video Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Video: Popular Norwegian Video of John A. Andersen Now with English Subtitles

Posted on May 16, 2018April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

The Norwegian Coastal Federation, Forbundet KYSTEN, has translated a very popular video of theirs. Watching it gives an inside look at boatbuilder John A. Andersen’s pram-building class, and a portion of what KYSTEN is all about. New main titles in English serve to narrate unspoken portions where captioning helps the viewer understand the action, and of course there are new English subtitles for the various speakers. The photography is beautiful, and we envy the students, who get to spend a year building their own boats in a special shop with a master boatbuilder.

About Forbundet KYSTEN:
“The object of the association is to work to strengthen our identity as a coastal people, to maintain, transfer and develop traditional knowledge and practical learning (crafts, seamanship etc.) and to improve the standards of protection of our coastal culture. The local branches rally people from their communities to restore or build replicas of boats that are representative of the particular areas heritage. The original intent was to fix or build boats. But the focus has evolved. The scope of its activities has widened constantly.”

https://vimeo.com/258865692

Amazing Resource: Nick Schade’s How-To Videos

Posted on March 7, 2018April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

Nick Schade has been documenting, on a day-to-day basis, his process for building Guillemot Kayaks‘ designs. The latest is a build of the microBootlegger Sport, a beautiful and sleek double paddle kayak. Here’s the whole playlist on YouTube, which will play the next episode automatically when you finish one.

If you’re building one of Nick’s boats in particular, then this is obvious gold, but there is a lot to glean here for anybody wanting to know more about strip-built or skin-on-frame boats. In an average of 20 minutes per episode, Nick gives a level of detail that both seasoned and beginner boatbuilders will appreciate, as he shares his own personal take on all sorts of aspects of the build, through the entire process, from buying the lumber to doing the finish work.

Not only do you get to see a professional in action, but you get to see Nick screw up, then tell you what happened, and how he fixed it. One episode, “Ruining Expensive Lumber,” certainly got us to click and watch, and he gracefully and openly admits to having accidentally ripped some strips in the wrong direction, yielding some undesirable grain orientation. This is the real deal.

These are beautifully produced videos that are helpful and chockablock full of information. Be sure to check out these other playlists and builds: A skin-on-frame microBootlegger Sport and a Petrel Play.

Have a look at our review of Guillemot’s Noank, a sliding seat pulling boat.

2017 Small Reach Regatta a Success

Posted on July 25, 2017April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

What a turnout and what a variety of boats this year at the Traditional Small Craft Association‘s Small Reach Regatta, held in Brooklin, Maine. The gathering is a labor of love for WoodenBoat Senior Editor Tom Jackson, who returned from a small boat raid in Sweden wanting to have a similar event here in Maine. They’ve been at it for 11 years now.

Here’s a look at the end of their lunch stop on Babson Island as the boats got underway:

The Downeast TSCA’s website explains, “The idea of the SRR is to gather together small sail-and-oars boats for sailing, with the same kind of camaraderie and appreciation that the ERR has established. The boats typically sail courses of 5 to 15 nautical miles on three successive days (Thursday through Saturday) starting from the waterfront anchorage each morning and returning each afternoon. There is no racing, but participants always show keen interest in how their boats perform against others. Many of the boats were built of wood by their owners themselves, and last year seven of them were even designed by their builders.”