Projects - 2007
December

Milestones for Pangur Ban
Over the years, we have posted several links to Dale Austin's website and his sharpie project. In this article, he takes time to reflect on his multi-year project.

The Barquito Folding Dinghy
We no longer sell plans for this clever little boat but you can get them online. David Brinker built one and he tells all about it in this article.

California Origamis
These unique little folding dinghys are turning up all over. Steve Chambers has built two. He used one as a tender for his Potter 15 then gave it away.

Canoe Restoration
Lowell 'Ratty" Shipe is a true craftsman but also a man of few words. When he sent a bunch of photos of one of his projects I figured they ought to be seen.

The Taming of the Shrew
What do you do if you are given an old, fiberglass boat that is unsafe on certain points of sail? If you are Bob Booth, you give it a new rig while restoring it.

Toy Boat
Author and Duckworks contributor Brian Anderson is always cooking up something new and interesting. This toy boat for his daughters is no exception.

Origami Launched
Like all projects, Bruce Raddatz's Origami had a few dissappointments, but he can't complain about the looks of this clever and unique little folding dinghy.

November

Building Harmonica - Part 7
Bill Nolen's Harmonica project got stalled by some health problems, but he got the boat finished and in the water - even if someone else is using it now.

Mystery Boat
Maybe you can help Pete Chast figure out what this boat is. It is a 12 foot scow similar to a Topper and it has a Topper sail, but may not be it. Take a look.

King Canvasback
Think a skin on frame boat can't be beautiful? Just take a look at the King Canvasback that Jeff Potwin built from common materials. It is a thing of beauty.

Ulua Update
Dan St. Gean gives us an update on his earlier article about building one of Gary Dierking's outrigger canoes. He had good luck following the designers advice.

When and Where...
... are sometimes more important than How. Bob Doyscher should know. He built his Teal in his basement, his library and in his living room.

"The Beachcomber" Reborn
Can you imagine rebuilding a polystyrene foam board-boat? Ronald Goldwyn did just that and in fact, wrote up this step by step description of the process.

Pacific Troller
Any time your first boat comes out as nice as Bob Arnold's did you can be proud of your work. He build a Pacific Troller Gunning Dory by Paul Butler.

October

The Endless Restoration - Pictures
As promised, here are more pictures of Bob Means restoration presented earlier this month. The resulting boat is called "Chesapeake" and she is a beauty.

Traveler
Yachts come in all sizes. Here is the story of a little gem that Steve Axon saw in the Bahamas last Summer. It is an Elco 26, designed by Weston Farmer.

The Making of Duckhouse
Kevin O'Neill has a neighbor whose problem thoughts turn right away to power tools. With them, Jana fashions a kind of shantyboat - for Ducks!

Andy's Waterman
If you are looking for a small fishing boat, you could do worse than a motor canoe. Andy Somerville built one of Paul Fisher's designs and seems quite happy.

Lawn Mower Outboards
Lots of guys have talked about making an outboard motor out of an old lawnmower engine, but Steve Marsh has done it. He sent us a few pictures too.

The Endless Restoration
Who has not found themself in a project with no end in sight? Bob Means did, but thankfully he finally got it together and finished this beautiful sailboat.

September

Diablo in Paradise
What do you do if you build a sailboat to teach your kids to sail, but they want to go faster? If you are Maurice O'Brien, you build a Phil Bolger Diablo.

Flyfisher
David Nichols designed what may be the perfect fishing kayak - stable and light. Jim Durkin built one of these fine boats and sent us this pictorial essay.

Navigator Update 6
In spite of the fact that Robert Powick has barely begun planking his Navigator, he has sent us pictures of the various places he will cruise with this report.

GV11/Fast Garvey
Pat Johnson decided he wanted a fast little power boat for fishing and joy riding. He figures he found just the right boat and he tells us all about it here.

A Cinderella Story
Quite a few guys have built Gavin Atkins' Cinderella S&G Canoe since it was first drawin in 2004. Martin Welby built one too, but he rigged his for rowing.

Origami!
Since the Origami Folding Dinghy was introduced over a year ago, many sets of plans have been sold. Bruce Dillahunty is the first to write up his project here.

