Boatbuilding for Beginners (and Beyond)
  Everything you need to know to build a sailboat, a rowboat, a motorboat, a canoe, and more!
Yes, you can build a boat! it's one of the most enjoyable, rewarding things you can do.
This book contains full building plans for 6 different boats, including a 14-foot sailboat, a 2-person canoe, 2 rowboats, and 2 motorboats. And it contains instructions for making your own oars, making your own sails, and a wealth of other practical information.
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 basic materials are easily available from any lumberyard: plywood, boards, nails, and wood glue. The process is simple, the result is extraordinary—your own boat, ready to take you over the water, built in your spare time, for a fraction of the cost of buying a factory-built (boring!) boat. And the sense of accomplishment is beyond compare.
Full plans and detailed step-by-step instructions are given, with over one hundred drawings and photographs. Those instructions can be applied to any of the plans included: for a sailboat, a motorboat, a rowboat, or a canoe.
This book goes beyond just building your boat: it includes chapters on making your own oars and sails; making kick-up rudders, pivoting leeboards, flotation compartments, and hatches; tips for cartopping and trailering your boat; information on fixing used outboard engines; and much more. It is an introductory book that will continue to be pored over as the beginner transforms himself or herself into an experienced boatbuilder.
Also included are a catalog of 23 other boat designs for dreaming over, a guide to boatbuilding sites on the web, a guide to materials suppliers, and a bibliography of further reading.
A great book for families, for scout groups, for school shop classes, for anyone who enjoys messing about in boats.
Building plans included for:
- Mayfly: 14' sailboat
- Piragua: 13' pirogue, or simple canoe
- QT Skiff (rowing version): 13' rowboat
- QT Skiff (motor version): 13' motorboat
- Jonsboat: 16' jonboat
- Robote: 14' taped-seam rowboat
About the Author
Jim Michalak is a former aerospace engineer who has become one of the foremost designers of homebuilt boats in America. He lives in Lebanon, Illinois.
|
