September 2015 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

With his brother at the helm, the author enjoys the results of his 5-year project.

Boat Profile

Clam Skiff

A Bolger-designed workboat

The 18’ flat-bottom clam skiff Phil Bolger designed for Harold “Dynamite” Payson had to be “a solid skiff that could stand generous power, carry a big load, and have flat footing right out to the side. Nothing about it should be hard to explain.

A handhold at the board's balance point makes carrying easy.

Boat Profile

The Sand Bar by Tidal Roots

A Maine-built cedar SUP board

Kyle Schaefer and Kent Scovill are avid fly fishermen and four years ago, when a friend left a stand-up paddleboard with Kyle, they immediately used the board to give them a better way to find fish. A light went on: What if they designed a board for stability rather than speed, one that was built in Maine out of local materials, and built it of wood? They now make stand-up-paddle boards in a weathered, three-bedroom house in Eliot, Maine.

The put-in on Lobster Stream is just upstream of its confluence with the West Branch of the Penobscot River. We were all excited, a tad anxious, and already tired following the long journey from home. The 2-mile paddle up to Lobster Lake is, strictly speaking, upstream but in practice it’s an easy flat water trip. TINTIN, in the foreground, carries gear for a family of four.

Adventures

Investing in Memories

Canoe camping in northern Maine

Donnie and Erin Mullen were seasoned wilderness travelers, trained at Outward Bound and hardened by long forays into remote regions, but how would they hold up on a northern Maine’s canoe trip that required carrying toys and diapers?

Technique

Homemade Rivets and Roves

Hammering common copper into shape

There are times when you just need just a handful of copper rivets, or some longer than those available.

Two circular saws and the curves they cut through common 3/8" CD plywood: The smaller blade of the cordless saw made the cut at right with a tighter radius.

Technique

The Taming of the Sheet

Sawing plywood made easy

Not many home shops have the space or the machinery to facilitate cutting sheets of plywood down to size. A sturdy sheet of insulating foam is an inexpensive and versatile solution to the problem.

Torqeedo's outboards with ratings up to an equivalent of 8 hp, are designed without anti-ventilation plates. The foil-sectioned shafts of all but the smallest outboard aid in keeping surface air from getting to the prop.

Product Reviews

Torqeedo’s Travel 1003

Clean, quiet outboard power

Torqeedo's Travel 1003, a sophisticated electric outboard that delivers clean, quiet power for small boats, will tell you how fast you're going and how far you can go; it will even charge your cell phone.

Reader Built Boats

SAOIRSE

A sharpie skiff

A Reuel Parker sharpie skiff was the realization of a New York boy’s dream to have a boat of his own. For a half century the dream was only a dream, but when a pile of lumber was delivered to his Florida home, it was finally time to do something about it.

Past Issues

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