June 2022 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Our Boat Profiles feature a tandem double-paddle canoe and a plywood utilitarian outboard skiff. Roger Siebert sails the protected coast of a Texas barrier island and we look at a DIY spinnaker for rowboats. A waxed-canvas tool roll and a small hatchet with a large blade are the subjects of our product reviews. A plywood double-paddle canoe is this issue’s Reader Built Boat, and our editor surveys the tarp-covered boats that surround his home.

From The Editor

A Bad Wrap

Sheltering boats with plastic tarps

For the boats that don’t have a roof and four walls to surround them, the only protection they have from hail, rain, sunlight, and snow comes from plastic tarps.

Boat Profile

microBootlegger

A decked canoe with a Roaring Twenties flair

Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks combined the function of an 1880s Rushton double-paddle canoe with the look of a 1920s speedboat, to create an elegant strip-built tandem paddlecraft.

Boat Profile

Brockway Skiff

A budget-friendly skiff for professional and recreational watermen

Richard Earle Brockway of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, built 5,000 boats before he passed away in 1996 at the age of 76. His utilitarian 14′ plywood skiff is quick and inexpensive to build.

Adventures

Padre Island

Soloing along a Texan barrier island

Padre Island stretches for 113 miles along the Texas coast and separates the Gulf of Mexico from Laguna Madre. Roger Siebert, soloing his 15′ lug-rigged skiff, explores the protected west coast of the barrier island.

Product Reviews

Readywares’ Tool Roll Bag

A waxed canvas, 18-pocket tote for boat and trailer tools

With 18 pockets for tools and a zippered pocket for small items, this waxed canvas roll can keep the tools you need on the road or afloat in a compact water-resistant bundle.

Product Reviews

Ono Hatchet

A camper's hatchet from Silky

I like the configuration of the Ono—a small hatchet with a big blade—and found it as able a cutting tool as the other Silky tools I’ve bought.

Technique

A Spinnaker for Rowers

Running without rowing

With one oar for a mast, the other for a rudder, and a homemade spinnaker, you can put a following breeze to good use and take a pleasant break from rowing.