket for steering a course or hand-held as a bearing compass.

September 2023

A DIY Light Bar

Keeping trailer lights out of the water and in the line of sight

The electrical system is arguably the most vulnerable part of any boat trailer. A removable light bar raises the lights to increase their visibility, keeps them out of the water, and can be used on more than one boat and trailer.