Boat Profile
Inspired by pangas, in three flavors
...how one wants to balance “boatbuilder” with “boat owner” and “boat user.” Neil Rabinowitz Designer Sam Devlin and his wife, Soitza, enjoy an outing in the Pelicano bassboat Let’s talk about building for a minute. Like all the 90-odd designs in Devlin’s current catalog (www. devlinboat.com), this boat is made of stitch-and-glue plywood with exterior fiberglass-and-epoxy sheathing. The ply is...
Technique
...experience in estimating speed by using a GPS or by calculating speed between known locations under given conditions. Two other essential tools, especially for navigating in reduced visibility, are a magnetic compass and a timepiece, which can be as simple as a wristwatch. The compass should be calibrated so you are aware of its deviation. Using a compass, you can...
Technique
Four more small boat tents
...for the design. Stir Ven, a 22′ sloop (see Small Boats 2007), is one of Vivier’s most successful small boats, several of which would adapt well to raid-sailing or camp-cruising (see www.vivierboats.com). The French call these “randonneurs,” a term adapted for small boats from another kind of adventure, long-distance bicycling. François Vivier A zippered panel forward allows access to mooring...
Boat Profile
From military rescue vessel to family electric launch
...Hunt settled on a modified version of Rescue Minor. William Atkin designed the Rescue Minor in 1942 as a military launch capable of rescuing wounded soldiers and sailors at speed from very shallow waters. The Atkin website (www.atkinboatplans.com) describes the design as a “tunnel-stern V-bottom Seabright skiff.” Besides the Rescue Minor, the Atkins designed several other tunnel-hulled boats, from a...
MUSTELID
Icy Strait
...contours. Right angle feeds collide in sudden rip fields. Fresh water flows over saltwater, dragging across tides. Bores, rips, and whorls abound. Add winds driven by glacier cooled downdrafts from northern quarters. We’ve been learning how to sail this glorious mess over the years, one awkward passage at a time. But we slip through easy, this time. Sort of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dW_yoTGQfM...
MUSTELID
Lynn Canal
...do blow. But we’ve been having such a great time! We hear news of a family gathering up that way, and we’re invited. It’s only 60 nautical miles distant. It’s really been unseasonably mild, right? And we know the ground. Probably sailed it a dozen times. If need be, we can duck down. So, wait… we’re gonna do what? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU0GrX0mpC4...
MUSTELID
Homeward Bound
...hop and go. Well, the forecasts falls short around here, often as not. We take what we’re offered. We pay the toll in muscle and make the crossing. We ratchet our way along Chichagof’s shore until fair wind finds us. All too soon, we round the corner that rounds the voyage. Yet we dawdle, reluctant to end our venture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg6JKNirgIw...
MUSTELID
Epilogue
...notwithstanding—vessel after vessel, year after year? Dreams. Determination. Persistence. We all have dreams. Once we determine to pursue them, we are determined. If we persist, one measly step at a time, we will look back to find that we have the persistence we need. It’s nothing special. It’s within our reach, one and all. Come all o’ ye Dreamers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm5jEMREbnY...
...5,000 a mile, which attracts fly fishermen from all over the world. A strong catch-and-release ethic keeps them coming back. In many ways, the drift boat is the ideal design for such pursuits, but hardly the only choice. For many, the canoe is a more versatile investment, not only capable of running rivers but also an extremely competent means of...
...over 3′ deep, he was “off-soundings.” Jones’s boat has a centerboard, more complex to build than a Windmill’s daggerboard, but much more practical for a daysailer. The completed hull was coated with epoxy, and the inside of the centerboard trunk received a layer of fiberglass cloth for added protection. “I didn’t use ’glass cloth on the hull,” Jones said, “but...
Boat Profile
A jewel of a boat
...danger of writing about beautiful boats—the danger being, of course, falling for the boat you have described. It was all about Oughtred’s Acorn 13. The feeling starts with a deep longing, subjective comparisons with alternatives, and eventually the checkbook comes out as another boat is added to the family fleet. There is always an excuse—and in this case it was...
Boat Profile
A faering for today’s oarsman
...that it would get a little ‘interesting,’ but I got through that really remarkably safely, without water coming in.” Preparing for the Blackburn Challenge rowing race in Massachusetts (see www.blackburnchallenge.com), he did a 15-mile open-water row. “I learned a lot about rowing downwind with 2′ rolling, whitecapping seas—how much work it is to keep a boat on course. When I...
Boat Profile
A runabout for adventure
...Mele said the recreational boating industry has been selling adrenaline and glory to the males, and white knuckles to the wives and children, for years. The Rambler 18 is a stable, comfortable, and economical alternative to this mass-market phenomenon. Plans and completed boats are available from Harry Bryan, Bryan Boatbuilding, 329 Mascarene Rd., Letete, NB, E5C 2P6, Canada; 506–755–2486; www.harrybryan.com....
