Ultrasimple Boat Building: 18 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build Kindle Edition

I suggest that you buy a different book. I had hoped that this book would explain the design features that can make a boat "go fast with low power" as mentioned in the book title. Instead, the author describes 24 boats that he has made over time from small to large. He talks about each one in a random way but never gives enough details on any one item. For example, he says that people now know what design features reduce resistance in the water but he does not have a chapter covering this. He seems to assume that you already know this. So he presents his designs but you don't know for sure why that design was the best one. For some boats he gives specific numerical details but without the explanation of what they are and why it is relevant. (See end of the review) He discusses the boat designs in a random way that is not consistent.The dimensions given are only part of the many that are needed so you can't build a boat based on dimensions in this book. Also, the methods given are from the 1990s and before. Most people now days would likely be building a stitch and glue boat which is not really what he shows.If you are just interested in reading about the boats he built then this will likely be a nice read. He gives details on how the boat worked out and any modifications made. He also mentions past history of some of the designs.Perhaps the best part might be the last page of the book where he recommends two or three books on boat design that give the formulas and numbers needed to design a hull. Skene was the main one mentioned. https://www.amazon.com/Skenes-Elements-Yacht-Design-Eighth/dp/0396079687/ref=pd_sbs_14_7?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0396079687&pd_rd_r=9fd8dd75-2492-40f9-a187-1bd2cdc63fc2&pd_rd_w=vgI4F&pd_rd_wg=smdzA&pf_rd_p=43281256-7633-49c8-b909-7ffd7d8cb21e&pf_rd_r=B2VJBSJ8PMW3R6RCVZDK&psc=1&refRID=B2VJBSJ8PMW3R6RCVZDKI suspect that if you studied up on boat design and then went back to this book you would be better able to understand his comments and would likely understand why he settled on these designs.

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. The 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 Boat 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.Ultra Simple Boat Building” by Gavin Atkin is an excellent book for the home builder and I give it five stars. It features 17 very complete plans and instructions for a number of small plywood boats. The diagrams and dimensions are easy to read. Adkin's designs have flotation chambers which are a great safety feature. He explains Epoxy stitch and glue and polyurethane stitch and glue. He also includes a technique called simplified chine log construction. This method places a frame member outside of the hull along the chine. Bolger used this technique in Tortoise and justified it on grounds that it made the boat easier to clean and protected the plywood chine. He believed that it was hydrodynamically satisfactory. For small slow moving displacement hulls he is probably correct. For faster powered planing hulls I have my doubts. It is not completely clear that it really simplifies the construction over say placing the chine log inside the hull in the conventional manner. No matter, the resultant boat will probably be satisfactory. Most of these boats are small and narrow with low sides and are suitable for quiet waters. I know of one individual who takes one off shore here near Los Angeles where it is paddled like a kayak. He has not yet drowned and probably will be okay. Adkin also included plans for a “Puddle Duck Racer”which would be a great choice for someone who enjoys camaraderie and mild competition. I am intrigued by “Dogsbody” which of the offerings in this book is my favorite. One should pay attention to the recommended loadings of Atkin's boats for it could be catastrophic to over load them. Adkin presents a method, not his own apparently, of building a skiff that requires no plans. I found this intriguing because I and a partner once (1953) built a boat using a very similar method. That boat was assembled using glue and light framing with brass screws. I think it cost less than $20 at the time. It saw frequent service with a 5 hp Johnson outboard and lasted at least 10 years when I lost track of it. Adkin offered a piece of simple advice. When going to the store always buy a clamp. You cannot have too many clamps. I think Norm Abrams (This Old House) once made a similar recommendation.

This book is not for the amateur boat builder looking for simple easy to understand step by step instructions.This book is confusingly written and definitely NOT for the beginning boat builder expecting to see simple step by step instructions to follow to build a boat.This is easily one of the most confusing books with unnecessary BS I have EVER read.I read the entire book and couldn’t build not one of these boats if my life depended on it.I couldn’t even do it with the help of the book because it’s that bad you turn to the pages with the actual boat designs and specifications and that’s all you get no step by step no take this and cut to this length then set to the side and take this and cut this length. None of that at all.Just numbers and figures and your supposed to just figure it out.

This book is good for starting fires in my burn barrel and that is about all.

I had hoped for more ,( lets grab it and make something

seems to be well written

I'm nearing completion of one of the simplest boats - the lilypad punt. You really need to read every page - no skipping through to the cutting plans!I've found a couple of anomalies in the instructions which appear to be omissions or errors (it could be lack of understanding, but I'm usually pretty good at this kind of thing!).If you buy this book, follow the inch measurements rather than mm - I usually work in mm but this book us definitely geared towards working in inches!

This is where to start your boat building adventure. The book contains plans and descriptions for 17 small boats, spanning from extremely simple flat bottomed designs to a nearly professional looking, multi chined canoe. The building material is plywood and scraps, so you'll need a minimum of tools and money to get afloat. So far I've only built down scaled paper mock ups of some of these boats. It was encouraging. They're not very complex, and seem to go together just fine. Time didn't allow me to build anything this summer, but next year...

Great book.

This is a very interesting and potentially useful book - in print. The boat plans involve tables of dimensions. In the digital version the typeface used for the dimensions is impossibly small and, because they are tables, the size cannot be increased using the normal type-size tool. Unless you have a huge monitor to read them on (which will naturally stretch the typeface and may make it readable), forget it. On a normal Kindle screen, no chance.

This book shows a Boat on its cover, which was of interest , to my Husband. However , this boat was not one of the 17 boats plans, shownin the book .The Plans for this Boat , had to be Purchased, elsewhere.I think that , this a bit of a con , by what is shown on the cover.Sheila SCOTT