Boatbuilding Books

As we have gone through the process of bare boat chartering certification, I have always gotten the majority of the education. My wife tried to learn enough to pass the tests, and keep me out of trouble.
But this book has opened her eyes! She now expects to be able to actually understand the different boat systems, and retain knowledge past the test. This is amazing because she is also a teacher herself.
Very well presented, with clear written descriptions, and many excellent illustrations. This is an excellent teaching tool.

this is an excellent manual...if you are a sailboater. I am a power boater and this manual is about 75% sailboat oriented. I looked it over and gave it to a sailboat friend...he was thrilled with it.

As the final authority that it is, a dictionary has to be above reproach. If one definition is wrong, all are suspect. This dictionary has some problems. Some definitions are outright wrong: a "lee shore" is defined as a "weather shore" which is the exact opposite. A "boomvang" is defined as a "preventer" which is something entirely different. Some definitions use misleading language: The definition of a "knotmeter" incorporates a classic landlubber's mistake: "knots per hour." A "chainplate" is described as "bolted to the deck" when, in fact, it could just as well be fastened to the hull and often is. Decommissioning is defined as a seasonal thing. And the author must have been displaying her sense of humor when she made petcock two words. On the positive side, the book does abound with definitions of abbreviations. We all know the frustration of not being able to bring to mind the meaning of an acronym or abbreviation when called upon to do so. If you want a dictionary for this purpose, this one might be a good choice.

This book came in handy while I was "armchair traveling" I was reading a series of Patrick O'Brien books, and the book of Nautical Terms and Abbreviations was an invaluable reading aid. It let me enjoy those novels much more, knowing exactly what was being mentioned or described along the narratives. A great asset in your reference library.

As a professional in the facade industry (which commonly relies on aluminium components), I found the book to be full of interesting commentary about working with aluminium. Since the curtain wall industry rarely relies on welding as a means to fasten aluminium, this book was a welcomed trip into alternative methods of working.

The book is practical, and is based on "shop experience". Accordingly, I would highly recommend it for engineers and designers. It's very quick and simple to read, yet I keep a copy of it on my desk to use as a constant source of reference.

Its probably worth the US$ 25 advertised if you are building an aluminium boat, but 'In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King'. It is missing a lot of practical information on welding, distortion, welding schedule etc... its rather general, however, reading it and reading another two or three books available on the subject, you can make a concise picture at the end.

Now in an updated and expanded third edition, Ernest Sims' Aluminum Boatbuilding is a completely "user friendly" and practical guide for designing and building aluminum alloy boats. Every aspect and issue are comprehensively covered including the advantages of building in aluminum (weight savings, inherent material strength, minimal maintenance), as well as the limitations that should be recognized in comparison with other boatbuilding materials. Sims covers the machinery, tools, techniques and skills required, along with setting-up procedures, painting, dealing with corrosion, and making repairs to hulls. Aluminum Boatbuilding also addresses the practical application of adhesives for bonding aluminum, welding techniques including friction stir welding, as well as plasma and waterjet cutting. A careful reading of Aluminum Boatbuilding is a "must" for anyone contemplating designing and building their own aluminum craft from passenger ferries to racing powerboats.

I brought this book because I am going to build an Aluminium Yacht.
While most areas are covered there is very little detail, paricularly in the critical area of stray current corrosion control.
The author does not seem to have much first hand experience of building small yachts in aluminium.
The topic is covered much more comprehensivly in "Boatbuilding in Aluminium" by Stephen Pollard.
I can also recomend "The elements of Boat Strength for Builders, Designers and Owners" by Dave Gerr

I was really looking forward to reading this book over the Christmas holidays. I enjoy reading true, unsolved mysteries but after reading and rereading several pages I gave up.

Reading should be a pleasure and the reader should not have to keep rereading words and sentences to try and decipher what the author is trying to convey.

In reading this book it was like every sentence was overly long with each phrase seperated by commas when it seemed for clarity the sentences should have ended and a new sentence begun.

Also,have you every read a book when you get the impression the author is just trying to show you how intelligent he is by constantly using new uncommon words just to show you, the reader, how vast his vocabulary is? Also I noticed every noun in almost every sentence had to be preceded by about 3 descriptive words when one would have been fine most of the time.

Paragraph after paragraph has sentences like this:

"The gusting January wind blew spray and sand at them, and the damp sand gathered and caked upon the three foot, wooden spoked wheels, and the sea oats and grasses around them bent seaward, as the men and their boat slowly dragged through the dunes and over the open seabeach, the half-dozen men and the one beast drawing forward as if they next intended, like poseidon of old, to plough the very sea itself."

ALSO

"In the wet sand below the tideline the men halted and unhitched the front set of wheels from the boat carriage and led the mare forward into the shallow surf that was sheeting rapidly beneath tem, till the wheels were clear and the front fell into the water and made a skid down which the boat would go, and one of them walked the mare around and away, pulling now just the wheels, till she too was clear and unburduned and, standing alone and apart from the surfmen, looked away from them and their incompcomprehensible task".

