March 2024 Archives - Small Boats Magazine https://smallboatsmonthly.com/issue/march-2024/ Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:38:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Iain Oughtred https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/iain-oughtred/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/iain-oughtred/#comments Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:39:38 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177794 Iain Oughtred, the Australian-born boat builder and designer whose boats frequently appeared in Small Boats, passed away on February 21, at the age of 85, in a hospital near his home on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. During his career as a designer, which began in 1967, Iain designed well over 100 boats. They ranged in length from his 6′ 8″ Feather, a pram dinghy, to the 41′ 8″ Gipsy Queen, a clipper-bowed ketch.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/iain-oughtred/feed/ 15 TripTips Retractable Portable Toilet https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-collapsible-head/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-collapsible-head/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:18:17 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177760 I’ve become accustomed to the comfort and convenience of portable heads, but they’re too big to carry aboard my canoes and small rowing boats. I’d still like to cruise in those smaller boats, but I won’t revert to cat holes, and I’d much rather sit than squat. I had cut down a 5-gallon bucket for my Small Boats Head System to make it more compact for my rowboats, but it’s still a bit large for carrying aboard my canoes. The XL Retractable Portable Toilet from TripTips is even more compact and is easy to fit aboard any boat.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-collapsible-head/feed/ 2 Sailing DORCAS https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/sailing-dorcas/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/sailing-dorcas/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:17:11 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177757 Erik imagined putting a sailing rig on DORCAS, and as he developed the idea, he came up with some design parameters: The rig had to fit inside the back of the truck. The canoe and all its parts had to rest on his truck’s cab and tailgate and be strapped down, as it always had been. The additions to the canoe had to fit in the garage, out of the way of his wife’s car. It had to be exciting but safe under sail, and he didn’t want to be hiking out the whole time. It had to incorporate an outrigger with enough trampoline area between the outrigger and the canoe for the whole family to come along for the ride in comfort.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/sailing-dorcas/feed/ 1 A Duckbill for a Push Pole https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-duckbill-for-a-push-pole/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-duckbill-for-a-push-pole/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:09:14 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177755 The push poles used in the mudflats and marshes in the East Bay area have lengths ranging from 12′ to 18′. There are many different attachments for the bottom end of the pole, and they play an important role. They should provide enough foundation for the pole to push against without sinking too deep into the muck. We tried a few different attachments and they performed marginally well, but on a few occasions we glided quietly away from our pole after I couldn’t pull it from the soft bottom in time to keep from going overboard with it.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/a-duckbill-for-a-push-pole/feed/ 4 The Åland Islands https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/the-aland-islands/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/the-aland-islands/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2024 19:57:13 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177743 It was August, and under a brilliant blue sky we were off to explore the islands of Åland, the autonomous region at the southernmost tip of Finland where Swedish is the official language. Of the more than 6,500 islands, only about 60 are inhabited. The larger islands rise as high as 100′ and are mottled in green, gray, and gold in a patchwork of dense woods, bare bedrock, and summer-dried grass; many of the rest are little more than low, nearly flat spans of rock with almost no vegetation.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/the-aland-islands/feed/ 2 Chamberlain Gunning Dory https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/chamberlain-gunning-dory/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/chamberlain-gunning-dory/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2024 19:45:27 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177739 I looked online for an easy-to-build rowboat that we could use for exploring local lakes and rivers, and perhaps, some camp-cruising. I came across Dave Gentry’s Chamberlain Gunning Dory, based on a design built in 1900, and was intrigued by its skin-on-frame construction and beautiful sweeping lines. I checked with Dave, and he agreed that the design should suit us well, so I ordered the plans.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/chamberlain-gunning-dory/feed/ 1 Fastening Floorboards https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/fastening-floorboards/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/fastening-floorboards/#comments Mon, 12 Feb 2024 19:31:35 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177432 Wood screws can hold floorboards in place, but they’re not suited for being removed and reinserted. Wooden turn-buttons are an effective approach in many cases, but in smaller craft, where floorboards double as seating, they can be obtrusive. I searched for a method of securing floorboards that has a lower profile, permits easy removal, and contributes to structural strength, and adopted threaded brass inserts.

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]]> https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/fastening-floorboards/feed/ 9 Caledonia Yawl II https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/caledonia-yawl-ii/ https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/caledonia-yawl-ii/#comments Sun, 11 Feb 2024 17:39:45 +0000 https://smallboatsmonthly.com/?post_type=article&p=177362 The original Caledonia Yawl, a rugged 19′ 6″ double-ended beach boat designed by Iain Oughtred for clinker plywood construction, has four strakes; this second iteration has seven, and was originally commissioned by a customer in Germany in 1999. The new design proved more stable for sailing while possibly sacrificing some rowing efficiency. Iain based his design of the Caledonia Yawl on the seaworthy double-ended working boats of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, his adopted home.

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