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Summary: Simply the Best Small-craft building book on the market...
Review: When you combine the building genius and straight-forward writhing style of Harold Payson with the amazing, easy to build marine designs of the notable Phil Bolger, You have a sure winner! The book combines general technical knowledge on boatbuilding with a large assortment of plans. This book allows you to build everything from a six foot row/sail boat, aptly named the tortise, to a classic looking, incredibly fast 25 foot schooner, simply called 'scooner'. It is written with the beginner in mind, giving only small ammounts of technical information. The construction methods are virtually fool proof, and you can emerge from your workshop in a weekend with a complete boat, ready for the water.
Rating:
Summary: Construction of simple, elegant designs explained clearly
Review: A great book about simple, straight forward boatbuilding. The author presents information and designs on building boats using a tack and tape method and a more convential framing method. I've built one boat from this book and am starting a second one. Payson's boatbuilding information or Bolger's designs alone are worth the price of this book. I have to take to task the two reviewers who have indicated this book short changed them. For starters, I think the author is an honest person. In one reviewers case, the problem is a lack of plans. I've bought plans for both the boats I built because it makes building easier. For both boats, the plans were in the book. This is generous of the author considering he earns some income from plan sales. In the second case, materials price seems to be the problem. The book was published in '85, so some inflation should be allowed for. Even so, for half of his total investment, the materials for that particular boat could have been bought including epoxy adhesive and bronze oar fittings. The author also points the several levels of materials that can be used to build these boats, explaining how this affects the finished boat. Another thing the author points out is that boatbuilding takes imagination and perserverance. A lack of both of thse traits is the real problem facing the two reviewers. If you want to build a Bolger instant boat, this book is great to have on hand. The author helped work the bugs out of these designs. You can't get better help than that.
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Summary: simple and easy to build
Review: as a novice boatbuilder but experienced woodworker, this book is a must to get started. The instructions are easy to read and follow. I would definately rate this book a "must read" to start.
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Summary: I Built A Boat!
Review: I bought the book, [followed the author's advice and] bought plans from him, and have built two of his boats. One serves as a tender on my larger Bolger boat, a role it has played without complaint for three years. The other I gave to a friend so she'd learn to sail (Success!). These boats are not classics, but they WORK! Dynamite Payson shows you how to make a proper, safe little boat, based on the designs of Phil Bilger. For inspiration I'd recommend Phil Bolger's book "Boats with an Open Mind".
Rating:
Summary: I Built A Boat!
Review: I bought the book, [followed the author's advice and] bought plans from him, and have built two of his boats. One serves as a tender on my larger Bolger boat, a role it has played without complaint for three years. The other I gave to a friend so she'd learn to sail (Success!). These boats are not classics, but they WORK! Dynamite Payson shows you how to make a proper, safe little boat, based on the designs of Phil Bilger. For inspiration I'd recommend Phil Bolger's book "Boats with an Open Mind".
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, but....
Review: I had suddenly decided to build a boat, and ordered a set of 6 books. This was the first to arrive and I have mixed feelings about it. The book is great, it tells you all about the materials you CAN find in your area rather than things you cant find. It tries to simplify building processes as much as possible and the designs seem to be truly within my reach. The problem is that the book assumes that you know all the boat terms, I grew up in the desert, we barely know there is something called a boat in existence. Now I buy this book and uses all sorts of nautical terms. I can tell that if I knew what these terms meant, I could have actualy done something about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Be wary
Review: I was extremelly disapointed to find that this book was incomplete. It starts of each chapter with some personal stories on boat building and fails to deliver any real content on actual construction of a boat. If you want to build a boat, find another text! I started a project that stated "$40-50" in material and have allready spent in excess of $250.00 on materials alone. This book really leaves you hanging, about half way through the project I realized I was completely on my own.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the bad reviews!
Review: If you follow the directions you can see success in a short amount of time if you choose a boat suiting your skill level. There are many boats presented here and not all are for the first time builder with limited skill. ANYONE can build a Tortoise (Basically all straight cuts and little in the way of wood is required its a two 4x8 sheet boat). I don't see spending [money]on those materials. I live in Southern California too ant materials can be expensive but please! There are more than a few people who have built boats from this book! Just know your limits and what kind of success you desire. Start reasonable and this is a great book to get you there. I can't think of any book that can get you there easier. This book is not outdated or hard to understand. Read and re-read it, then get to work.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the bad reviews!
Review: If you follow the directions you can see success in a short amount of time if you choose a boat suiting your skill level. There are many boats presented here and not all are for the first time builder with limited skill. ANYONE can build a Tortoise (Basically all straight cuts and little in the way of wood is required its a two 4x8 sheet boat). I don't see spending [money]on those materials. I live in Southern California too ant materials can be expensive but please! There are more than a few people who have built boats from this book! Just know your limits and what kind of success you desire. Start reasonable and this is a great book to get you there. I can't think of any book that can get you there easier. This book is not outdated or hard to understand. Read and re-read it, then get to work.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Inspirational!
Review: It all started with a search for an inexpensive sailboat. Through these efforts, I stumbled across several websites from people that have built the 23 1/2 ft. "Light Schooner" (one of the projects in this book) and instantly fell in love with the design. With this book, anyone can build a boat in their backyard as I am. If you have even the slightest experience working with wood, and desire to build your own boat you must check out Bolger's designs. Sure, the full size plans help but these boats could feasibly be built using just this book. Try it, you'll be hooked too!
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