February 2026 Archives

In Small Boats this month, we profile a strip-planked kit-built canoe suitable for one or two paddlers, and a folding dinghy designed for sail, oar, and outboard motor. Two friends in a fiberglass sloop join a fleet of wooden boats on a Tasmanian voyage from Recherche Bay to Hobart for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. David Dawson describes how to give a kayak more directional stability by adding a small wooden skeg. Christopher Cunningham reviews automatic vacuum switches for woodworking tools; Audrey and Kent Lewis discover some three-season quick-drying pants that they find ideal for their small-boat adventures; and in Ontario, Canada, we meet an amateur designer and boatbuilder who’s creating ultralight hulls and making the most of his local urban boating opportunities.

Featured on our front cover is the Seahopper Lighter; photograph by Anna Kisby Compton.

From The Editor

A Good Lot of Boat Stuff

A unplanned boatyard visit brings promise of days to come

Encounters in a boatyard fill a need for “boat stuff” in the depths of winter.

Boat Profile

Chestnut Kruger

A sporty 16′ canoe from Newfound Woodworks

At 16′, the Chestnut Kruger from Newfound Woodworks is, perhaps, the ideal canoe size. Ben Fuller reviews the strip-planked kit-built canoe suited to both tandem and solo paddlers.

Boat Profile

Seahopper Lighter

A flatpack boat for sail, oar, and outboard

Nic Compton reviews the Seahopper Lighter, a small folding boat that has been around for more than 50 years and has proved itself as a sailboat, rowboat, motorboat, and load-carrying family tender.

Adventures

The Tawe Nunnugah 2025 RAID

A coastal cruise in Tasmania

Every other year the Living Boat Trust of Tasmania organizes a “raid” for small boats. Sailing from Recherche Bay to Hobart, Tasmania, the raiders’ goal is to arrive in time for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. In 2025 Jan Kent joined them in his Cygnet 20.

Technique

Adding a Fixed Skeg to a Kayak

A simple way to introduce directional stability

Sometimes directional stability is more important to recreational kayakers than a high degree of maneuverability; David Dawson describes how to add small fixed wooden skegs to kayaks of any material.

Product Reviews

Silver Ridge Pants

Moisture-wicking convertible pants from Columbia Sportswear

The convertible Silver Ridge pants from Columbia Sportswear are fast-drying, sun-blocking, relaxed-fit pants that can be worn full-length or as above-the-knee shorts. Audrey and Kent Lewis find them ideal for their three-season boating.

Product Reviews

Automatic Vacuum Switches

Practical solutions for workshop dust collection

To avoid the unhealthy effects of airborne wood dust in his workshop, Christopher Cunningham uses automatic switches that turn his dust collector and shop vacuum on and off whenever his woodworking machines are in use.

Reader Built Boats

PHEATHER 2, Ultralight Canoe

Designing and building a see-through canoe for calm waters

In his quest to make the most of an urban-park lake just a few miles from his home in Waterloo, Ontario, Matt Morris has been designing ever-lighter craft that he can trailer behind his bike. His latest Urban Boat development, PHEATHER 2, weighs less than 12 lbs and has a transparent skin.

Past Issues

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