S&G Book Review

[Pogo]

Here's a good 'un for ya, folks. Somebody, I think Rodloos, asked about this book, and I somehow hadn't ever heard of it even though I'm a fan of the author. So I ordered a copy, and kinda scanned it from cover to cover over coffee this morning (after getting home from a little road trip). I'm impressed! Looks to be something of a rehash of The New Kayak Shop, which isn't a bad thing . . . and remember I said I scanned, not actually read, it from cover to cover. But here's what impressed me most: There are complete plans and instructions for 11 boats, including 9 yaks, a skiff with optional sail rig, a rowing shell (interesting diversion), and a sail rig that makes a kayak into a trimaran.



The kayaks include the Chesapeake 16 LT, 17 LT, and 18 LT, which are 24" wide sea kayaks that are splendid performers and could easily be built with open cockpits. Plus all three Mill Creek models are in there. All these boats are easy to handle and surprisingly fast. The North Bay is even in there if you want a hot little sea kayak that's a blast to roll and horse around in. All are easy to build, too; mostly simple 4-panel jobs. This book is written by the guys who have launched literally thousands upon thousands of successful first-time builders through Chesapeake Light Craft plan sets and kits, and these are the same plans they sell, only smaller (book size, don'tcha know).

Up in the front of the book there are nicely illustrated discussions on how plywood is harvested, made, and certified; and boat design software programs are kicked around too, in case you want to try your own hand at it. Me, I'll stick to well known proven tried-and-true designs and happily pay their designers for all the development effort, thankyouverymuch.

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Rod, if that was you who asked, THANK YOU for causing me to buy this book; I'm 100% happy I did!

[Light Keeper's Kid]

This is a book i too will consider ordering

Mike

[rodloos]

Rod, if that was you who asked, THANK YOU for causing me to buy this book; I'm 100% happy I did!

Thanks Pogo, I'm glad you are happy you bought the book -- I'd feel terrible if you bought the book on account of me and then felt you wasted your money!

I have really been enjoying reading through the book slowly -- usually read from it while I take my lunch break from work.

I think this old brain is actually starting to get some of this information to soak in -- when I first started reading the threads on boat building there was sooo much terminology and techniques that I didn't understand. Recently I went back through some of the old threads like Darrell's build-along and found I actually understood much more than when I first was following along, and that book is helping me along in that respect also.

[Pogo]

Good deal, that's what I love about books: you can keep 'em somewhere where it's convenient to read a little every day, then absorb the subject at a relaxed and enjoyable pace yet end up with a firm foundation to build upon. Books aren't a cure-all for learning boat building, but nothing else is either; what they're invaluable for is getting the basic myriad lingo, terminology, and techniques into your head.

Last fall I tried my hand at home brewing beer (which I'll resume this fall, try to avoid KP during hot months), and started from complete scratch -- didn't know a thing about it. I bought books, joined an interent forum, and talked to folks who sell supplies. The books were invaluable for giving me the basic "building blocks" that everyone else mentions but takes for granted you already know, and made it easy to look up stuff that was being discussed in case I didn't know what they were talking about, or wanted to learn more.

I can't help but believe books shorten the learning curve dramatically, and cannot recommend them enough.

[Night Wing]

Kurt,

Thanks for the link to the book. Although I'm not a boat builder, one of these days when I'm fully retired, I might try my hand at building a boat from a kit. The information and knowledge of yourself, Gerald and others on here who've built their own vessels is like finding gold.