All Flotsam » Small Boats – Sail, Paddle & Oar

So many great sail, paddle and oar boats. So many destinations. Too damn little time.

Posted By	Title
The Off Center Crew	Recreating the Moment: OCH Member Mark Folkerts shared this beautiful story of love behind this heartwarming video:   "This past winter I...
The Off Center Crew	Roger Barnes: AVEL DRO in the Netherlands, Part 1: Roger Barnes at his best, and kudos to First Mate Mary. As many of you know, Roger Barnes wrote THE book on small boat c...
Steve Stone	Roger Barnes: Drizzly Days in the Shallows of Brittany Aboard Avel Dro: Roger Barnes at his finest — heading out when everyone else bails because the weather isn't perfect: HELPFUL LINKS: Li...
Steve Stone	Roger Barnes: Wild Camping in a Cruising Dinghy Aboard Avel Dro: If you're a devotee of the Church of Wilderness and Simplicity, here's a wonderful gospel video with Roger Barnes aboard...
Steve Stone	Fretwater Boatworks — Can’t Beat This Place for Fun: Fretwater Boatworks — a legendary someplace in the middle of nowhere....
The Off Center Crew	Sailing on the Chick: Good boats, good friends, and a favorite river. What more do we all need?...
Steve Stone	W.A.G. Bags to the Rescue: Is he really going there? Ya, sorry — but it's a reality/question we ran into all summer, and we've been thinking that...
Steve Stone	Song of the Paddle, with Bill Mason & Family: Bill Mason and family were pioneers in the field of getting way out there in a boat and slowing down. The filming style...
Eric Blake	Through the Breaks: Join custom wooden boat builder Jason Cajune and his family on a float trip down the Missouri River, through the Upper M...
Bill Mayher	Scoggie: From the furthest tip of Nova Scotia comes this sketch of a young boat builder with a philosophical turn of mind and an...
Nate Rooks	Roger Barnes: Sailing and Swing Aboard Avel Dro: British expat and dinghy cruising guru Roger Barnes relishes the small-boat opportunities in France. In this new video,...
Steve Stone	Roger Barnes: A Rogue Mariner on the upper Thames Aboard Avel Dro: We sure love the way Roger Barnes brings us aboard, with such grace and humility, letting us in on the world of dinghy c...
Maynard Bray	Rowing & Sailing to Matinicus Island, with Sam and Susan Manning: Here's an old PBS show with Susan and Sam Manning rowing and sailing out to Matinicus Island. Thanks to OCH member Dave...
Nate Rooks	The Passage: Growing up, growing old, and the wild places that define us: When my brother and I set out on our own Inside Passage adventure, the stories of historic paddlers like Betty Lowman Ca...
Steve Stone	Camp Cruising Georgian Bay In An Open Boat: If you've ever dreamed of heading way north to sacred waters with an open boat — to cruise for days without seeing ano...
Steve Stone	Martin Litton’s Grand Canyon Dories: Thanks to Off Center Member Nathan Lunstrum for submitting this new Flotsam Video: The late Martin Litton believed the b...

 

