100 Boat Designs Reviewed

Well-known as the editor of the best-selling annual Mariner's Book of Days, Peter Spectre lives in Spruce Head, Maine.

Now in its 13th year, The Mariner's Book of Days is an ever-growing encyclopedia of nautical fact, fiction and folklore. On each right-hand page is a week of days, with the nautical significance of each explored in brief. On each left-hand page is a collection of nautical miscellany evoking the rich traditions of the sea, illustrated with a variety of etchings, engravings, sketches and watercolours. The Mariner's Book of Days takes readers on a 365-day voyage through history.

Richard Kolin has been building boats for 25 years. He has designed and built skiffs for both plywood and plank construction.

The dory has seen duty as a fishing boat, lumberman's batteau, lifeboat, recreational rowing boat, and racing sailboat. The most comprehensive book about dories ever published, this is at once a history of the dory, a practical handbook on dory building, and a compendium of 23 dory designs with full construction details. The author, a longtime contributor to National Fisherman, and the illustrator, Sam Manning, are perhaps the foremost experts on the subject. A steady stream of letters and photographs to the late John Gardner from successful dory builders worldwide has been testimony to the widespread popularity and influence of this book.

As a child, John Brooks loved to build models and sail with his grandfather. When most teenagers were at the prom, John was changing jibs in the Indian Ocean, halfway through a 35,000-mile, two-year cruise. He began building boats in commercial yards at 19, while studying boat design and building his own boats. John worked for many years honing his craftsmanship on fine yachts, small boats, custom furniture, and a harpsichord. He has been a instructor at the WoodenBoat School in Maine since the mid-1990s, teaching glued-lapstrake boatbuilding, fine interior joinery, and carving. Ruth Ann Hill grew up on the coast of Maine. A writer, boatbuilding assistant, naturalist, and graphic artist, Ruth is the author of Discovering Old Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park: An Unconventional Guide and a contributing editor for Maine Boats & Harbors magazine. John and Ruth started their business, Brooks Boats, in 1991. They design and build glued-lapstrake boats in West Brooklin, Maine-and get out to enjoy their handiwork in its proper element whenever they can.

David C. "Bud" McIntosh was a designer, builder, and sailor of large and small wooden cruising boats for more than 50 years, and wrote about it for over 10 of those years. He made his home on New Hampshire's Piscataqua River, where he was teacher and friend to both amateur and professional boatbuilders.

From the acknowledged master of the “instant boat”—tips, techniques, and designs for quick-and-easy plywood boatbuilding Dynamite Payson offers you a new guide to building 15 exciting boats from master designer Phil Bolger. Instant Boatbuilding with Dynamite Payson includes plans and instructions for a multipurpose skiff for sail, oar, and power; a pirogue for single or double paddle; a big pram dinghy; a maneuverable peapod; a long, fast, rowing dory; a rugged outboard-powered work skiff; and more. You will enjoy the commonsense advice, step-by-step building instructions, and tips on tools and materials that have made Payson a hero of amateur boatbuilders worldwide.

Clear concise manual for amateurs offers detailed illustrated instructions for building 16 basic wooden craft — rowboats, sailboats, outboards, runabouts, hydroplane, more. 15 halftones. 49 line illustrations.