September 2022 Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Blackberries for Ali

Christopher Cunningham — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 20:11:28 +0000

In 1978, when I started building boats, and in the years that followed, my interest was only in boats that I could paddle, row, or sail. I began a series of lengthy small-boat cruises in 1980 and took inordinate pride in the thousands of miles I covered under my own steam or by sail. Outboards then were oil-burning two-strokes and I took offense at the noise they made and the rank, blue cloud they trailed. In 1983, as I was putting the last coat of varnish on the Whitehall, if I had foreseen that I would one day willingly clamp an outboard on its beautiful mahogany transom, I could only have imagined that when I reached my late 60s I’d be well over the hill and descending into madness.

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Shellback

Ben Laster — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 19:15:59 +0000

The Shellback is a 11′2″ sailing and rowing dinghy designed by Joel White. The plans are not overly complicated, and the kit comes with everything needed.

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Oonagh

Bill Boyd — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 18:44:02 +0000

Doug designed Oonagh “to combine some of the best qualities of inflatables with the advantages of a traditional dinghy and put it into a package that is a little less hostile to the planet.” This 11′8″ x 5′ glued-lapstrake pram is a small, stable utility boat that can row and sail well, and use a small motor without requiring a lot of power.

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A Portage Too Far

Tom Conlogue — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 18:31:31 +0000

Blue Hill Falls is a short stretch of reversing tidal rapids at the entrance to Salt Pond. Four times a day water pours through the 100′-wide gap beneath the bridge, creating standing waves as the tide floods into and ebbs out of the 3 ½-mile-long pond.

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A DIY Sling Tote

Christopher Cunningham — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 18:05:25 +0000

hen Ben Fuller proposed an article on bags and totes for carrying gear, I was slow to cotton to the idea. I’d been schlepping boating gear without anything to collect...

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Torrentshell 3L

Delaney Brown — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 18:00:01 +0000

The most important considerations for any rain jacket are how well it keeps water out for an extended period and how comfortably it’s able to do so. The Torrentshell 3L is made with a 3.3-oz nylon ripstop face, a polycarbonate polyurethane membrane, and tricot backer and finished with a durable water-repellant (DWR) coating. Many rain jackets are made of just a ripstop outer surface with an internal membrane which can cause clamminess and stickiness. The addition of the tricot backer, a woven nylon inner fabric, helps wick moisture from the body, and I’ve found it to be very effective in this jacket.

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Totes for Boats

Ben Fuller — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 17:50:51 +0000

Stahlsack’s Panama Mesh Backpack and Aqualung’s Traveler 250 Mesh Backpack both have twin, padded shoulder straps and drawstring top openings.

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DREADNOUGHT

Christopher Cunningham — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 17:48:01 +0000

The most common curraghs are about 20′ long and are rowed by a crew of three, but on Ireland’s northwest coast, County Donegal’s paddling curraghs bridge the gap in size between curraghs and coracles. Their bows are nearly round, like half of a coracle, and the rest of the hull extends to a transom typical of curraghs. They have a length of about 8′, right on target for the space on LIVELY. The Donegal curraghs are usually propelled by a paddler kneeling in the bow and using a single-bladed paddle, but since the middle of the last century, some have been equipped with tholepins for rowing.

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