Small boats Small waters

In the newest issue of Wooden Boat Magazine there is an article about a small boat, the Westport Pond Skiff.  It is an older sheltered water sailing skiff, one of the simplest of boats to build.  I am well aware of the simplicity of the skiff type boat to build and of the great return of satisfaction that is gained in a handsome and useful boat.
I understand that most of the yacht/boat clubs in my area have one class groups for racing, most all fiberglass boats, purchased boats, and I think that they are missing another dimension of boating that can be just as rewarding, if not more so, than just racing boats, and that is building boats.
The simple design of a skiff makes it a good candidate for club building, youth programs, and with minimal requirements in tools, space, or even expertise.  Some may object to wooden boats in that they require "too much maintenance, but that annual work, if it could be called that, is part of the joy and the investment that creates the bond between sailor and vessel.  In this age of consumerism, the age of disposable things, and things that are acquired rather than created, wouldn't this kind of pride of ownership and pride of craft, this kind of stewardship, be the kind of qualities we'd like to see developed in ourselves and most importantly, in our children.
I am no racer, I have no interest in it.  The idea of running around buoy's, somebody else's idea of an interesting path, just leaves me cold.  The idea that it develops young peoples skills for life supposes that their futures will be about "beating" others, about raising up themselves only.  I realize that many of these club racing seasons are merely excuses to have a beer with friends, but I really don't need and excuse to share time with friends and I would much rather have a more genuine adventure, less structured and not clothed in competition which is a much overrated condition that is given far to much importance in this land of plenty that we call our country(culture and age).
When on land I would much rather find a path thru the woods then find myself on a 4 or 5 or 6 lane blacktop highway, so why would I want to force a race course upon the water to race around, when the entirety of the water's surface is open to me and I won't leave a mark upon it as I pass over, just as no other paths have been left for me to follow?
I am much more fond of what I call  the "Swallows and Amazons" attitude of sailing and boating.  Ratty's famous quote also comes to mind when I think of my time in and on the water, "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as messing about in boats, simply messing about".  These outlooks are almost the antithesis of racing and competition, unless I suppose you are imagining you are a pirate and your friends in their boat are carrying trunks of treasure to be taken from them.
The waters here where I live offer an almost limitless possibility in that they are bays on a river and a days sail south is the atlantic ocean and thus all the seas of the world.  That literal connection allows for imagined adventure on every sail.  Even if one stays up the river all your days, just bouncing from one shore to the other, up and down the bay, there is always that little fantasy, lurking in the back of the brain about pushing over the helm and loosing a sheet and heading down river and out to the sea.  It is a real possibility with each sail that is kept as a fantasy by greatest effort to resist the call of adventure, or maybe with little effort by just continuing to tack from shore to shore as one usually does.
The really wonderful thing about this area is that the 3 bays, or so, all link together make for a little inland sea, if one uses ones creative mind to think about it.  Only 3 miles wide at it's widest, but about 20 miles from top to bottom, by choosing a couple of points that are obvious geographically as well as very good boating destinations.  If one is in a small boat, or even a medium size boat, tacking from eastern shore to western can take half an hour or more.  Plenty of time to relax and enjoy the view, but not so long as to get bored without something to do.  If one is in a small boat and has a shallow draft that will allow beaching then there are many state parks and such to land on and picnic or stretch or just add another dimension to the day.  The cliffs to the west rise up from the waters edge a good 500 feet and for a length of about 3 miles in the section closest to where I sail.  These cliffs can make wind direction "interesting" sometimes as the wind is affected by them but the scenery is majestic.
A small boat like the Westport Skiff would make these waters seem vast and full of possibility.  I once went for a sail on a friends boat.  The boat was over 50 feet long and it sailed pretty fast.  We were across the bay in no time, up to the top and then back down again.  He complained about the waters here being too small, not enough for his boat.  I think that the more useful assessment would be that the boat wasn't really suited to the area.  After all, you can influence the size of the boat, but I'd rather that nobody tried to influence the shape and size of this beautiful river.
I have taken my skiff, WHISP, a Jim Michalik QT flat iron skiff, modified with a sailing rig out on the river and have resisted the urge to "stay out" or stretch the length of the sail and the adventure but mostly because I forget or just don't plan ahead and carry a lunch onboard.  There is also the concern that I will sail far enough away that getting back to my launching place won't be easily possible.  Quite the opposite problem of my friend with the 50 footer.  One of the things that lurks in my mind is that landing places for a small boat have been reduced. on these shores that are now mostly privately owned by people who have little connection to the river other than looking at it and the understanding that the proximity increases their property value.  If the shore line isn't part of some large house, then it is part of a marina or shore side business that only welcomes those willing to pay.  What does that leave for kids wanting a little adventure but being subject to the vagaries of wind and the ever changing tide as well as their own mercurial natures?  The long shorelines of the parks along this stretch of the river help in this respect greatly but even those are more regulated each passing year and seemingly just for the sake of control and not so much about logical stewardship of the land.  One often wonders for whom the parks are kept.  In my own village launching places become the challenge.  The two "town" parks that are on the river are fenced off and have access regulated during the season, and off season the gates are locked.  It makes one feel as though the town officials look at it's citizens beyond reasonable judgement to take care of themselves or their own parks.  This might be so in many cases, but it certainly will be more and more the case if people loose their experience of having to make reasonable decision and the benefit of learning from misadventure.  The statistics on the number of people injured by having access to a shore side park are note even worth looking at when one puts them against the numbers of injuries in children who play weekend soccer or baseball, or the automobile accidents that happen each day.
As long as we have access to our waters we can still have the kind of adventure and fun that comes without predetermined rules or limitations of the person or of the mind.  A small easily built and maintained boat, like these flat bottomed skiffs are great "magic carpets" that we can explore in, be proud to own and keep.  The can lead us on great little adventures on the water and along the river edges all the while helping us to resist the temptation of pointing the bow to sea because of their limitations, but not keeping us from imagining all the while we are bobbing about, what it might be like to venture out down and out upon the ocean.

