Boatbuilding For Beginners (and Beyond)

Jim Michalak's long awaited second book is here. Garth Battista, of Breakaway Books, convinced Jim to put down everything he knows about boat building in a professionally printed and bound book. Much of the material comes from Jim's popular online newsletter. It has ten pages of double-size foldout plans for Mayfly14, Jonsboat, QT Rowing Skiff, QT Power Skiff, Piragua, and Robote, plus full building instructions and specifications. This book is essential for anyone who builds or even just dreams of building boats.

9" X 12", 176 pages

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

Jim's popular online newsletter