Product Description

When Harold Payson--known to associates, friends, and his wife as Dynamite--began supplementing his boatbuilding work by selling boat plans, he got feedback from a number of customers who found the boats too difficult to build. Selling plans for boats that never got built went against Dynamite's Down East grain, and it was also, he figured, "a straight road to bankruptcy in the long run." He outlined the problem to Philip Bolger, arguably the most innovative small-craft designer around, and Bolger agreed, on one condition, to design a series of that would require no lofting, no jig, and no lumber that could not be obtained at any local building supplies store. The one condition was that Dynamite would build and thoroughly test a prototype of each design to wring out every bug before offering the plans for sale. The eventual result was the original fleet of six boat described in his first book, Instant Boats.

Here are eleven new Instant Boats to choose from, including three built with a new tack-and-tape method that eliminates most beveling. There are complete building instructions and plans for the Gypsy, a 15-foot, double-chine outboard speed boat; Windsprint, a 16-foot, double-ended, lug-rigged sharpie; and others. (Full-size plans are available from the author; you can build directly from the book, but the purchase of larger-scale plans will make the task of scaling off the patterns easier.)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #631142 in Books
• Published on: 1984-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 147 pages

Review
"Clearly the best encouragement I have seen for those of us who want to get afloat at reasonable cost in the same season that we start building... Good advice abounds for the neophyte builder." -- Small Boat Journal

Review
``Clearly the best encouragement I have seen for those of us who want to get afloat at reasonable cost in the same season that we start building. . .Good advice abounds for the neophyte builder.'' (Small Boat Journal )

From the Back Cover

Harold H. Payson--known to associates, friends, and his wife as Dynamite--thinks you can build a boat. In fact, if you can saw a penciled line, apply glue, drive nails, and bring a modest measure of patience to the task, you can build and launch a smart and able craft in as few as 40 man-hours. You need not be driven by lack of tools, materials, skills, or time to abandon in frustration a project you conceived in a spirit of pleasurable anticipation.

Years ago, when Dynamite began supplementing his boatbuilding work by selling boat plans, he got feedback from a number of customers who found the boats too difficult to build. Many of these would-be boatbuilders had never heard of lofting and were intimidated and discouraged by the necessity of building the boat itself. Many of them, too, could not find local suppliers of the lumber and other materials called for by the plans.

Selling plans for boats that never got built went against Dynamite's Down East grain, and it was also, he figured, "a straight road to bankruptcy in the long run." He outlined the problem to Philip Bolger, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, arguably the most innovative small-craft designer around, and Bolger agreed, on one condition, to design a series of boats that would require no lofting, no jig, and no lumber that could not be obtained at any local building-supplies store. Boats that would not require a great investment of time to cut out and button up. In short, boats for the inexperienced builder whose fundamental desire is to get out on the water. The one condition was that Dynamite would build and thoroughly test a prototype of each design to wring out every bug before offering the plans for sale. Dynamite readily agreed, and a felicitous partnership was born. The eventual result was the original fleet of six boats described in his first book, Instant Boats.

Here are eleven new Instant Boats to choose from, including three built with a new "Tack and Tape" method that eliminates most of the beveling and results in a very shapely and spritely craft. Flip through the pages and compare the odd, sometimes startling shapes of the patterns with the pleasing sheers and functional good looks of the completed boats. You will begin to appreciate the genius of Bolger. In the opening chapters Dynamite tells you with common sense and uncommon good humor everything you need to know to build one of his boats. You can then start right in cutting readily available plywood sheets to precomputed patterns. (You can build directly from the book, but the purchase of larger-scale plans at a modest cost from Dynamite will make the task of scaling off the patterns easier.) Before you know it you will be fastening them together--all your basic assembly virtually behind you, and years on the water just ahead.

Pleasant sailing.

Customer Reviews

Construction of simple, elegant designs explained clearly
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.

Go build a boat!
Harold Payson makes a first time boat builder a success.

I built Diablo in my backyard with hand power tools and fished the beaches for 9 years with a 25HP Mariner.

My advice- buy the book - build a boat. Start with a little design to gain confidence.

Use epoxy over fiberglass resin, on Marine Plywood and you'll have no problems...

Dave

Truly Inspirational!
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!