Pizza Box boat design

My little brother wants to build a boat in his garage as project to keep him busy.  I had considered getting him one of the books on instant boats but in looking thru them I thought it might be better and a bit more fun to just come up with a boat for him on my own.
I like getting the basic boat idea by thinking up dimensions and then building a model from cardboard.  Pizza boxes work great for this and I seem to have a good supply of them, about one more each week.
His boat will probably be used for fishing on the local lakes where he lives and need to be transported in the back of his pickup truck.  It will be rowed, though I wouldn't put it past him to apply a trawling motor to it at some point.
A simple hard chined skiff seems the best thing for a first time boat builder who is really a fisherman and a construction worker/tradesman, but not a finish carpenter.  He has limited tools in his "shop" so I will keep it as simple as possible.

The pizza box skiff!
11-6" LOA, 4' beam, 16" depth amidships, draft about 3"
With 3 sheets of 1/4 inch plywood
plus solid wood for frames and stem, skeg, skids
about 100 pounds I'd guess.

Very simple cuts, butt block scarfs, constant bevel on the chines, the bottom will be cut out last to the shape of the sides.
I don't think it will be a fantastic rower but it will probably have a good capacity and subtle lines.  It has a small amount of rocker that is determined by the small amount of flare and the width of the transom against the width of the midsection.  Two thwarts and maybe a small deck at the bow.
He'll have to build some oars as well unless he finds a set at a yard sale or something, but I'll include plans for those too.
I am tempted to build it myself just for the fun of it.
I will build a plywood model at the same scale and maybe send it to him.
messing about!

Nav table cabinet

Well today I got the basic cabinet installed, well, put in place or dry fit.  I am pretty happy with the result, but for the problem of the stain on the wood not matching the rest.  I may end up having to start over with these two pieces, but if I do at least I can use these as templates.

I wasn't planning on putting doors on this cabinet, but I may yet.  The doors would affect the clearance of the lifting desk lid to some degree.  It is something I don't need to worry about right now.

New additions Starboard side.

It is very satisfying to see at least a little progress every few days.  We haven't even hit winter yet (9 days til the solstice!) and even so I feel as though so much has gotten done.  The interior of the boat feels as if new and has really change the character of the boat down below.  It also has made the boat feel more mine, or more of a reflection of me.

Tut tut, it looks like rain!

Still more gray and wet days.  Seems as though I don't remember when I last saw the sun.  It hasn't been that long, I am just being a bit dramatic.
I did use the gloomy weather to get some work done in the shop.  I got the "hanging knee" fashioned for the cabinetry at the navigation station.

Nav station and first stages of the cabinet/shelf.

I still need to do the finish work as in sanding and stain and varnish but the varnish won't happen until Springtime.  Now that the knees are fitted and thus the dimensions of the upper shelf established and locked in, I can now work on the cabinet itself.  The wood is the same reclaimed stuff that I have been making all of the trim in this project from, so I hope that it will tie all of the new accommodations together nicely when finished.

I found some high density foam pieces with a fabric backing on it.  It is often sold as "interlocking rubber tiles with a berber covering" and I found that it works wonderfully as a floor cover in the cabin.  It is nice to walk upon, and stiff enough to hold it's shape and not bunch up or slip the way a rug might, and it insulates the cold floor amazingly well.  I would recommend it to anybody using their vessel in colder weather.  It also has a nice clean appearance to it that makes up for it not being wood.  Because it is so stiff cutting it to size holds it within the fiberglass pan that the cabin sole sits within.  I found mine in somebodies trash but having used it wouldn't really hesitate to have to buy it, and in fact I may purchase some more just to cover other parts of the hull that need insulation, for temperature or sound.  It could keep items from chaffing the inside of the hull and it floats.
The cabin has become very cozy and is a nice retreat even while sitting in the boat barn on dry land.  I have to take my consolations where I can, especially this time of year.

The gray floor covering is made from rubber, interlocking tiles
with a berber facing.  It's warm, soft, good traction, and clean looking.