Related Videos

Title
Worldwide Classic Boat Show Presentation, Raids Around the World: The Worldwide Classic Boat Show brings raid organizers from 5 countries across 3 continents and 2 hemispheres that opene...
Townsend Tern – The Ingenious Cat-Ketch Coastal Cruiser: The Townsend Tern is a handy little ketch you can trailer to your favorite waters and go off-grid for many weeks at a ti...
Good Boat Up Close – Maynard Bray’s Herreshoff Coquina, Part 2 – Putting the Boat to Bed: Coquinas are for the small boat connoisseur. Lovely, lively, and eminently tweequable. You'll enjoy every aspect of her...
Tom Robinson: Rowing Across the Pacific Ocean in a Wooden Boat, a Worldwide Classic Boat Show Presentation: Tom Robinson is setting out to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean. He also happens to be doing i...
Tom Robinson’s Row Across the Pacific, Part 2 – The Rowboat MAIWAR, A Close-Up Tour: Armed with Aussie ingenuity and determination - Tom Robinson is setting out to row across the South Pacific Ocean. If he...
The Beetle Cat Fleet, A Half Century at Center Harbor Yacht Club: Beetle Cats are magical, multi-generational boats that never lose their ability to charm kids into becoming lifelong sai...
2021 Worldwide Classic Boat Show Presentation – Dinghy Cruising Adventures with Roger Barnes: Roger Barnes wrote the book on dinghy cruising, literally. He was kind enough to walk us through the highlight of his bo...
Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific, Part 1 – Overview: This is a video created by filmmaker Abir Tarafdar in Tom's home town of Brisbane, Australia. Thanks to Abir for letting...
Good Boat Up Close – Maynard Bray’s Herreshoff Coquina, Part 1 – Rigging & Getting Under Way, with Maynard Bray: Coquinas are for the small boat connoisseur. Lovely, lively, and eminently tweakable. As the man says, there’s a lot o...
A Good Boat Up Close, The Melonseed Skiff: Descended from the rowing and sailing workboats on the Jersey shore in the 19th Century, the Melonseed Skiff has a long...
Slow August – Damariscove Island: The quiet welcome of a remote island harbor can be a spiritual experience.  We feel a deep sense of gratitude to th...
Building the Oonagh Rowing/Sailing Dinghy, Part 3 – Ladder Frame, Molds and Transoms: The OONAGH build starts shaping up as Kit dry-fits and fixes the molds and transoms to the strongback. It's easy to get...
Recovering from an Open Boat Capsize, From Denial to Self Reliance: A cautionary moment: Steve Stone purposely capsizes his Caledonia Yawl to show us what to expect when an open boat goes...
Sail & Oar Camp Cruising, Part 1 – Dreaming & Planning: Making a camp cruise fun and safe takes careful forethought. Here are the elements that went into a late summer trip alo...
The Gaff-Rigged Sloop SKORRI, Paul Gartside Design No. 165: Take a sail on a nifty Paul Gartside 16' gaff-rigger built by an experienced amateur....
Advanced Rowing with Havilah Hawkins, Part 2 – The Unvarnished Truth about Ash Oars: The proper oar explained. And who could do it better that Off Center Harbor guide Havilah Hawkins?...
Inger Rankins’ Seventy48 Race, Rowing 70 Miles in a PT11 Dinghy: 70 miles in an 11 foot dinghy... Are you KIDDING me? Racing against teams of rowers? Inger Rankins will give you new per...
Watercraft of the Chesapeake Bay, Part 2 – The Star and The Comet: Kissing Cousins compared: Design components of the Star and the Comet sailboat classes discussed in detail....
Boatshop Talk – Getting Ready for the SEVENTY48 Race: Nate is our guy and he already had great rowing chops and now it's a whole string of firsts: this is the first boat that...
Two Drake Rowboats – The Raceboat & The 17′ “Sedan”: For serious rowers who have mellowed slightly over the years, here are two fixed seat rowboats available in kit form fro...
Cuddling Up With a FOX Kayak (Double Paddle Canoe): The Fox Double Paddle Canoe is so cozy, and this little video clip was so heart-warming — it sparked nicknames for the...
The Phoenix III By Ross Lillistone: What can be more alluring than the Phoenix III by Ross Lillistone — a sweet little 15-foot sail and oar boat that can...
