CATEGORIES

PLAN STUDY: Annabelle Skiff

Standing around after boating on the local pond, I suggested to my friend, the remarkable Paul Helbert, that I thought he would be better served by yet another boat—specifically, the “10' Rowing and Sailing Dinghy” designed by Howard Chapelle. I would modify Chapelle’s hull for skin-on-frame construction, and Paul would build the prototype. Paul could, for a minimal investment in both time and money, have a sailboat that would be lightweight enough to car-top, yet still had room for a passenger. More importantly, the boat promised jaunty performance as well.

Future Physics of the Birdwing Mast

An inventor’s perspective

Bike Sailing

Building a small, bike-trailerable boat for big water

Preparing a 22-footer for Ocean Crossing

We bought this boat in 1980 as a deluxe model built by Hurley Marine in 1970.

SPOT, SPOT X, inReach, or PLB: Which One?

I like to row, and I even learned how to use a yuloh to move my Potter.

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Superior's NMCA

From the vantage of my home in Bayfield, Wisconsin I see the first leg of many small-boat cruises to the Apostle Islands.

Tent for Coastal Marsh Sleeper

Karen wants us to sail Clam Girl from Cedar Key up or down coast, lodging to lodging. Roger Barnes suggested in his thorough 2014 book, The Dinghy Cruising Companion, “A civilized solution is to sail between small harbour towns and check into a local hotel each night.”

READER BOAT: The Crazy Boat

Sometimes, great imaginative leaps in mankind’s development never quite take off.

Capt'n Pauley

Normally, I talk about hard items like fiberglass, wood, steel or aluminum. Today, I’m offon another tangent—marine fabrics.

For Comfort and Convenience

These are some modifications made to my SCAMP Frisky, to make sailing her more enjoyable.

All the boats in the world by John C.Harris

There’s a formula for a successful proa.

Bahamian Beachcruising

Chartering a Sea Pearl 21 in the Exumas

A New Companionway Door

When I bought my 30-year old West Wight Potter, Blue Knot, it needed a few repairs and replacement parts.

Small-Boat Gear

DUCKWORKS BOAT PLANS

Wood + Carbon Fiber

Are you having trouble getting good wood for your boat projects? You are not alone.

THE PORTAGE

And Other Notes from Doubling the Salish 100

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Isolated Australian Coast

On the opposite side of north Australia from the Great Barrier Reef is a much less-known reef, hugging a rarely visited desert coast, offering soul-feeding beauty that is only amplified by the art of small-boat journeying.

Seascape The Webb Chiles Interview

We caught up with famed sailor and author Webb Chiles just after he’d finished his sixth circumnavigation at age 77.

READER BOAT: AMF Sunbird, Lusty Slogger

On May 1, 2009, while riding my beloved Triumph Bonneville motorcycle on Interstate 40 in Asheville NC, I was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer rig.

On The Beach at Cedar Key

The annual gathering of small craft happens each year on the first weekend in May. It is perfectly located on the tip of a peninsula tucked up in the panhandle of the Gulf of Mexico.

PLAN STUDY: Glen-L 14

Here is a sprightly sloop for sporty sailing the whole family will enjoy.

My Experiment in Retractable Electric Propulsion

Electric outboard motors, the wave of the future, are a great way to propel small watercraft, since they offer several advantages over standard gasoline-powered outboards.

CUSTOM GOAT ISLAND SKIFF

It turns out that I enjoy building and learning about boats even more than I enjoy owning them.

Keeping Up With Your Old Outboard

When the wind doesn’t blow—which is all too common on the Chesapeake Bay where I sail—we need some way to move our boats.

The One That Got Away

That Boat You Wish You Still Had

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Key Lime Sailing Club

Some destination-sailing is often in the mix when it comes to coping with northern winters as a sailor.

READER BOAT: Quinque

Many articles have been written on boat restoration.

PURE AND SIMPLE-THE MICHAEL STORER INTERVIEW

Small-boat designer Michael Storer has a gift for turning the simplest of shapes into easily-built boats that somehow manage to exude elegance.

PLAN STUDY: Crow

I see nothing around me. Georgian Bay, slow to warm this season, is blanketed in thick fog. It is cold and damp in the exposed cockpit, but I’m sailing from inside the warm cabin of my 15'-8" camp-cruiser design, Crow, comfortable in a T-shirt.

Changing Times

As a kid, I was drawn to the idea that wa-ter was not a barrier, but an enchanted pathway if you had the right boat for the voyage.