How to Build a Wooden Boat

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best of Its Kind
Review: First written as a series of articles for the Wooden Boat magazine, this is a standard textbook for those who want to embark on the grand pastime of wooden boatbuilding. "Boatbuilding" by Howard Chapelle is, of course, the all time classic in this arena, but the pre-WWII tome does not have modern powertools in mind and the maritime language is a cypher to the modern reader. McIntosh, by comparison, uses easily understood expressions and jargon commonly found in any maritime dictionary. But if you are really about to build a boat, DO NOT let any one book be your guide. Buy as extensive a collection of books as you can get your hands on. Books are cheap, and reading them much less of a labor, than the money you will poor into your dream boat in the garage, and the back-breaking man-hours you will put in.

Rating:
Summary: Great illustrations But!
Review: I am fairly new to the language of wooden boat building and found the book a difficult read. The book would benefit greatly from a well illustrated glossary. The illustrations redeem the more obscure text but not enough to make it a fully understandable read

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading When You Just Feel Deserted
Review: If I could only bring one book to a desert island, it would be this. Definitely.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect 1st Book to Own ...
Review: In the very first chapter, McIntosh takes the mystery out of building a boat from a ship design (blueprint)! Whether you are a Model Shipwright or a full-scale working Shipwright, the value gained from this book is perfect for the first-timer looking to build their first "scratch-built" wooden ship. As McIntosh says, "anyone can build a ship." Using his book, I don't doubt him one bit.

Now that I know how to read those d#mn design spec sheets, I'm all set to tackle that 6th century Roman Merchant ship model from scratch! Thanks Dave!!

Rating:
Summary: A poor guide for beginners
Review: Mr. McIntosh is quite obviously a master of his craft. Sadly, though, he's an exceedingly poor teacher, and one would need to be both in order to write this book well. Needlessly (sometimes infuriatingly) verbose, the author buries critical theses in an avalanche of lyrical verbiage that achieves nothing other than obscuration of the point. Illustrations that accompany the text rarely help to clarify the written instruction. An application or two of the K.I.S.S. principle would have worked wonders here. Recommended only for those who already know how to build a wooden boat.

Rating:
Summary: Great Illustrations But!
Review: Since I am fairly new to the language of wooden boat building I found the terms in this book very hard to follow even with my sailing terms dictionary. The book would benefit greatly by a well illustrated glossary of terms. The illustration do make up for the rather obscure language but not enough to make it a fully understandable read.

Rating:
Summary: Build it Bud's Way!!
Review: The day I first met the late New England boat builder Bud McIntosh he was down in the hold of a schooner's hull setting keel bolts--and singing Homer's Iliad in ancient Greek. He stopped when he saw me peaking through a gap in the planks (probably amused by my mouth hanging open in wonder and awe) and asked: "You like boats?" Well I did, and I was there to ask him a question about planking a skiff I was building for my family.

Bud not only answered that question, but he answered many more boat and woodworking-related questions over the ensuing years. When I began to combine writing with my woodworking, Bud gave me the most valuable and fundamental piece of advice I needed to hear: "Write what you know--and if you enjoy doing what you know, people will enjoy reading what you have to say about it."

He should know, because that is exactly what he did in his own book. Not only does How to Build a Wooden Boat offer us one of the clearest explanations of building a traditional wooden boat ever presented, it does so in a way filled with humor and lively anecdotes. (Don't miss the one about what happened when a bunch of tipsy boatbuilders volunteered to build their late buddy's coffin). Though I never went on to build boats of this scale myself, I continue to consult Bud's book whenever I want a definitive answer on how to lay out curved components, or design joints to shed water, or find an answer to any number of questions where the technology of traditional wooden boats can give us proven answers.

Rating:
Summary: Strongly (and provisionally) recommended
Review: This book may well be the best book around for understanding wooden boatbuilding. However, there several caveats to this statement:

1) It is an enormously technical book. This is not light reading. The first chapter is the best explanation I have ever read of the lofting process. He makes it so very understandable and easy for the novice. However the rest of the book is dry and technical.

2) The dry and technical I speak of is worth the read for an understanding of boat construction. However, it uses McIntosh's "Merrywing" boat as a model. Every aspect of the book relates a detailed description of methods and tools he used on that particular boat, though he does generalize a bit in places. This requires the reader to make some level of abstraction to apply the information--well worth the effort, in my opinion.

3) "Merrywing" is a boat that McIntosh designed and built with great difficulty. It was not a remarkable boat, except that its construction was so difficult, that in describing the same to readers, he feels that he covers any conceivable problem or issue a wooden boatbuilder is likely to encounter.

4) The picture on the cover is *NOT* "Merrywing." This is an editorial mistake, according to McIntosh's son.

5) You will fall in love with "Merrywing" while reading the book. BUT IT IS AN ILLUSION. The plans are not available, and McIntosh's son will not release or sell them to the public. "Merrywing" is a teaching vessel in many ways. And that is all that it is.

BOTTOM LINE: This should not be your first or your only book on wooden boatbuilding. However, once you are sure you will build in wood, or are comfortable doing so, it is an informative read, and a tremendous reference.

Rating:
Summary: Strongly (and provisionally) recommended
Review: This book may well be the best book around for understanding wooden boatbuilding. However, there several caveats to this statement:

1) It is an enormously technical book. This is not light reading. The first chapter is the best explanation I have ever read of the lofting process. He makes it so very understandable and easy for the novice. However the rest of the book is dry and technical.

2) The dry and technical I speak of is worth the read for an understanding of boat construction. However, it uses McIntosh's "Merrywing" boat as a model. Every aspect of the book relates a detailed description of methods and tools he used on that particular boat, though he does generalize a bit in places. This requires the reader to make some level of abstraction to apply the information--well worth the effort, in my opinion.

3) "Merrywing" is a boat that McIntosh designed and built with great difficulty. It was not a remarkable boat, except that its construction was so difficult, that in describing the same to readers, he feels that he covers any conceivable problem or issue a wooden boatbuilder is likely to encounter.

4) The picture on the cover is *NOT* "Merrywing." This is an editorial mistake, according to McIntosh's son.

5) You will fall in love with "Merrywing" while reading the book. BUT IT IS AN ILLUSION. The plans are not available, and McIntosh's son will not release or sell them to the public. "Merrywing" is a teaching vessel in many ways. And that is all that it is.

BOTTOM LINE: This should not be your first or your only book on wooden boatbuilding. However, once you are sure you will build in wood, or are comfortable doing so, it is an informative read, and a tremendous reference.

Rating:
Summary: Very good explanations of practical solutions
Review: With a great sense of humour the author explains his way of building a wooden boat. His methods and comments about materials and techniques are also very useful to know about in epoxy/wood boatbuilding. The drawings that accompany the text are very good. Also if you just wonder how to build wooden spars you should read a chapter in this book.