Viper Speedboat
Last month Andy McGarrity told us about a tiny sailboat he built. Here is an inspirational story about another of his tiny boat construction projects.

August

A Tale of Two Totos
In this article, Brian Garner, quickly covers the construction details and goes on to the fun he and Dawn are having paddling their two Totos in the UK.

Wäasabi
Ben Stone wanted a fishing boat and a sliding seat rowboat too. What did he do? He modified David Nichols' Flyfisher to accept a Piantedosi RowWing.

First Nuthatch
It has to be a red letter day when someone builds one of your designs. Warren Messer sure seems happy that Richard has built one of his Nuthatch Prams.

A Dutch Toto
After building several other boats, Hilco van den Berg decided it was time for a canoe. So he built one of Jim Michalak's little 'Toto' double paddle canoes.

TruantSea Mods
Just about everyone makes a few changes to boat plans but Grahame Harris not only made the changes to his Welsford Truant, he documented them for us.

Micro Yacht
You may have seen one of those tiny one-man yachts sailing on television and thought you would like to make one. That is exactly what Andy McGarrity did.

Indian Girl Update
I have long admired David Nichol's Lutra series boats and recently built one (more on that later). For now, here is Richard Honan's Indian Girl project update.

July

Roonio Update
Paul Moffitt build Jeff Gilbert's "Roonio" design with an eye toward some camp cruising and even a try at the Everglades Challenge. This is the latest update.

Harmonica Part 6
This month Bill Nolen gets his Shanty almost ready for launching. He focuses on drain plugs, flotation blocks, painting, a trailer and finally the official inspection.

Sid Skiff Display Boat
Believe it or not the boat you see on the left is a model! Gary Larkins built it and in this story he talks about the design and about the materials he used.

Resurrecting a Glassic
Some would say that refurbishing a 1950's vintage fiberglass runabout is more work than building a boar from scratch. Here is Bill Roberts' story:

Summer Breeze
This boat won our second design contest and quite a few have been built. Euclide does a great job of showing us his project in pictures and words.

My Robbe Atlantis
Englishman Mick Brown has done an incredible job of building this model stays'l ketch. He has sent us a bunch of photos and a video as a bonus.

June

Harmonica Part 5
This episode of Bill Nolen's ongoing series about building a shantyboat, begins with the boat being turned right side up and ends with window framing.

Power QT Skiff
If you are going to modify a boat design, even one as simple as Jim Michalak's QT Skiff, it's best to consult the deisgner. That's exactly what Chris Crandall did.

AF4Breve Built in the Land of OZ
Daniel Mark Peterson has his priorities straight: At 16 years of age, this AF4Brieve is his third boat building project, and he even lets his dad help out.

First Time? Try a Nymph
It's been a long time since Phil Bolger designed his Nymph, but it still makes a great first time project. Just ask Stacy Smith and his son Cary.

A Tale of Two Boats - Part 2
Here is a twofer. Stephen Collins updates us on a story he started last year. It is the tale of his Microtrawler and his daughter's Peanut Pram.

Expedition Trimaran
When self confessed 'trimaran geek', Kellan Hatch started looking for a bigger boat, it was not long before Chris Ostlind's XCR caught his eye.

My First Boat Project Remembered
R emember your first boat project? Cecil Severs remembers his, warts and all, and he takes us on a trip back to Austin, Texas, a quarter century ago.

May

Building Harmonica - Part 4
In this installment begins with Bill Nolen installing bottom skids and goes through turning the boat over and priming and painting the bottom.

A Chesapeake Bay Crabbing Skiff
This boat has been a long time coming for Kevin Brennan but given the beauty of the craft and the suitability to his use, that is understandable.

Hot Chili Launched!
It has been four years since Jeff Gilbert designed his iconoclastic asymmetric catamaran, Hot Chili, and finally Hugh Miller has built and launched one!

Building a D4 Dinghy
Pat Johnson's admonition that building a boat "has proven to be a way to have fun boating without having to take out a second mortgage" says it all.

