November 2022 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Menorca

Christopher Cunningham — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:42:35 +0000

n 2009, I kayaked the 25-mile-long south coast of Menorca, the northernmost of Spain’s Balearic Islands. I had intended to circumnavigate the island but there was a strong northwest wind,...

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Drake 13

John Larkin — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:41:43 +0000

Selway-Fisher’s 13’ sharpie is a big boat in a small package and accommodates all the gear I need for overnight camping trips; I could probably pack enough in GREBE for a weeklong trip. Building a Drake 13 would be a straightforward project for an experienced builder and a suitable first boat for someone with some woodworking experience. This little sharpie is easy to store and move, even by cartop. I have had so much fun daysailing and camp-cruising this pretty sail-and-oar boat.

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L’Ark

David Harris — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:38:47 +0000

We wanted a relatively small trailerable boat that was suitable for overnight travel. It had to have a galley, a head, and berths for at least two. I also wanted a boat that had a traditional appearance and used readily available materials, not exotic and costly tropical hardwood. And, it had to be possible to build it in my double garage with the tools that I had on hand and with my limited boatbuilding skills. When I came across Philip Thiel’s Escargot, it seemed to fit the bill except for its lack of standing headroom. I noticed that the Escargot plans include four pages of supplemental drawings for a modified version, L’Ark, with the same 18′ 6” length. This four-berth plywood canal cruiser has 6’ standing headroom, a 6″ greater beam than the Escargot’s 6’, and steeply sloped cabintop sides. It looked perfect. I ordered the plans and built a scale model to give me a clear understanding of how the hull was constructed (it is a lot less expensive to make a mistake in balsa than in marine plywood).

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Two Tramps and a Lady

Caroline Kocel — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 18:21:13 +0000

After spending a night at a canal-side campground in Villeneuve-les-Béziers, it was already 80°F by 9 a.m. the next morning. Ben and I each set a now faded, flattened, and folded cushion on a thwart to start our 22nd day of rowing. Three miles later, I clambered out of TRAMP onto the grass and walked along a gravelly cycle path to speak with the lockkeeper. I found him resting his elbows on the railing of the single-lane road bridge overlooking lock Portiragnes. “Are you expecting to use the lock in that?” he quizzed me. I barely had enough time to answer before he declared, “Non.” Asking if I could explain, he interrupted, “Let me explain, boats without motors cannot use the locks. I can show you the rulebook that says canoes can’t go through,” nodding with his head toward the lockkeeper’s house where the document we’d been hearing about for weeks was apparently kept. “We’re not a canoe. We’ve rowed over 260 miles on two canals and been through over 100 locks,” I pleaded, “and we’ve only one more lock to go after this.” “I don’t care,” he puffed. “Pull the boat out.”

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French Whipping

Audrey and Kent Lewis — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 17:44:39 +0000

We start the whip about 3″ from the end of the tiller, leaving room for a tiller-extension fitting should we decide to add one later. The first half hitch is put at the center on top, for appearance’s sake, leaving a short end of cord as an anchor that we capture under the first few wraps. Cotton cord flattens well and the tail end of the cord underneath the whipping won’t be noticeable. After the first few half hitches, we can slip the whip around the tiller to center the starting tag end on top. Then we continue the half hitches and stop every five or so hitches to slide the cords together as needed to provide a pleasing look to the finished whip.

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DeWalt’s Cordless Power Planer

Audrey and Kent Lewis — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:33:48 +0000

The belt-driven, twin-blade cutter head spins at 30,000 rpm, with a minimum speed of 15,000 rpm. DeWalt’s 20V brushless technology increases torque to the motor to keep rpm constant as the load on the blades varies. At the smallest diameter of the mast, 1-3/8″, the planer was easy to control while making fine cuts on narrow faces. As an experiment, I tried deep cuts on a scrap of mahogany and the motor only slowed down if I pushed especially hard to make a fast cut. The brushless motor extends battery life, too, and most times we find that we’re ready for break time even as the planer is still going strong. Weighing just 7.4 lbs, the tool did not significantly contribute to our fatigue.

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Clampdesk

Christopher Cunningham — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:29:33 +0000

Inside, there are two mesh pockets on the left side, the upper one zippered and the lower one open-topped to hold long items. The mesh provides a good view of what’s inside and both pockets are well-protected places to keep reading glasses. On the right, there is a single pocket made of stretch materials that can accommodate letter-sized notebooks and loose sheets of paper. Five elastic loops sewn on the pocket hold pens and pencils.

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AL DEMANY CHIMAN

Christopher Cunningham — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:24:09 +0000

AL DEMANY CHIMAN was relaunched in July 2021 and on the day following the launch Tim, Helena, and Aidan went paddling at Mason Neck State Park, situated in a backwater of the Potomac River about 17 miles downstream from Alexandria. The renovated canoe worked well and the three enjoyed the outing. They’ve been on many more since then. “AL DEMANY CHIMAN has given me not only the experience I had hoped for,” wrote Tim, “but also many lessons. She has proved to be a vehicle—and metaphor—for perseverance and renewal.”

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