Building Classic Small Craft

"Gardner's work has engaged and inspired more individuals connected with traditional small craft than will ever be counted."--WoodenBoat

"Ought to be considered the Bible on the subject."--Cruising World

As Associate Curator of Small Craft at Mystic Seaport Museum from 1969 to 1995, John Gardner sought out the best examples of classic wooden boats and then measured them, drew them, and researched their histories. Building Classic Small Craft offers his meticulous plans and clear and complete instructions for building 47 beautiful, functional wooden boats for oar, motor, and sail, including dories, peapods, Sea Bright skiffs, wherries, Rangeley boats, and many others--a lifetime's worth of admirable projects that any amateur builder can tackle successfully.

John Gardner was the acknowledged "dean of small craft," and Building Classic Small Craft is an enduring expression of his philosophy, his knowledge, and his work. All the information you need to build these boats is here; no other plans are necessary.

"Worth your attention whether you seriously fancy to build boats yourself or just enjoy reading about them."--Sailing

"Another must for the boatbuilder's library from John Gardner, the authority on traditional small craft in America."--Down East

"Required reading for anyone who thinks of building a small boat."--National Fisherman

"John Gardner's work has engaged and inspired more individuals connected with traditional small craft than will ever be counted."--WoodenBoat magazine

"Deserves an honored place on the library shelf."--National Fisherman

"Poses clear and impassioned means to go from the armchair to the open water via your own boat shop."--Sea History

This big, handsome legacy volume contains all the plans, measurements, and directions needed to build any of 47 beautiful small boats for oar, sail, or motor.

John Gardner began his boatbuilding career in 1940 at Graves Boatyard in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He became a leading advocate and teacher of building small wooden boats and wrote more than 850 articles on small boats that appeared in National Fisherman, WoodenBoat, Boating, and Yachting, among others. He died in 1995.

In Memoriam

Building Classic Small Craft, Volume 1

Preface

Introduction

1 The Common Punt

2 L. Francis Herreshoff's Pram

3 A Plywood Pram

4 A Sailing Flattie

5 A Chamberlain Skiff

6 A Modified Quincy Skiff

7 A Lowell Dory Skiff

8 A Semi-Dory

9 A Car-Top Semi-Dory

10 The Dory

11 A Modified Swampscott Dory

12 A North Shore Surf Dory

13 The Chamberlain Gunning Dory

14 The Beachcomber-Alpha Dory

15 A Sharpie

16 The Peapod

17 A Spurling Rowboat

18 The St. Lawrence River Skiff

19 The Rangeley Boat

20 The Wherry

21 The Origin of the Whitehall

22 A Whitehall Pulling Boat

23 The Sea Bright Skiff

24 The Barnegat Sneakbox

Appendix: Notes on Boatbuilding Materials

More Building Classic Small Craft

Preface

1 Herreshoff Rowboat and Modified McInnis Bateau

2 Pilot Gig

3 Merrymeeting Bay Duckboat

4 15-Foot Flattie Skiff

5 Two 8-Foot Prams

6 Four Canoes

7 Down East Workboat

8 Yacht Tenders

9 Sea Bright Skiff

10 Boston Fishing Power Dories

11 Matinicus Peapod

12 Two Garveys

13 Clamming Skiff

14 16-Foot Swampscott Dory

15 Mower Dory

16 Boatbuilders' Planes

Bibliography

Index