The Echo Bay Dory Skiff, Easy & Fun to Build, Row, and Sail: Clint Chase takes us for a tour of his Echo Bay Dory Skiff, a perfect little boat for first time builders and for famili...
Herreshoff Marine Museum, Part 6 – In The Boat Hall: The Dinghies: Maynard Bray and Eric Blake finish their tour of the Herreshoff Marine Museum with an examination of Herreshoff's dinghy...
Small Boat Adventuring with Teardrop Trailers: For those of us who love the portability, practicality, affordability, and stylishness of little boats, we'd like you to...
A Father, a Daughter, and a Boat: Cruising in an Iain Oughtred Sooty Tern: A father and daughter take the day for a sail aboard UNA, an Iain Oughtred-designed Sooty Tern. The Sooty Tern is the ki...
The Daughter of a Sailor: In a special guest video, Leney Breeden takes us along her journey of being the "Daughter of a Sailor"....
Soul Sailing: A "soul sailor" (coined today by OCH) is a sailor who sails for the sheer pleasure of sailing. Although they may still e...
Small Boat Gatherings – Simplicity Afloat: Seeking a simpler life afloat? Small boat gatherings will stimulate your dreams and help you find community....
The Goat Island Skiff, a Fast Boat for Sail & Oar Beach Cruising: Quick to build, a thrill to sail; the Goat Island Skiff is just one surprise after another....
How to Build a Beautiful Skiff, Part 1 – An Idea is Born With Eric Blake: In this first video, Eric introduces the skiff building project for local Brooklin kids that he and Havilah Hawkins are...
Kayak Wisdom, Part 2 – How to Load a Kayak: When looking for balance, let John Lockwood of Pygmy boats walk you through important tricks in how to load a kayak. The...
Kayak Wisdom, Part 1 – Choosing a Kayak for Touring or Recreation: We've always wondered about the differences and critical design elements of touring and recreational kayaks. Now we know...
Wooden Boats of the Bahamas – Abaco Dinghies of Winer Malone: Winter residents of Hope Town are restoring some of the most cherished wooden boats of the Bahamas — Abaco Dinghies of...
The Smallest Boat in the Harbor — Nutshell Pram & Shellback Dinghy: As time moves on we are discovering that, often, it's the smallest pleasures that generate the sweetest dividends - the...
Harry Bryan’s THISTLE, A Pedal-Powered Fin Boat: Ever wish you could swim through the water with a fish's power and quiet gracefulness? Harry Bryan's THISTLE, a pedal-po...
Norwegian Faering at Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival: It's not easy for a beautiful boat to stand out at a show among 300 other amazing boats, but this Norwegian Faering at t...
A Boat for Sail & Oar Camp Cruising — Francois Vivier’s Ilur, WAXWING: Waxwings are the loveliest of birds, and this little Vivier Ilur named after them is lovely as well; versatile, build-ab...
Watercraft Collection of Mystic Seaport, Part 5 – Catboats: The Catboat: Versatile treasure of the New England coast. We take a look at some catboats in the Mystic Seaport Museum's...
Piners’ Punt, A Boat for Tasmanian Loggers: Piners' Punts, a Tasmanian boat design, did rugged duty for Huon pine logging crews up Tasmania's roaring rivers for bet...
Handmade with Tasmanian Timbers, The Schmee of Ned Trewartha: Upon arriving in Tasmania, we heard of Ned Trewartha and the wooden boats, art and furniture he builds in "Ned's Shed" (...
A Three-Generation Dream Boat – The Herreshoff Fish Class Sloop – PERCH: We pass a significant milestone with this video — our 250th video for members of OffCenterHarbor.com. We fantasize abo...
A Drift Boat for Fly Fishing, Recurve Style: When drifting down the river of life, why not do it in style? And do some fishing along the way? We take a look at DRIFT...
The PT-11 – A Nesting Sailing Dinghy: A nesting dinghy has one huge advantage. It allows you to replace your rubber ducky with a tender that rows and sails be...
The RowCruiser with Colin Angus: For when an afternoon row is just not enough, and you'd like to explore beyond the waters close at hand... and then spen...
Virtues of a Small Boat, Gunkholing in a Sea Pearl 21: Whether it's 5,000 miles on the Great Eastern Loop or tucking into a quiet cove for the night - small boats like the Sea...
