Technique Articles - Page 3 of 4 - Small Boats Magazine

Lowering the centerboard and "tacking" can make rowing to weather easier than fighting the wind head on.

September 2016

Tacking for Rowing

An unusual use for a centerboard

Ready about? Centerboards and tacking aren’t just for sailing. If you’re rowing against a strong wind, dropping the board and taking a ziz-zag course may be easier than fighting your way straight upwind.

Dyneema rope, with spliced in stainless-steel thimbles and simple lashings, makes strong, do-it-yourself standing rigging.

August 2016

Synthetic Fiber Rigging

Stronger than steel

If your boat has standing rigging, stainless-steel wire and the special tools it requires aren’t your only option. John Marples introduces us to high-strength Dyneema rope. It’s every bit as strong as steel and you can install all the fittings by yourself.

I used the Siwash system frequently with my Gokstad faering on a second cruise up the Inside Passage. The anchor is ready to drop over the side with the retrieval line secured to the stock and the chain, rode, and painter joined to the shank.

July 2016

Tsimshian anchoring

Dropping the anchor while standing ashore

When you come ashore for a quick stop or for an overnight stay, Tsimshian anchoring is a simple way to keep your boat afloat and off the beach.

Stout ski poles offer a way to move upstream in the shallows while kneeling rather than standing in a canoe.

June 2016

Double Poling

A different take on a traditional technique

Poling a canoe is a skill that requires good balance and lots of practice. Peter Macfarlane took a hint from cross-country skiers and applied double-poling to working a canoe upstream in shallow water.

May 2016

Living with Sprit Sails

Brailing, Reefing, and Furling

The sprit rig’s simplicity works well for boats that are frequently launched and recovered.

Careful drilling of the pilot hole is required to recess the screw head. The gap in the collar assures that it can be drawn up tight.

April 2016

Quick Collars, Simple Buttons

Easy alternatives to leather collars

A kitchen cutting-board produced a simple collar and bits of hardwood led to a quick-shifting 3-speed oar.

This full footboard is in a late 19th-century wherry built in Shrewsbury, England. Four slats offer three positions to adjust for leg length.

March 2016

Foot Braces

Rowing's firm foundation

You can’t really pull on oars if your feet have nothing to push against. Ben Fuller offers a number of ways we can brace ourselves.

The curves of this cutter match two Dremel grinding bits. It took only a couple of minutes to repurpose this bit of hacksaw blade.

February 2016

Profile Scrapers

Adding Accents to Edges

With a simple shop-made tool you can bring out the best of your boat’s curves with a decorative touch, a tradition that goes back a thousand years.

Author Dale McKinnon, in her sliding-seat equipped light dory, makes her way into a headwind and waves,

January 2016

Rowing Rough Water

When the going gets tough, relax

Hard-won lessons from an experienced long-distance rower may come in handy when you’re struggling to reach a safe haven.

This small fence of locust wood took about five minutes to make.

December 2015

Planing Edges Square

Shop-made fences for planes and routers

When you give a plane a sharp edge and set it to make a fine cut, it’s easy to come neatly up to the pencil line you’re cutting to. It’s not so easy to keep the plane square to the work, especially if its sole is teetering on a narrow edge.

With the sleeping bag in place, the bunk is ready for the night.

November 2015

A Canvas Bunk

Simple comfort built around a camping pad

WoodenBoat’s senior editor Tom Jackson tells of a miserable night at anchor aboard his No Mans Land boat and the canvas bunk he made soon afterward, inspired by Lord Nelson’s lavishly embroidered bed aboard HMS VICTORY.

Reaching in about 12 mph wind, with whitecaps beginning to form. It will soon be time to reef. The upper yard is suspended from a pair of ‘lifts’ that spread load on the spar and also raise the pivot point. The downhaul next to the mast can tension the lower spar as needed and transfers sail thrust to the hull, reducing strain on the pair of sheets attached to the lower corners.

October 2015

Square Rigs for Small Boats

An update for an ancient rig

With a few subtle modifications the hallmark of tall ships can be put to good use on small boats. The evolution from square rig to lug rig inspired a sail that can make that transition.

