November 2024 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

In our profiles this month we look at the Wittholz 15—a catboat for home-building—and a United Nations designed skiff for outboard use. Our editor-at-large describes how to make a simple tool to expand the spread of PVC-pipe spring clamps. We review an affordable block plane for the workshop, and a tiller extension suitable for a wide range of sailboats. A Finnish father and daughter encounter high winds and deserted islands on a four-day cruise above the Arctic Circle, and a kit-built rowboat fulfills a lifelong dream for a 94-year-old.

From The Editor

The Can-Do of Small Boaters

Why small boats challenge, unify, and enrich our lives.

Boat Profile

A United Nations Flat-Bottomed Skiff

An 18′ wooden skiff designed for Lake Malawi

This simple outboard-and-oar skiff was designed for fishing in Lake Malawi, southern Africa. Having built one from free U.N. plans, a young New Yorker proves the boat’s worth on the shallow waters of Great South Bay, Long Island.

Boat Profile

The Wittholz 15

A plywood catboat for home construction

A New England–style catboat, the Wittholz 15 is suitable for home-building and offers excellent sailing, a spacious cockpit for as many as six adults, and admiring looks wherever it goes.

Adventures

The Sea of the Sámi People

Sailing the Arctic waters of Lake Inari

A father and daughter take their Ness Yawl north of the Arctic Circle for a four-day high-wind cruise through the islands of Lake Inari in Finland.

Technique

PVC Spring Clamps and a Tool for Applying Them

Simple clamps made more useful with reverse-action pliers

PVC-pipe spring clamps are cheap and easy to make but opening them wide sometimes requires more than hand strength; a pair of reverse-action pliers increases the spread and allows the operator to open the clamps one-handed.

Product Reviews

Jorgensen’s 60-1/2 Block Plane

A new adjustable-mouth low-angle block plane

This adjustable-mouth low-angle block plane is affordable, of good quality, simple, and reliable, making it a must-have tool in a woodworker’s shop.

Product Reviews

The Ronstan Battlestick

An easy-on-easy-off tiller extension

Tiller extensions are not just for high-performance sailboats. This easily fitted example comes in a wide range of lengths and can be used in a variety of boat types.