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For a limited time only, save big with this $10 coupon towards a one-year subscription to Small Boats Magazine. Save $10. Use coupon code: 19THANKS10 We share your passion for boats and we’d like you to be a part of our community. As a member, you’ll be notified of our new content each month, have access to the entire archive of...
To the Black Sea, Series,
Summer heat, torrential rain and the excitement of the first week on the water.
Their destination, Sochi, Russia, was 1,500 miles away as the jet airliner flies, but Finn and Tereza are in no hurry and determined to travel in a manner that’s kind to the environment. They have been underway for a week now. Watch this video to see the beauty and adversity they discover in the first week of their journey, which...
Product Reviews
Oneida's Dust Deputy
...Coast of Florida. Their blog can be found at smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com. The Dust Deputy Deluxe Cyclone Separator Kit is available from Oneida Air Systems for $99.95. The kist is also sold by online andOneida’s selected international retailers. Is there a product that might be useful for boatbuilding, cruising, or shore-side camping that you’d like us to review? Please email your suggestions....
Series, To the Black Sea,
Problem Solving
At Würzberg, Finn and Tereza are joined by Lorenzo, a staffer from their alma mater, the Brockwood Park School. Watch this video to see how our adventurers solve a few problems on their way to the city of Bamberg and the entrance to the canal that will carry them to the Danube river. Watch Episode 6 Back to Video Series...
Series, To the Black Sea,
It's all Downhill (River) From Here
Finn and Teresa continue eastward on the Main-Donau Canal, taking lock aft lock the geographical high point of the voyage. While it was all “downhill” from there to the Danube, their video conveys a grand adventure. Watch Episode 7 Back to Video Series Next Video...
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Series, To the Black Sea,
Cold Weather, Beach Camping and Strong Winds
Finn and Tereza make their way across Hungary, and visit the capital city of Budapest. There they pick up a crewmate, Karl, and carry on down the Danube. Get ready for some wild river sailing! Watch Episode 10 Back to Video Series Next Video...
Series, To the Black Sea,
Navigating the Constantly Changing River
In Slovakia, Finn and Tereza have to get chaperoned by a cargo vessel to be allowed through one of the larger locks, but in the wider parts of the Danube they get some sea room and a breeze. Watch JILL spread her wings and fly. Watch Episode 9 Back to Video Series Previous Video...
Series, To the Black Sea,
Through the Iron Gates
Finn and Tereza enter the Iron Gates where the Danube passes between ranges in Serbia and Romania. Funneling between the steep slopes, the wind is often on the nose. Watch as they tack downstream under a reefed sail. Watch Episode 12 Back to Video Series Previous Video...
Series, To the Black Sea,
Towed Alongside a Barge Doing 7 Knots
Still descending the Danube, Finn and Tereza found the going slow on a stretch of the river between Serbia and Romania. Rather than struggle for meager miles against a headwind, they did what any resourceful wayfarer would do: stick out a thumb and hitch a ride. Every wonder what it’s like to be towed alongside a barge doing 7 knots?...
Series, To the Black Sea,
Ukrainian Merchantman Comes to the Rescue
Joined by a schoolmate for the lower Danube River through Bulgaria and Romania, Finn and Tereza, draw near the Black Sea. One last barrier stands in their way—a canal that doesn’t welcome small boats. Watch as a Ukrainian merchantman comes to the rescue. Watch Episode 14 Back to Video Series Previous Video...
Series, To the Black Sea,
A beautiful day on the Black Sea.
The final week on the Danube brought Finn and Teresa to a short-cut to the Black Sea. Small boats aren’t allowed on the 40-mile-long canal, so they hitched a ride aboard a cargo-carrying motor barge. Join them for their last miles as they relaunch JILL at the end of the canal and row on the Black Sea under sunny skies....
Series, To the Black Sea,
Reflecting on their adventure
In this final video of their series, Finn and Teresa are at their journey’s end: Constanta, a Romanian port on the west coast of the Black Sea. With their boat covered and strapped on a trailer and ready for the return trip to England, the young adventurers reflect on the three months they spent crossing Europe by river and canal....
Adventures
Chesapeake Bay's Smith Island
...many islanders, was never revealed. It’s getting late in the day. A text message comes through from my wife, Terri, saying a storm knocked the power out at home. Whatever did that is coming our way. We pay the tab and head back to the boats to cast off for the mainland. We hear on radio the front is...
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Boat Profile
Fast, shoal-draft, and self-righting
...stop the boat. We should remember this as we approach the dock, lest we come to rest in the parking lot. The original NIS 26 rig measured 302 sq ft. After sailing the prototype, the designer increased the area to 340 sq ft. He also has changed from aluminum masts to sticks made from carbon fiber. The greater heeling effect...
Boat Profile
A fast and handsome 18' kayak
...can follow an unspoiled creek to its source deep in the woods…far from the everyday annoyances of an intensely populated shoreline. Along the way, we’ll rest in shallow coves and watch as the life struggle of the bottom community plays out like a movie six inches below. Nick Schade, a highly regarded designer-builder of kayaks, works out of Glastonbury, Connecticut,...
Boat Profile
A simple, striking, affordable boat
All youngsters might begin their waterborne adventures in flat-bottomed rowing/sailing skiffs. Easy to build, but difficult to design properly, these honest little boats teach lessons in seamanship and self-reliance. At the other end of life’s voyage, a good skiff will take gentle care of old folks as they sail comfortable miles to nowhere in particular. Here’s a flat-bottomed 15’4″ sailing...
Boat Profile
Simple boats for work or play
...often skidded through highspeed turns. If driven too fast with the tillers hard over, they sometimes “tripped” (capsized rapidly toward the outside of the turn). Compared to the old boats, the Ben Garvey’s handling is comfortably predictable and reassuring. Photo by Bill Thomas “They can perform every manner of waterfront task with easy competence and honest grace.” Doesn’t that forward...
Boat Profile
A mini Lake Michigan workboat
...he says he’d revert to Zimmer’s rigging plan, jokingly calling the boat the “world champion for number of feet of line per foot of boat.” There are other complications, too, though they are easily remedied. “I think the rig made sense,” said Hylan, “when the boats were 26′ long.” Why? “Because they had half the complications per pound of displacement.”...
Boat Profile
A soulful little pocket cruiser
...others, to use her as often as I liked, and over the next few summers I grew comfortable, confident, and at home sailing E.B.’s little sloop. I’ve had numerous visits of good fortune in the 24 years I’ve been working here at WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, and high on that list is getting to know and work alongside Joel...
Boat Profile
An electric-powered “steam” launch
...boat is now electric powered. Hulm’s 26-footer, on the other hand, has had an EVA Advanced Electric motor since its launching. “EVA [Electric Vehicles of America] is a small company that set out to provide vehicle conversions — for deliver y vans and the like.” Hulm chose a 36-volt motor, though it will withstand the 48 volts of his battery...
Reader Built Boats
A Gartside rowing skiff made of an unusual wood
...however, and the company is seeking a way to keep the product going. Interested readers should visit the company’s web site for the most up-to-date news. [Editor’s note, January 2021: Vendia’s web site is now offering the planking again.] “Vendia,” Adrian said, “was the only reason I decided to keep building boats. If it’s plywood from now on, then I’m...