It’s Not About Size

When talking to Small Boats readers and prospective readers, one question comes up more than others: “How small is a small boat?” I think what is meant by the query is “How big can a small boat be?” It’d be great to reply with some specific numbers: “So long by so wide.” But the real answer is neither so cut-and-dried, nor so succinct. A small boat, by our definition, is a boat that can be maintained and stored at home—in a driveway, garage, barn. It can be, if not cartopped, trailered behind an average family car. It can be launched and recovered without the need of commercial lifts or outside assistance. In short, the size range of small boats is broad and flexible.

This first issue of the new year highlights this diversity perfectly. At one end of the scale we have boats designed by Tracy O’Brien and built by Steve Wenger in Colorado. O’Brien’s designs for plywood-construction open boats for amateur builders are simple, well suited to their purpose, and yes, some of them are quite small. But at the other end of the scale we have the BayCruiser 23, a sophisticated fiberglass sailboat with accommodations for four. With its 23′ length and 8′ beam, the BayCruiser could be considered quite large and out of sync with our prerequisites. But the BayCruiser is water-ballasted and while its maximum weight might be 2,972 lbs, its unballasted weight is 1,870 lbs, making it a boat that can be launched and recovered by a single person, trailered behind an average-sized car, and easily stored in a driveway or small barn for at-home maintenance.

Small Boats

BABY BLUES is a well-loved and much-used Phil Bolger–designed Idaho sharpie. At 31′ she might not be everyone’s idea of “small,” but thanks to her shoal draft and flat bottom she’s a fast, roomy beach cruiser, and her light hull weight means she can be trailered behind a family SUV.

And the range can be even more exaggerated. Take, for example, Tyler Ellis’s diminutive STELLA ROSE, a runabout for the back of the car, featured in last month’s issue, or AVANTI featured in May 2021—with overall lengths of 6′ 10″ and 7′ 2″ respectively, both are most definitely “small.” While, at the opposite end of the premise is BABY BLUES, a trailerable Phil Bolger Idaho sharpie (seen above), which at 31′ LOA may not be small in length but, with a beam of just 5′ 3″ and a minimal draft of 6″, is clearly “small” at heart.

New Life for a Regifted Canoe

From Maine, Small Boats’ proofreader, Jane Crosen, sent us a family story that ended our year on a hopeful note. She writes:

“Some years ago my brother, Glenn Crosen, had been gifted a vintage Old Town canoe in thanks for helping a neighbor through a challenging situation. After moving to Standish, Maine, where he had little storage space and a runabout better suited to his boating style and Sebago Lake’s big waters, he decided to pass the canoe on to someone who would enjoy and take care of it, and asked me to reach out to my friends and colleagues in Maine’s wooden-boat community. He sent me photos and a few details of the canoe—a graceful classic, green with bright trim and interior—which on a May morning I forwarded to a few friends who might be interested: Restored 1946 Old Town Otca canoe, 17′ with 34″ beam, wood and canvas, hull #176046.

“I heard back right away from Tom Jackson, WoodenBoat’s associate editor, who knew a special canoe when he saw one. Then, a few hours later, I received a reply from my friend Steve Keith, a canoe builder in Grand Lake Stream, Maine. Steve had an amazing story of serendipity and, it seemed, destiny.

Courtesy of the Crosen family

When Glenn Crosen moved to Maine, he had little storage space and, with a runabout better suited to his boating wishes, wanted to pass his 1946 Old Town canoe on to someone who would appreciate and take good care of it.

“That very morning, Steve had gotten a call from Jenny Land Mackenzie, a young teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont, who had owned two canoes that Steve had built—identical 17′ wood-and-canvas canoes designed by Rollin Thurlow. The first had been built for Jenny as a 1996 college graduation present from her parents; after plenty of adventures on lakes and rivers, it had been destroyed in a 2020 barn fire at her home in Peacham. The next year, Steve had helped Jenny replace her beloved canoe by putting her in touch with his friend Fred Morrison, for whom he had built the other canoe. Fred had rarely used it, mostly paddling a different canoe—one he didn’t have to worry about scuffing—and was willing to let her buy it. Jenny and her husband John rebuilt their historic barn and stored the second canoe aloft with a pulley system. It, too, had some nice adventures. Then, in July 2024 Hurricane Beryl flooded their stream, washing their barn and canoe, their cars, and most of their yard downstream, and wrecking their house. Now, having finally recovered from the flood disaster, on this May 2025 morning Jenny had called Steve asking if he would build her a new canoe. And there, in Steve’s inbox, were pictures of just the kind of canoe she was looking for, being offered as a pass-along gift to someone who would appreciate it.

“Meanwhile, however, Glenn had quickly said yes to Tom Jackson as the first taker.

“When I relayed Steve’s email with Jenny’s story, it became clear to all that the serendipitous timing pointed to Jenny as someone well deserving of a regifted canoe, who had loved and lost and would treasure this one. Glenn and Tom did the right thing, and in late summer Jenny and John came to Standish to pick up the canoe, lingering to visit like old friends and paddle the canoe in the Songo River. Back in Vermont, Jenny wrote to Steve, ‘You and Glenn rescued me… The beautiful old canoe is enjoying lakes near our home in Craftsbury.’”

Courtesy of Jenny Land Mackenzie

Having loved and lost two wood-and-canvas canoes, Jenny Land Mackenzie gratefully took ownership of Glenn’s canoe and returned with it to Vermont. She has since used it extensively on the lakes around her home in Craftsbury.

In closing, Jane let us know that Glenn sadly passed away shortly after Jenny and John picked up the canoe. But, she said, Glenn felt great about passing the canoe along to Jenny, and having a special visit with them just before he died made the gift all the more meaningful.

From everyone at Small Boats, we wish Jane, Jenny, and all our readers a happy new year filled with peace, promise, and paddling, wherever you are.