There’s an old Mickey Mouse short in which Donald, Mickey and Goofy decide to send away for a Build Your Own Boat kit. “All you do is put it together,” the advertisement promises. “It’s so simple a child could do it!” Unfortunately, the kit doesn’t quite live up to those lofty promises, and the cartoon pals find themselves in over their heads with a boat that begins falling apart long before they’ve finished construction on it. Those intrepid boat builders could use a copy of “Ultrasimple Boat Building: 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build”.
In this 192-page volume, expert boat designer Gavin Atkin provides detailed instructions for building 17 different boats that are both efficient and attractive. In addition to telling you everything you need to know about the actual construction of the boats, he provides important information regarding where to buy materials and what types to buy. He also gives a crash course in ways to ensure you stay safe while working with potentially dangerous tools.
While the designs that Atkin provides are not particularly fancy, there is an elegant simplicity to them, and the resulting boats should hold up well as long as they have been built properly. This book is an ideal instruction guide for beginners as well as those who want to make the construction of a ship a family activity. Not only is Atkin’s writing extremely easy to understand in “Ultrasimple Boat Building: 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build,” he provides pages of useful illustrations sure to make the job easier.
Atkins gives amateurs the confidence to attempt something out of their realm of expertise while grounding them in the reality of the work it will take to successfully finish such a project. There is hard work involved in this, so although it should be an enjoyable pastime, it’s not a task to be entered into lightly. It’s best to read through the book, or at least a good part of it, before beginning so that you have a very clear idea of the hours and money that will be involved.
If boat building has always been a dream of yours, “Ultrasimple Boat Building: 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build” is just the sort of guide you need. While it retails for $25, it can usually be found online for considerably less, and that’s a small investment for such a rich source of information, at least if you are serious about taking on a project like this. His extensive experience makes Atkins an excellent teacher to any student who is willing to put in the time and effort.