Boat Profile
A speedy little runabout
...company’s 92 years of operation, from the mid-1950s until the company dropped wooden boats from its product line in 1969. For much of the company’s history, cedar-strip hulls were the norm. The Thomboy, one such boat, was introduced in late 1951 for the 1952 model year by Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. during the economic boom after the end of...
Boat Profile
A Norwegian motor launch descended from Viking ships
...beautiful wooden boat!” There’s hope yet. For more information, contact Andrew Wallace, Traditional Boatworks, www.traditionalboatworks.com. Andrew Wallace/Tim Estabrook Particulars: LOA 24′ Beam 8’6″ Power 22-27 hp diesel Andrew Wallace/Tim Estabrook The sailing forebears of the snekke are apparent in the lines of Andrew Wallace’s interpretation of the type. Snekker typically measure under 25’ overall, and are relatively firm-bilged and double-ended....
Boat Profile
A pedal boat with a fin drive
...end are accessed through deck hatches. You sit facing forward in a comfortable canvas seat that is reminiscent of an early wood-framed lawn chair. The seatback can be adjusted fore-and-aft to fit various leg lengths and make the pedaling comfortable and effective. The pedals swing on a common rod held by three wooden cleats close to the boat’s bottom, and...
Boat Profile
A performance yacht tender
...sewing as it does with traditional boatbuilding. In sewing, the curved edges of flat sheets of fabric are stitched together to yield a sometimes-complex three-dimensional shape. In stitch-and-glue boatbuilding, flat sheets of plywood are cut to precisely curving shapes, and the edges of them “sewn” together to yield a hull. The sewing is commonly done with copper wire or cable...
Boat Profile
...solo, go now.” Plans are available from Duckworks Boatbuilder’s Supply, www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/domergue/marshduck/index.htm. Christopher Cunningham Particulars LOA 18′ Beam 3′ 6″ Draft 4″ – 8″ Sail area 107 sq ft Christopher Cunningham Marsh Duck combines the best elements of a sailing canoe, an ocean rowing boat, and a racing dinghy. She carries three reefs, and her 107 sq ft of sail may...
Boat Profile
A Herreshoff 12 1⁄2, in miniature
...longevity,” said Paine. “I want this thing to be around 100 years from now.” If the Paine 14’s predecessor is any indication, that’s not too tall a wish. For more information, contact Chuck Paine Yacht Design, www.chuckpaine.com. The Paine 14’s sail plan is proportionally larger than the Herreshoff 12½’s, and the underbody is decidedly up-to-date with its foil-shaped keel and...
Boat Profile
A historic sharpie type— with variations
...you’re a sitting duck if the wind hits you.” Given that experience, the simplicity of the sharpie’s rig, not to mention its hull form, kept Kitchen coming back to Parker’s book. The boat would be easy to handle while sailing alone, even in comparison to his Ness yawl, which he ordinarily sails with crew. Ideas started to percolate. Rosemary Wyman...
Boat Profile
Tender, daysailer, trainer
...sailboat, it lives on a trailer in the driveway, and we often haul it to nearby ponds and rivers for family outings. Plans for Beach Pea are available from The WoodenBoat Store. To correspond with the designer or to learn more about the larger version of Beach Pea, contact Hylan & Brown Boatbuilders https://www.dhylanboats.com/design/plans/beachpea_plans/ Beach Pea’s lines show a symmetrical...
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Boat Profile
A nicely mannered rowboat
...Museum in Searsport, Maine, has been messing about in small boats for a very long time. He is owned by a dozen or more boats ranging from an International Canoe to a faering. Penobscot Wherry Particulars [table] Length/15′ Beam/52″ Weight/125 lbs [/table] Finished boats are available from Cottrell Boat Building, 285 Mt. Ephraim Rd., Searsport, ME 04974; 207-548-0094; www.cottrellboatbuilding.com....
Adventures
A solo sail-and-oar adventure race
...moving nonstop for 22 hours, covered 55 nautical miles, and rowed the last 12. I needed sleep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVRrIpFWHeI&feature=youtu.be The low-hanging sea grape trees and mangroves were not ideal for the hammock—their skinny limbs bowed under the strain. The hammock had mosquito netting, but in the time it took to climb in and rezip, 50 mosquitoes had made it in with...
Boat Profile
100 Years as a Class
...of the Good Wood Boat Company launched a new dinghy with sail number GBR 50. David Stephenson On Ullswater, a lake in NW England, Richard Fielden and Stephen Berrisford sail in Force-7 winds on the maiden voyage of dinghy GBR50. She’s one of the few 12-Foot dinghies with reef points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjHwBq2y5lw The dinghy was adopted as the singlehanded boat for...