A Toto and A Baby Raven
Patrick wanted a fast, sleek, stable kayak to take him to those special fishing spots. Naturally his dad, Mike Gill, helped him build a Jim Michalak Toto.

Refitting a Derelict
Have you ever wanted to take a production sailboat and "fix" it? Bob Means is doing just that with an old hull he got. You will not recognize the finished boat.

Inflatable Sailboats
Basri Acar sent a some pictures of various boat building projects of his. He does not speak a lot of English, but you will enjoy the photographs.

Of Sweat and Sanding Dust
In this article, Steve Lansdowne describes building a strip planked Wee Lassie. Pay attention because as you will see, Steve is a real craftsman.

April

Adventures with Outriggers
This is the latest installment of Dan St. Gean's story about trying to build a multipurpose sailing and paddling boat based on a Hawaiian outrigger canoe.

Building Harmonica - Part 3
When we last left our hero, Bill Nolen was struggling with bending chine logs. In this installment, he the bottom on and the seams taped and epoxied.

Wanderer Progress Report
Bob Throne began his pocket cruiser project by presenting his ideas here at Duckworks. Thanks to many reader's contributions it is coming right along.

Bolger Bantam Modifications
If you are thinking about this outside the box outboard cruiser from Phil Bolger, you will want to know what Tom David did to his.

Dinghy Cruising
When Rick Russell began building his John Welsford Houdini, he had dinghy cruising. It took a little longer than he expected but now he is walking the walk!

March

Harmonica Part 2
Bill Nolen's Harmonica is beginning to look like a boat. There are lots of pictures this time - and real progress as the little shanty goes 3-D.

William Atkin's "Scandal"
Having built "quite a few boats" over the years, Pat Patteson decided it was time for a little more challenge. The result is this neat lapstrake skiff.

Pirogue and Swamp Girl
Sometimes paddle boats all look the same, especially to a beginner. Here, Michael Webb compares both the construction and use of two that he has built.

We All Make Mistakes
What boat builder has not goofed with some modification that did not work out? Eric Staggs has and he goes on to tell us all the details.

Building Indian Girl
We have only been offering David Nichols designs for a short time and already we have one being built. Follow along as Richard Honan builds Indian Girl.

February

The Building of my Harmonica "Gypsy"
This is the first part of a series of articles by Bill Nolen in which he describes building a Harmonica, Jim Michalak's little 13 by 5 foot mini-shanty boat.

AF4 Update
Mike Russon's buddy gave him a bunch of the carbon fiber that they use to reinforce interstate pillars, so of course, he used it on his AF4.

Jock River Solo Paddling Punt
Is there a canoe race you want to enter but you don't have a boat? You can do what William Watt did and build one of these little paddling punts.

Gizmo
Bob Trygg has built enough boats to know what he wants and when John Welsford's little solo cruiser was not exactly right, he made some small changes.

Preparations for the 2007 Watertribe Challenge
There is a lot to getting ready for an Everglades Challenge campaign, especially if you build your own boat. David Wicks takes us through his efforts.

Pirate Ship
Arrrr. Avast ye scurvy dogs and feast yer eyeballs on this here tall tale from peg-leg Tom Maurer. If ye don't we'll keelhaul ya and you'll walk the bloody plank too.

Captain Lauren launches Papa's River Runner
Sometimes grandkids aren't old enough to really participate in the launching of a new boat, but as Ben Philips shows us, there are other ways to "launch".

January

13 Foot River Runner Update
Boatbuilding in the winter is tough - even in New Mexico, but Cecil Severs has plenty of lamps. He is also making progress towards a Spring launch.

Building a Puddle Goose
Would you build a sailboat if you had never sailed in your life? Bob Alston did. It was a Puddle Duck - but then he found out he needed something bigger...

Sam Rabl's Buzz Bomb
This boat from Sam Rabl's 'Boat Building in Your Own Backyard' inspired Russell Livingston to build a model. Careful, I think it might be catching!

South Haven Dory in a Week
Think you could build a boat in a week? Jay Blackburn did it and he gives us a blow by blow description of exactly how he went about it.

SAILS

EPOXY

GEAR