April 2021 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

In 1956 Hannes Lindemann made a daring crossing of the Atlantic in a folding kayak to test the role of the mind and attitude in survival. Bolger’s sailing Surf Crabskiff and B & B’s outboard skiff Marissa 18 are the subjects of our Boat Profiles and Japanese nata hatchets and battery tenders get a close look in our gear reviews. Christophe Matson and John Hartmann loop around the Fox Islands on the Maine coast. Leather strops are often used to remove the burr after sharpening, but with fine abrasive compounds applied, they can restore an edge better than sharpening stones. Our Reader Built Boat is a Down East workboat turned cruiser with the addition of a cabin and a wheelhouse.

From The Editor

Hannes Lindemann

Dr. Hannes Lindemann made one of the most daring ocean crossings ever attempted by taking on the Atlantic in a stock folding kayak in 1956. An important part of his training was fixing in his mind that he would succeed and conquer whatever hardships he would encounter.

Boat Profile

Surf Crabskiff

A Bolger Instant Boat

Dynamite Payson, champion of Instant Boats, wrote that Bolger’s Surf “is my favorite and it seems to me about as perfect a blend of overall proportions I could ever expect to see in so simple a shape.”

Boat Profile

Marissa 18

An economical center console outboard from B&B Yacht Designs

Marissa, an 18’ center-console plywood skiff from B&B Yacht Designs, was the winner of a WoodenBoat design contest titled The Pursuit of Pleasure at Two Gallons per Hour.

Adventures

Fox Islands

A Maine coast island cruise

Christophe Matson and John Hartmann launched in Rockland, Maine, to begin a wandering oar-and-sail cruise of North Haven, Vinalhaven, and the myriad of small islands and waterways that surround them.

Technique

Stropping

Leather and compound for sharper tools

A simple leather-faced block and a few stropping compounds are capable of doing much more than remove the burr left by a sharpening stone. The combination can bring the edge to a shaving-sharp mirror finish.

Product Reviews

ProMariner’s ProSport HD6

A marine battery tender

Batteries that power electrical systems aboard boats need special care. A smart battery tender installed in the boat can continually maintain a battery’s state of charge and give it only what it needs to provide reliable performance and a long life.

Product Reviews

Natas

Japanese hatchets

The Japanese nata is a tool that looks like a machete but is used as a hatchet. Designed for gardening, pruning and forestry, it has the weight and edge to be useful for campcraft.

Reader Built Boats

C H K

A Down East workboat

Barry Jensen lives on Canada’s west coast but he was drawn to the lobsterboats of the east coast. He built John Gardner’s Down East Workboat, added a low cabin and an upright wheelhouse, and had his lobsterboat cruiser.

April 2021