Pick 2 Books

[Duncan]

This time of year we all must be tempted to sit in and read up about boatbuilding rather than go out to the cold boatshed. I thought it might be fun to let others know two favourite books on your shelf whether they are full-on manuals or just vaguely related to building. Who knows, Santa may just bring us a little something?

To kick things off here’s my 2 and why:

The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction.
I have the original 1979 version (would be interested to see the 2005? update.) This must be the manual for Epoxy building and everyone except the most hardened traditionalist is going to use a bit of epoxy. If you are building a 7ft rowing tender or a 70ft super yacht this book is a must. Packed full of info I found it really well written, easy to read cover to cover and can also be used as a reference book.

Gripping Doune by Mary Robinson
This rather obscure little book (no ISBN so must be backyard published) It is the story of a Cornish boat builder and his family who ended up on the remote Knoydart peninsular in the north west of Scotland. An autobiography of the family’s adventures their ups and downs of people who have certainly lived life to the full. Highly recommended.

I have a 3rd, 4th ---- but let’s hear what the rest of you have and think of mine?

Duncan.

[m2c1Iw]

I only have 2 well thumbed editions so this is easy to answer.

How to Build Glued Lapstrake Wooden Boats
John Brooks & Ruth Ann Hill
Excellent manual lots of trips tricks jigs.

Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual
Iain Oughtred
I guess anyone building glued lap has this one.

Mike

[jwboatdesigns]

I tend to read different books seasonally, and although we here in the South Pacific are in summer, you good people in the north are almost at the shortest day, with the depths of winter laying its dank gloomy blanket over you. At that time of year I find that technical manuals don't excite me, but books to dream over do. In reply to the question of which two books, I'm going to cheat a little, and say that I like to dream about what kind of boat I might design to sail on sparkling warm waters, to white sand beaches bordered by dark green forests with not a building or road in sight, and tiny secluded coves where the holding ground is secure and the birds sing in the morning.

Last winter New Zealand time I studied Edgar J March "Inshore Craft of Britain in the Days of Sail and Oar" Vols one and two (I count that as one book, albeit a fat one). The latest edition with foreword by the late John Leather. This is an incredible study of the small working boats of Britain by region and type. There is much information on shape, usage, construction (see the thread on woods and such) and evolution. In conjunction with a pilot chart that gives the prevailing winds and sea states for each area, one can see how and why a given boat type evolved to suit that area and where it might work well elsewhere in the world.

Esoteric stuff I know, but after digesting that, some other dreams surface. Sitting with feet up by a roaring fire, the rain thrashing on the window panes and the bare branches of the trees outside shrieking in the wind, reading Annie Hill's book "Voyaging On a Small Income" is like knowing that yes, if you really wanted you could escape from the lousy weather, the nagging boss and the company politics, the banks' incessant demands and the ever increasing demands upon your time. She writes about how to do it, how they live cheaply, comfortably, healthy and happy aboard a boat that they built themselves, a travelling home that takes them to places like the Caribbean, South America, the Azores, and onward.

Between the two books there is the how, the why and the where. Dream fuel. Wintertime is a time when dreams can improve the outlook almost as much as a fortnight in the South of France, and you don't even have to learn how to ask where the heads are; S'il vous plaît, merci beaucoup.

JohnWelsford. Who reads up on glue and boatbuilding technique in the summer when he's busy doing it.

[Mark]

Gripping Doune by Mary Robinson sounds like my kind of read. Still not found my 'best ever' book, seem to have bought loads that are a bit useful, but not what you'd call definitive.

Mind you, if any one know's if "How to Build and own a Wooden Boat AND Stay Married" has ever been published I think that might be the one!

[Mike]

That book hasn't been published yet, Mark, but I can vouch for the fact that it is indeed possible - and I'm working on the book as we speak! :D