Series

January 2022

RIPPLE

A good-natured dory skiff

Sean Russell is the author several novels about naval warfare in the days of sail, but RIPPLE, the dory skiff he designed as a tender to his sailboat, is meant to lead a more tranquil life.

Going Down the Road

A guide to trailer safety

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - A proper towing vehicle, a trailer well-matched to the boat and properly maintained, and a good grasp of procedures, are the elements of safe trailering.

KATIE

Harry Bryan’s 20' cruiser

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Inspired by N.G. Herreshoff’s Buzzards Bay 12 1⁄2-footer and Joel White’s Flatfish, the 20' cruiser KATIE, designed and built by Harry Bryan, cuts a handsome profile underway.

December 2021

A Twin Cities Boat

A tale of two cities and a boat in three parts

When Matt Morris of Waterloo, Ontario, learned that the restoration of a silted-in lake in the middle of town would include a boat launch, he began to design a sectional boat he could tow to the lake behind his bicycle.

December 2021

Sealskinz

Waterproof warmth for the extremities

Clothing that blocks rain and spray but lets sweat vapor pass through can make boating much more enjoyable. Sealskinz adds an extra level of comfort with waterproof and breathable stretch fabrics.

December 2021

Outboard Winterizing

Maintenance for long-term storage

Small outboard motors like regular exercise but when they’re going to sit idle for the winter months they need some special care. A bit of maintenance assures good performance in the spring and a longer working life.

December 2021

Downed Trees and Muddy Feet

Rowing the Chippewa River Floodplain

For his rowing cruise of Wisconsin’s Chippewa River delta, Tom Pamperin intended to find a loop of the interconnected waterways but found only one dead end after another.

December 2021

Magswitches

Hold-downs for shop machinery

Table saws, drill presses, and bandsaws often require feather boards or fences to do work safely and accurately, but clamping these devices is awkward. Magswitches hold them to ferrous tables and can be turned on and off.

December 2021

Ptarmigan 17

A Selway Fisher pocket cruiser

Created by Paul Fisher of England’s Selway Fisher Design, The Ptarmigan 17 is a pocket cruiser with a comfortable cabin with berths for two and the choice of a gaff sloop or gaff yawl rig.

December 2021

66 Canoe

A canoe-building system from Cape Falcon Kayak

The 66 Canoe from Cape Falcon Kayak was not designed as a set of plans for a single canoe, but as a system to create canoes of different sizes and for different purposes.

The Chebacco Boats

A trio of options

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - There were three original Chebacco boats, all designed by Phil Bolger for Brad Story. Story was a friend of Bolger’s and a boatbuilder, now retired, of considerable talent in Essex, Massachusetts. All three boats feel very much alike on the water.

The Ladybug Pram

It’s a wheelbarrow, and it’s a boat

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - The Ladybug pram, a small dinghy with a wheel permanently fixed in a case in its bow, allows for a nearly seamless transition from the water to a beach, all the while keeping its passengers’ shoes dry. The boat can be built in either a 6' or a 7' model.

Swallow Boats’ SeaRaider

A purpose-designed Raid boat

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - The SeaRaider, a design from the UK-based kit boat manufacturer Swallowboats, was purpose designed for point-to-point small-boat racing events called Raids.

The Kingfisher Power Dory

A self-bailing power dory

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Kingfisher is an outboard-powered skiff whose lineage can be traced back to New England dories. Her topsides are planked in lapstrake plywood, and she has a double bottom that provides both flotation and self-bailing capability.

November 2021

Devon Scaffie

A trailerable keelboat for camp cruising

The Scaffie was designed by John Watkinson, founder of the Drascombe line of small boats, and has been in production in the U.K. since 1978. It is 14′9″ long with a beam of 5′9″ and, at 462 lbs fully rigged, ideal for trailering behind even small vehicles.

November 2021

A Tale of Two Boats

Building the PM-38 once as a teen and again 50 years later

A 7-1/2-page article published in a 1962 issue of Popular Mechanics might seem, by any standard, to be an insufficient guide to building a boat, but Terry McIntyre built the magazine’s PM-38 twice, once in 1962 and again in 2019.

November 2021

A Hitch Mount Canoe Loader

A "helping hand" from Reese Towpower

Loading a heavy canoe or kayak on a roof rack can be difficult, if not impossible, if you try to lift it all at once. With the help of a trailer-hitch-mounted loader, you only have to lift one end at a time—safer for your boat and your back.

November 2021

Deblois Street Dory

Clint Chase designed the Deblois Street Dory in the spirit of New England’s dories. The lapstrake hull, graceful curve of the bow, the tombstone transom, and low sweep of the sheer are all Swampscott dory.

November 2021

A DIY Roller

A table-saw accessory for ripping and crosscutting

While roller stands make it easier to rip long boards on a table saw, a do-it-yourself roller made of a 2x4, fender washers, and joist-hanger nails works for ripping and crosscutting, too.

November 2021

Drop-Center Sawhorses

Better support for boats

Reuel Parker’s drop-center sawhorses do what ordinary sawhorses can’t. They’ll hold a flat-bottomed or round hull upright, upside down, and at almost any angle in between.

November 2021

HIYU and CLATAWA

Pondering pedal power

After taking a few liberties to improve upon a classic Edwin Monk design, inveterate tinkerer Clay Wright equipped the 9’ skiff with a pedal drive of his own design with twin props and on-the-fly shifting from forward to reverse—a masterpiece in pulleys, pillow blocks, and copper pipe.

The AF4

A weekend cruiser from Jim Michalak

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - AF4, an outboard powered beach cruiser with 4" of draft, can boldly go where most boats can't.

The Hvalsoe 16

On its way to becoming a Northwest classic

From the Small Boats Annual 2009 - Although its construction is substantially different from the classic Whitehall pulling boat, representing as it does a compromise between good rowing and sailing performance, the Hvalsoe 16 is squarely in the tradition of the historical type.

GRACE’S TENDER

Easy to love, easier to build

From the 2009 Small Boats Annual - GRACE’S TENDER is a kindly little plywood boat that Arch Davis designed to build with his daughter, Grace. This handsome and capable craft is an exceptionally good first boatbuilding project.

The Hird Island Skiff

Comfortable—and quiet

From the 2009 Small Boats Annual - The reedy shallows of Georgia call for a shoal-draft boat that can easily navigate the channels—and with its electric motor, the Hird Island Skiff can do so without disturbing the peace and quiet.