This book contains full building plans (in a large 11" X 17" foldout section) for six different boats, including a fourteen-foot sailboat, a two-person canoe, two rowboats, and two motorboats. And it contains instructions for making your own oars, making your own sails, and a wealth of other practical information.

This book takes the complete novice — armed only with a gleam in the eye, and a basic knowledge of hammer, saw, and screwdriver — and walks him or her through the process of building a boat. The basic materials are easily available from any lumberyard: plywood, boards, nails, and wood glue. The process is simple, the result is extraordinary — your own boat, ready to take you over the water, built in your spare time, for a fraction of the cost of buying a new factory-built (boring!) boat. And the sense of accomplishment is beyond compare.

Full plans and detailed step-by-step instructions are given, with over one hundred drawings and photographs. Those instructions can be applied to any of the plans included: for a sailboat, a motorboat, a rowboat, or a canoe.

This book goes beyond just building your boat: it includes chapters on making your own oars and sails; making kick-up rudders, pivoting leeboards, flotation compartments, and hatches; tips for cartopping and trailering your boat; information on fixing used outboard engines; and much more. It is an introductory book that will continue to be pored over as the beginner transforms himself or herself into an experienced boatbuilder.

Also included are a catalog of twenty-three other boat designs for dreaming over, a guide to boatbuilding sites on the web, a guide to materials suppliers, and a bibliography of further reading.

A great book for families, for scout groups, for school shop classes, for anyone who enjoys messing about in boats. If you've ever dreamed of building a boat, this is the book for you!