Boatbuilding for Beginners (and Beyond): Everything You Need to Know to Build a Sailboat, a Rowboat, a Motorboat, a Canoe, and More! Paperback – July 1, 2002

Forty years ago I stupidly sold my last boat. I have missed it every day since. It was my sixth and best boat, a Chrysler Lonestar. Three of these six boats I built myself, one I shared the work with my father. Building a plywood boat is a bagatelle particularly using the stitch and glue method. my seventh boat is built by this method. In the process I have bought six books from Amazon though all of the information that I needed was free on the internet. The books are “Go Build Your Own Boat” and Build The New Instant Boats by Harold Payson, “Boats with an open Mind” by Philip Bolger, “Boat Building For Beginners” by Jim Michalak, “Ultra Simple Boat Building” by Gavin Atkin and “Understanding Boat Design” by Ted Brewer There are separate reviews for each of these books.Jim Michalak's book is great for the builder and I give it 5 stars. It is a book that is rich in information for the small boat builder and user. It includes actual complete readable plans for 5 boats and pithy descriptions of others. He also included a design for the “Puddle Duck Racer.” His building instructions are very complete. He recommends choosing or building a boat that satisfies yourself because you will usually be the only one in it. From experience I find this to be good advice. My favorite boat in this book is “Robote.” The book covers sail making and building techniques. It has a useful technical appendix. Sailing and rowing are covered thoroughly. Michalak also addresses boating safety fairly completely. He recommends practicing “self rescue” and seriously discusses flotation chambers for these light boats. Plywood boats contain very little wood and when swamped have little buoyancy. If they have no flotation chambers or foam they cannot be re-boarded and bailed. He could have said more. For example: Outboard powered light boats without flotation chambers near the motor sink stern first and may disappear completely. If they float they settle in an almost vertical position, motor down, and cannot be re-boarded. The only way to recover is to dive down and unclamp the motor which will then probably be lost. The required flotation volume in cubic feet for these boats is Length X Beam /6 where all measurements are in feet. This will give about 2 inches of freeboard when the boat is filled with water. If there are heavy items on board (motors, batteries, tanks, anchors etc.) additional volume at one cubic foot/62 pounds should be added. Boats may be swamped by capsizing, getting punctured, by surprise waves and stupidity. It happens all too often. Many factory boats do not have sufficient flotation volume. Because they can be holed the USCG does not count volumes that include the hull as flotation unless they are filled with foam which makes them useless for storage. Sobriety and life preservers are important for safety and legality.

I am new to boat building, even new to boating (occasional canoeist), and have been reading a lot of sailing texts and boat building books. This one is the best, period. Experienced boatbuilders find it useful, but for those of us with no experience, it is a primer of basic boat construction. I loved the illustrations in Bolger's books and the other texts that I got through interlibrary loan. I borrowed Harold Payson's books from a friend, but the combination of clear writing with easy to comprehend drawings, and best yet, complete plans for 5 boats, make this the one book you have to have. Even if you have 10 books on boat building, you need this one. I finally decided to build a PD Racer as my first boat (NOT a Michalak design) and this book and the help of Dave Gray of Polysail were ABSOLUTELY the things that got me started and have kept me going. Without this book, I would have a pile of bonfire material and some bad memories, instead of a boat. Thanks Jim. And my next boat will be a Piragua! (And I wonder if an IMB can be rowed and sailed all the way on the Intercoastal?)

I think it could be more nice with a dvd include!

I'm not much of a wood worker...never built a boat...but I built the 16' jonboat with my 9 year old son helping out. Sturdy. The plans take a little deciphering and could definitely be clearer or laid out in a grid so doing/converting measurements to the plywood would be a lot easier. This is a good entry point. You don't need experience and only minimal tools. Instead of building in the wood seats I used igloo boat coolers that serve as seats and coolers all in one. Added fishing rod holders out of pvc pipe. One consideration when building a 16' boat - I only lived a couple of blocks from a launch but otherwise have a trailer or BIG truck bed. Have fun.

I found this book covers everything you need to know to build simple boats using instant boat building techniques, as well as almost anything you would ever want to know to rig any type of boat, sail, row, paddle, or motor. it took me a while to read the whole book and I found the chapters on setting up boats I don't plan on ever dealing with as interesting as the ones I do build and use. All of his boat plans are not in the book, for a current list go to [...] and find his name in the index of boat builders, even if you don't build a Michelak design the construction details he gives will help you build almost any other boat plan. There is nothing that feels as good as being able to say "I built it myself" when people ask about your boat.

a lot of needed information contained I would be lost without it

I just started getting into the book and so far it is very good lots of detail sometimes maybe a little more than I need but great the book is everything good says it is is a great help for a new be like me I would recommend it to someone else

So far, so good. Im learning a lot. I wish the author gave more diagrams and pictures of the things he spoke of from start to finish. To be fair, I went into this with almost zero knowledge so, I had to look up a lot of things while I was reading.

A pretty good book, and very comprehensive in what it covers, including sail making, hints on cartopping and trailering, etc. It totally made boatbuilding non-intimidating and made me itch to start building. I have only a few comments: 1) There could be a few more pictures included of accessory items like the leeboards, with the details showing a bit larger, 2) in the part about stitch and glue I would have liked to have seen a few more photos and hints on how to deal with tricky curves and corners, and 3) I wished that the plans in the book included at least a couple of his more shapely offerings, rather than just his most boxy looking designs.

I got this book as a present for my husband. He absolutely loves it. It’s very easy to read and understand. He will build a boat this summer based on this book. The book contains clear instructions and plans. Definitely a great buy and a much appreciated gift

we love this book as we are complete novices it takes you step by step its not complicated and we can build it in the back garage we are about to build the mayfly which by my calculation works out about 200 pounds for a sailing boat and it looks absolutely wonderful all the plans are super and easy to follow with back up on his web site this is a great buy

Great book. Have not tried anything yet looking forward to having a go as the instructions look very comprehensive.

This book is fantastic and really helps the reader understand the ins and outs of small boats. If you're on a budget, this book will help you save money by not overbuilding your boat. After all the author is an aerospace designer so perfectly positioned to teach we amateurs how to do it.