August 2023 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Plastimo Fog Horns

Christopher Cunningham — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 19:43:01 +0000

The horns are of the diaphragm type and produce sound by vibrating a membrane that intermittently interrupts the flow of air passing through the horn. I’ve made a few of this type with plastic plumbing parts and in several different pitches. I thought they were loud, but the Plastimo horns are at another level. It takes very little air pressure to make them sound, and an easy puff produces almost full volume.

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WaveFront’s TillerClutch

Kent and Audrey Lewis — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 19:41:59 +0000

When the device is activated by flipping the control lever down, it holds the tiller in the set position. Squeezing the lever partially upward momentarily releases the hold on the control line for quick adjustments. For an unrestricted tiller, the control lever is set in the full up position to allow the tiller to swing freely.

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Bark

Christopher Cunningham — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 19:41:32 +0000

When I had some free time back at the school, I scraped the bark off the roots and split them in half, working the thickest end. An inch-deep cut with a knife was enough to get the split started and then it just had to be steered down the middle. If the split began to stray, bending the thicker side more brought it back in line. I cut a piece of bark and wrapped it around the knife I was using during the workshop, trimmed the bark to make a sheath, and laced it with the split root. Some 20 years later I’m still using that sheath.

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TIME–TRAVELER

Jenny Bennett — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 18:26:33 +0000

Senate, Melissa, and Jeff joined seven other families on the banks of the Willamette River for the annual Family Boat Build. The goal was for each family to build a Salt Bay Skiff—complete but unfinished. The Hills family worked as a team, but they agreed that it was Senate’s project. “I was the senior shipwright, my dad was the tool specialist, and my mom made sure we followed all the instructions.”

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Hiwassee Wanderer

Mike Hoyt — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 18:17:35 +0000

My criteria for choosing a design revolved around the following: stable enough for trolling or casting, ease of transport on and off my car roof rack, light enough to portage, uncomplicated construction for a first-time boat builder, and affordability. I found many resources on the web for one-sheet, lapstrake, and tortured-plywood designs. I settled on his Hiwassee Wanderer design because I felt like it fit well with my key criteria.

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Centerboard Lugger

Scott Sadil — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 18:05:18 +0000

I was taken by the 19′ 9 3⁄4″ centerboard lugger, his Design #166. I was particularly drawn to the simple standing lug, a rig with which I was already familiar, and imagined the design approaching that sweet spot between size, seaworthiness, and ease of handling.

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DIY Oarlock Sockets

James Kealey — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 18:01:05 +0000

The secret ingredient is a $6 Oilite bushing. Oilite is sintered oil-impregnated bronze: powdered metal coalesced into a porous solid, permanently holding lubricant in its interstices. In use, oil travels through the pores of the material to lubricate the bearing surface. Commonly used in motors and machines, Oilite bushings are available in a huge range of sizes including the 1⁄2" and 5⁄8" inside diameters that perfectly match commercially available oarlocks.

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From Birchbark to Trucker’s Tarp

Jenny Bennett — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 17:48:10 +0000

Reid and his wife moved back to New Hampshire, to settle near his parents on a piece of family-owned land. There, he met Bill Gould, an Abenaki basket maker, snowshoe maker, sawyer, and member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation. Bill invited Reid to help him build two bark canoes—a 10-footer and a 12-footer—with materials they harvested. “Before we knew it, we had a 10′ canoe, a 12′ canoe, and a 14′ canoe in the works. From one to the next, our technique improved, and we learned a tremendous amount.

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