Page after page of reading this type of writing becomes so tedious and frustrating you just give up and go on another book.

Just to be fair I want to let the readers of this review know I also ordered from Amazon two 900 page books, Shattered Swords(about the Battle of Midway) and Ultimate Sacrifice(about the Kennedy Assination)and I would wake up in the middle of the night and go back to reading both of these books because they were so well written.

I started this book on a Saturday at 1:00 pm, and put it down, finished, eight hours later (and jumped right into "...Nell Cropsey" by author same. This is simply a must-read for any lover of shipwreck stories, mysteries, or American history...and particularly for anyone (like myself) who's fallen in love with coastal North Carolina. Thanks Bland!

I was under the impression that the boat in this book could be built from this book. Wrong! You need to purchase a set of plans or buy a kit.
Had I known this, I would not have made this purchase. I already know how to use the tools and have built several boats. I found little of interest in this book and do not recommend it at all.

If you have never built a boat and are afraid to get in over your head, this "How To" book offers the perfect beginner's project. The 11' 6" Shellback Dinghy is a great boat for kids or adults who want to get out and do some exploring or fishing in protected waters--good for rowing and sailing. You can build it from scratch or buy the kit which comes with a jig and pre-cut pieces; so you don't need an elaborate shop. (...)

The author relates a wealth of experience and provides proven methods of how boats should be built.The side stories of how things can go wrong were very entertaining and reenforced the technical side of the book. The book is written from the european view and could use more info on fiberglass vessels. The drawings and photos were very good and the accompanied captions very detailed.

Originally published in 1974 this book has lots of information on older style (wood) boats (wood) masts etc. Also the book is written more to the "want to be a surveyor?- this is how you do it" instead of "looking for a used boat?-here is what details to check out. Also Nicholson is practices in Scotland and is geared toward european boats as opposed to us boats. I would suggest "Surveying Fiberglass sailboats" by Mustin as a better choice. Would I buy again? No.

Provided some needed insight into my own effort to go electric. Much of it is well written and easy enough to understand. Some of it was way over my head technically, but still enough down to earth stuff to be helpful. Does spend a bit too much time on AC motors, which are not yet practical for battery powered craft, and he missed completely the permenant magnet motors such as Etek, PMG and LEMCO. Still there is a lack of published information in this area, and he does make a definate start.

This cloth bound book displays some of Beken's best work, the only reason I give it three stars is that it is just too small. The beautiful sepia colours of his art and majestic sailing ships of the bygone era are not done justice by the tiny reproductions in this work, considering its' cost.

At 8" x 5" it is almost too small to be a coffee table book.

Anyway, the book displays the famous yachts of the era from the 1880's to pre-WWII with small dialogs before each chapter to explain the stage and history of sailing at Cowes in each era, from the turn of the century (1800-1900), pre-WWI, Post WWI, pre WWII. It gives little history of the photographer, and his methods.

If you own any Bekken prints, it will hold a little interest to you, but you will be disappointed in a album that could have been done so much better.

Makassar Sailing is Collins' 3rd book, after Twin Flower, an autobiographic tale about Bali's culture and customs and the author's tragic love affair with a young Balinese girl. East Monsoon was his second, in which he told about the building of his own prahu. Makassar Sailing follows on it, dealing with life in the East Indies (Celebes to be exact). It is well-written and lively, full of interesting legends of these people, and complete with maps and photographs. Collins' good humour and his skill as storyteller make this a most recommendable book.

If the boat-building bug has bitten you hard enough that you've already gotten more than a few "how-to-build the Pineapple Snipe on your lunch break in one week for spare change" tomes under your belt, and progressed into the realm of plans by Gardiner, the practical wisdom of Dynamite Payson, and maybe (gasp!) even taken a saw to some wood, then this book will be a pleasant companion on an end table by the fireside. One that you can dip into at random from time to time, soaking up the esoteric as well as the more mundane gleanings of Culler's lifetime spent messing about with boats. Don't expect to learn HOW to build a boat from this book, and you won't be disappointed. Instead, enjoy how Culler shares with you how to approach building boats you can use, how building meshes into a boat's usability, maintability, and enjoyability. Culler never goes "zen" on the reader, nor waxes on about how materials and methods "back in the day" were perfecto and today's not worth squat. Instead, his writing lets the discipline and insight of a Master shine through as an extension of the quietly enthusiastic sharing and tutoring he gave so freely of in his lifetime, and pours out a cornucopia of boat builder's lore of rare quality which helps one grasp the WHY of older techniques (both high-end and mass-market) and how to fit newer materials and constraints on construction into context with what went before. I wish I could rate this book higher than three stars, as I really like it (for what it is). But the muddy photos, small-sized drawings, lack of annotations, and failure to include plans and/or photos illustrating each of the boat types and construction techniques discussed in the text make a higher rating impossible. Hopefully somebody will address all of the discrepancies in a revised edition, and print it on quality paper. Meanwhile, if you're ready for it, and can accept this book on its own terms, then by all means buy it: you won't be disappointed.