Boatbuilding for Beginners (and Beyond)

✍ Scribed by Jim Michalak

• Publisher: Breakaway Books
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 240
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book takes the complete novice-armed only with a gleam in the eye, and a basic knowledge of hammer, saw, and screwdriver --- and walks him or her through the process of building a boat. The only materials needed are easily available from any lumberyard: plywood, 2x4s, nails, and wood glue. The process is simple, the result is extraordinary --- your own boat, ready to sail, in just a week or two, for a fraction of the cost of buying a factory-built (boring!) boat. And the sense of accomplishment is beyond compare.

✦ Table of Contents

A Brief Overview of Building a Simple Boat - 6
Publisher's Introduction - 7
Wooden Boat History - 9
Choosing a Design - 15
Materials and Tools - 21
Building Your Boat - 29
The Sailing Bits - 39
Making a Set of Oars - 55
Making Sails - 59
Making a Polytarp Sail - 63
Rigging a Lugsail - 66

Some Other Simple Boats:
Piragua - 72
QT Skiffs - 74
Jonsboat - 78
A Taped-Seam Boat - 83
Robote - 87

Using Your Boat
Rowing - 91
Sailing for Nonsailors: Theory - 96
Sailing for Nonsailors: Doing It - 99
Using a Powerboat - 107
Thoughts About the Weather - 112
Capsize Recovery - 117
Emergency Flotation - 119
Hatches and Vents - 123
Cartopping Boats - 127
Boat Trailers - 130

Appendices
Powerboat Math - 137
Sail Area Math - 142
Joining Plywood Sheets: Butt Straps and Scarfing Methods - 145
Bevels - 151
Resources (Websites, Materials Suppliers, Further Reading) - 153
More Designs - 159

✦ Subjects

sailing, boatbuilding