July 2022 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

The Norwalk Islands Sharpie 23 and the Excelsior, a strip-built recreational kayak, get a close look in this month’s Boat Profiles. A crew of four in a small lapstrake motor launch cross the North Sea in honor of those who fled from occupied Norway during World War II to fight to free their homeland. Dehydrating food is easy and produces compact, long-lasting ingredients for tasty camp-cruising meals. A folding, portable camp sink and a Sailrite sail kit are the subjects of our Reviews. A retired Alabamian shares the stories of the six boats that span from his childhood to being a grandfather and our editor and his son explore the narrow waters of a local slough.

From The Editor

Mercer Slough

An indelible memory

The Mercer Slough in Bellevue, Washington, flows from a concrete culvert at one end and under 14 elevated freeway lanes at the other, but in between it is surrounded by greenery and songbirds.

Boat Profile

Norwalk Islands Sharpie 23

The NIS 23 is the second to the smallest in a family of Norwalk Islands Sharpies designed by Bruce Kirby, who gave the world his Laser. He called the NIS 23 a “cruising Laser for grownups.”

Boat Profile

Excursion

A strip-built kayak for novice boatbuilders and beginning paddlers

The Excursion is a stable recreational kayak for quiet coastal waters and lakes. The kit from Newfound Woodworks can provide a novice with an easy introduction to strip-building boats.

Adventures

Norway’s England Sailors

Crossing the North Sea to honor Norwegian heroes of WWII

During World War II, hundreds of Norwegians took to small boats to escape their enemy-occupied homeland. Eighty years later, four Norwegian mariners repeated their North Sea crossing to Scotland.

Technique

Dehydrating for Cruising Cuisine

Home-prepared foods that travel well and taste great

With a food dehydrator, you can prepare a wide array of camp-cruising foods that won’t spoil or crush, require refrigeration or protective packaging, or take up much cooking time and fuel.

Product Reviews

Sailrite Sail Kits

Precut panels and patches for a strong and efficient DIY sail

Sailrite’s pre-cut sailcloth kits for small boat sails provide a clear path to a well-shaped sail that can be sewn on a home sewing machine. Audrey and Kent Lewis make Sailrite’s lugsail for their Nutshell pram.

Product Reviews

The Kitchen Sink

A sink that can fit in a pocket

A folding bowl from Germany serves many purposes afloat or ashore and when it’s not in use it makes a flat, compact bundle that’s easy to stow out of the way.

Reader Built Boats

MEGOLA

From corrugated roofing and rusty nails to cypress strips and epoxy

Ernest Pattillo cobbled together his first boat at the age of 10 and built his last, MEGOLA, an electric runabout, at 78. Although his six boats may come and go, his memories of them remain.

July 2022