April 2023 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

ISLAND BIRD

Christopher Cunningham — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:07:12 +0000

We were moving along at a good clip when we sailed into a sudden lull and ISLAND BIRD snapped upright. The hiking boards dropped suddenly and only three of us were able to scramble into the boat. The fourth boardman was flicked off his perch. The Judge looped the boat around and we picked up our AWOL crewman.

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Lillie

Nigel Sharp — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:06:28 +0000

Tom Dunderdale commissioned Paul Fisher of Selway Fisher Design to design a slightly larger version. The result was the Lillie design which, with a length of 14′11″, could be built of stitch-and-glue plywood using 8′ sheets of plywood scarfed together, with seven strakes.

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14′ Whitehall

Christopher Cunningham — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:05:41 +0000

The company, founded in 1986, is based in Gig Harbor, Washington, and produces small composite boats inspired by traditional small craft of the 19th century. Their Whitehall has the appearance of a lapstrake hull, typical of the Whitehalls built in New York prior to 1850. The top three strakes have distinct “laps” that accentuate the hull’s curves and below that the “strakes” are defined by subtle chines, providing a smoother underbody to reduce drag. A molded keel runs from stem to skeg to aid in tracking and the depression it creates inside the cockpit creates a narrow channel to direct bilgewater to the drain.

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Sunlight’s Wake

Phil Boyer — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:03:49 +0000

There is typically little solar benefit to be gained when cruising in the early morning and at 8:15 a.m. the panel was producing only 250 watts while the motor was drawing 800 watts to maintain 5 mph. My battery budget was to draw no more than 600 watt hours from the 10-kilowatt battery bank so I could travel all day and finish the day on a full charge. As the day lengthened, the solar energy increased and the panels produced more and more so that, at times, I could be traveling at 5 mph and yet have a trickle charge into the battery. The power management game was to balance speed and draw—on an overcast day, I would drop the speed and exponentially drop the draw.

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Hüga

Jenny Bennett — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:01:45 +0000

The Hüga cushion, handsewn in Maine, comes from Hüga Heat. Owners Jocelyn Olsen and Colin Grieg describe it as “a smart seating solution that provides long-lasting, steady heat,” and sent me one to try.

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Eyoyo Underwater Video

Christopher Cunningham — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 19:58:45 +0000

Over the years I’ve been hoping to find a new underwater video system that was more compact and equally affordable, and recently decided to take a chance on the $140 Eyoyo Underwater Fishing Camera that I spotted on Amazon.

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YEAH BUOY

Jenny Bennett — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 19:14:28 +0000

Geordie Pickard enjoys building boats, and wanted his next boat to be suitable for fishing and family outings on Puget Sound. “I really wanted an open boat with a large cockpit. I grew up drift-fishing with my dad. He hated noise, so we’d motor to a spot, shut down, and cast homemade jigs for salmon or lingcod or greenling. I still mostly fish that way, and I got tired of having a boat that was enclosed and needed 200-plus hp to move. I wanted something that had a ton of cockpit space, would run with a small motor and plane at low speeds.”

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An Overhead Winch Lift

Joe Whitehead — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:59:29 +0000

I decided to store the canoe above the overhead-door tracks in our 12′-high garage directly above a parking bay. To raise and lower it directly into the truck bed, I installed a worm-drive, double-reel winch. The winch is operated with a cordless drill at the end of a 6′ pole. It’s easy up, easy down, no sweat, and no lines have to be routed from the ceiling and down a wall to a cleat or a winch with a ratchet.

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