A Good Boat, Up Close – The Chesapeake Crab Skiff: A beautiful spot deserves an equally beautiful boat — a Chesapeake Crab Skiff designed by Off Center Guide Doug Hyla...
John Lockwood – The Building Of Pygmy Boats: John Lockwood's life story, on the way to the founding of his company, Pygmy Boats, is as compelling as the kayaks he de...
Workboat Beginnings, Part 2 – The Flatiron Skiff: A flatiron skiff is simple to build, easy to maintain, and puts you onto the beach with dry feet....
Self Rescue from an Open Sailboat Capsize: Through the use of tie-downs and flotation, small sailboat guru Ben Fuller demonstrates how to prepare for the possibili...
Virtues of a Flat Bottom Skiff: Captain Havilah Hawkins makes his case for a flat bottom skiff.  Simple, versatile, cheap to build, easy to maintain, a...
Watercraft Collection of Mystic Seaport, Part 4 – Room Full O’ Details: Wooden boat detectives Maynard Bray and Eric Blake take us deep into Mystic Seaport's back shed to explore small boat de...
Watercraft Collection of Mystic Seaport, Part 3 – The Original Herreshoff ALERION: In 1912 Nathanael Herreshoff designed a 26' gaff-rigged sloop for his own use.  Named ALERION, she proved to be a semin...
Rock & Dock System: See the slick and simple technique Ben Mendlowitz put together to keep his dinghy from chafing on his dock....
Just Be, In a Boat: On a remote lake, deep in the famed North Woods of Thoreau country, a family discovers a space and time that's all too r...
Watercraft Collection of Mystic Seaport, Part 2 – A Great South Bay Catboat & Piscataqua River Wherry: Maynard and Eric go back into the building that houses the Small Craft Collection at Mystic Seaport Museum to view a cou...
Watercraft Collection of Mystic Seaport, Part 1- The Broom Closet: Mystic Seaport has one of the world's largest collections of historic watercraft. There's a special place that not many...
What’s in Your Ditty Bag? With Geoff Kerr: Geoff Kerr is a seasoned vet at sailing the archipelago of Maine. We have noticed that whether he's the captain of NED L...
Outfitting a Small Sailboat with Geoff Kerr: Geoff shows us stem to stern how he outfits NED LUDD for a season of beach cruising and island hopping....
Building a Stitch and Glue Boat, Part 1 – Introduction: The FOX Double Paddle Canoe, a stitch and glue boat designed and built by Bill Thomas, has a long and distinguished pedi...
Sliding Seat Rowing In A Wherry: Achieving the power and speed possible with sliding seat rowing need not be limited to needle-like shells that are half-...
Boat Handling for Beach Cruising – Anchoring, Beaching, Rigging an Outhaul & Boat Knots: Geoff Kerr is a genuine beach cruising guru. Aboard his Caledonia Yawl NED LUDD, we learn what is involved in anchoring,...
Temple Tiny Regatta: Regattas need not be large and formal functions involving hardcore racing, signal flags, and grown men screaming for roo...
Brilliant Small Sailboat Designs – Herreshoff 12.5, Beetle Cat, Buzzards Bay 15 & More: Whether or not you’re in the market for a small sailboat, you’ll love the chance to scan the classic small sailboat...
Basic Sailing In The Nutshell Pram: The first of our how-to-sail videos, this one presents the basics via a Nutshell Pram put through her paces on a dock be...

 

Related Guide Posts

Author	Title
Steve Stone	Our Most Valuable Secret NON-Boat Gear, Part 2: The original post to this series by OCH Co-Founder Steve Stone received so many requests for "More!", that we went to th...
Steve Stone	Our Most Valuable Secret NON-Boat Gear, Part 1: I'm writing notes for this post from one of our favorite islands. We're on a camp-cruise in our home waters in Maine and...
Guest Author	Cruising Downeast Maine by Rowboat: In the summer of 2014, Wes and Willy Reddick took off in Downeast Maine in their Marblehead dory, MARGOLO, using only oa...
Steve Stone	The Secret to Happiness, Part 2: At Off Center Harbor, we like encourage the ideas of slowing down, getting out into nature in simple boats, and making t...
Havilah Hawkins	Why This Skiff?: Note: The new skiff that we're building in Brooklin this summer with local kids was designed by Havilah Hawkins. In a wo...