September 2015

Homemade Rivets and Roves

Hammering common copper into shape

There are times when you just need just a handful of copper rivets, or some longer than those available.

Two circular saws and the curves they cut through common 3/8" CD plywood: The smaller blade of the cordless saw made the cut at right with a tighter radius.

September 2015

The Taming of the Sheet

Sawing plywood made easy

Not many home shops have the space or the machinery to facilitate cutting sheets of plywood down to size. A sturdy sheet of insulating foam is an inexpensive and versatile solution to the problem.

A batch of clamps going into my foam steam box will be ready for cleaning in about 5 minutes.

August 2015

Steam-Cleaning Cured Epoxy

Cleaner clamps and faster clamping

Clamps coated with epoxy from gluing jobs soon become useless but there's a quick way to get them fully functional again.

August 2015

The Norwegian Tiller

User-friendly steering

Norwegian tillers—they're not just for faerings. They'll go where the helmsman goes and free up space in the stern. Depose your conventional tiller and reoccupy your sternsheets!

When made and installed properly, the fenders will protect the sheer and resist riding up out of place when boats jostle against one another.

July 2015

Rope Fenders

A Norwegian Tradition

In Stavern, Norway, manila-rope fenders serve to adorn and protect the boats. During whale-hunting days, discarded towing lines were put aside by crewmen aboard the whalers and in their spare time, they used these spent lines to produce fenders.

Friction will hold the cam lever in place securely even though the pin isn't at top dead center.

June 2015

A Cam-Lever Planking Clamp

Homemade planking clamps as good as a helping hand

Cam-lever planking clamps can be applied with one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold and align the plank, and they’re very fast to operate going on and coming off.

Having the monkey's fist and its heaving line tied together instead of all one piece frees both to do other jobs.

May 2015

A Monkey’s Fist and Heaving Line

Seperate and versatile

Having a heaving line and monkey’s fist at the ready may spare you the embarrassment of throwing a line only to have it land in a heap far short of its target.

Bailing as if it matters will move about 25 gallons per minute

May 2015

Making a Wood and Leather Scoop Bailer

What a cut-up bleach bottle wishes it were

A few bits of scrap wood, a piece of leather, and a handful of copper tacks will bring elegance back to bailing.

The varnish is wiped on in "panels." Here Don is applying varnish to the planks bordered by the thwart frame and the transom and stern seat compartment.

April 2015

Wiping Varnish

Final coats fast and close to flawless

I had just finished again sanding out the wiggly, wavy, saggy results of my latest brushed varnish attempt on my wherry interior. I’d bought yet another quart of expensive marine spar varnish and was discouraged that I could expect most of it to wind up in the shop vacuum. In the dusty reaches of my memory I recalled an article by a furniture maker describing his efficient wipe-on varnishing technique.

March 2015

Quick-Release Tension Knots

Small-Boat Rigging on a Shoestring

There are lots of jobs aboard the boat and in camp that can be performed well with a bit of line, and a few variations on a simple quick-release tension knot. Tension is easy to achieve and adjust even without blocks and the absence of fittings keeps things cheap and quiet.

February 2015

Thermos cooking

Hot meals cooked while you're under way

When I'm out cruising I’m generally too lazy to do anything fancy to feed myself. Then I discovered thermos cooking. It’s so simple that I now regularly cook hot meals.

January 2015

Comfortable Seating for Sailing a Small Rowing-and-Sailing Skiff

The trim of a small boat dictates where you need to put your weight; adding width and wings to the center thwart will give you a place to sit when you’re where you belong.

The inner tube has more than enough length to get water out of a boat with 6' beam. The hose is set up without twists to assure the unimpeded flow of the water.

December 2014

A Hose for a Bilge Pump

Repurposing a bicycle-tire inner tube

The manual bilge pump that I use for my kayak isn’t very useful aboard my other boats. Without a hose it can’t get the water from the centerline some 3’ to the gunwale and overboard. My other pump, the one with a hose attached, went missing one day and I came up with a way to add a nice long hose to my kayak pump. I had an old bicycle inner tube that was just the right diameter to stretch over the spout of the pump. As a hose, it worked like a charm.