July 2015 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

While the builder mans the helm and the sheet, the crew keeps his weight aft and is ready to respond to gusts.

Boat Profile

The Mallard

A voyage from fantasy to reality

Inspired by SWALLOW, a boat that first gained fame in children’s fiction in the 1930s, Andrew Wolstenholme’s Mallard measures up to adventures in the real world. A “boat-shaped boat which will genuinely sail” it has “considerable visual appeal to inspire the builder in the first place and along the way.”

Boat Profile

The SailZO

A new kit boat from Bristol, Rhode Island

The sailZO is a 15′8″ double-chined skiff with a beam of 4′5″, designed to perform well under both oar and sail, carry three adults, and afford a couple or a small family the opportunity to explore coastlines and lakes, whether for an afternoon, or an overnight camp-cruise.

OBADIAH and SLIP JIG arrive at the canoe dock in Ewell.

Adventures

American Venice

Chesapeake Bay's Smith Island

Five boats set sail for Smith Island: two Joel White Marsh Cats, an Iain Oughtred Sooty Tern, a Howard Haven 12 ½, and a John Welsford Navigator, all hand-made, mostly owner built. Heading due west, they follow smudges of the island that come and go and when in doubt, aim for buoys, lights, and day markers.

Technique

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.

Product Reviews

The Matsu Drysuit

Affordable cold-water protection from Mythic Gear

The Matsu doesn’t have all the details often found in more expensive drysuits, but the basics are all there and they do their jobs well.

any larger than the pot it's heating. The Emberlit keeps the fire small and contained, minimizing the impact on the wilderness.

Product Reviews

The Emberlit Original

A wood stove that's compact, efficient, and versatile

The Emberit fires up with any burnable material at hand: small branches, sticks, and even dry leaves.

Reader Built Boats

PILGRIM

A Karl Stambaugh Redwing 18

Every time she goes out on the water, PILGRIM draws compliments, and equally often the builder's wife says to him, “This is the best thing you have ever built.”

Past Issues

From The Archives

February 2019

February 2016

October 2020

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