March 2024 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Two double-enders, Iain Oughtred’s lapstrake Caledonia Yawl II and Dave Gentry’s Chamberlain Gunning Dory, are this month’s Boat Profiles. A handy duckbill attachment for a push pole, and a retractable portable toilet are reviewed in our product pages while a new method for fastening floorboards is described in our Technique piece. A German couple sail through Finland’s Åland archipelago in their replica of a Danish workboat from 1892. An aeronautical engineer woodworker builds a strip-planked canoe and then converts it for sailing. And our editor bids farewell to a master of small-boat design, Iain Oughtred, and honors his life and work.

From The Editor

Iain Oughtred

1939–2024

On February 21, the small-boat community lost Iain Oughtred, the designer of over 100 boats, many of them popular with amateur boatbuilders around the world.

Boat Profile

Caledonia Yawl II

An updated sail-and-oar classic

Iain Oughtred’s lapstrake yawl updates the original from four strakes to seven but it remains an iconic double-ender for sail and oar.

Boat Profile

Chamberlain Gunning Dory

Dave Gentry's skin-on-frame version of a Massachusetts classic

Based on the design of a Marblehead gunning dory of the early 20th century, Dave Gentry’s skin-on-frame dory can accommodate a solo rower or the whole family.

Adventures

The Åland Islands

Sailing Finland's labyrinthine archipelago

The Åland archipelago is a small-boat paradise, with hundreds of islands and little traffic. The summer days are long and the nights cool. A German couple live out their voyaging dream under sail and oar.

Technique

Fastening Floorboards

An alternative approach to securing floorboards

In small boats where the only place to sit is often the floor, floorboard fastenings can be obtrusive, but replacing traditional turn-buttons with threaded brass inserts is an effective alternative.

Product Reviews

A Duckbill for a Push Pole

A push-pole attachment for muddy shallows

In shoal waters, push poles are important tools, but many can get stuck in the muck. The Duckbill Attachment opens wide to limit sinking, then folds to afford easy retrieval.

Product Reviews

TripTips Retractable Portable Toilet

An easier way to pack out waste

Packing-out waste from campsites is essential but not always easy in small boats. The Retractable Portable Toilet packs small, weighs little, and keeps campsites unspoiled.

Reader Built Boats

Sailing DORCAS

How a canoe built for paddling was reimagined for sail

Erik was happy paddling the strip-planked canoe he’d built, but he still longed to sail. He made his daydream a reality by designing and building an outrigger and a simple sail rig.

Past Issues

From The Archives

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