Since the mid 1900s, most pleasure boats have been built of plastic. Or, to put it more precisely, glass reinforced polyester, also known as fiberglass. The advantages of fiberglass boats are obvious: First of all, they don’t rot. They can endure an immense amount of neglect - such as being left out in rain and sun for years - and still be OK. Also, the construction process is simple, cheap, and lends itself very well to mass production. Once you’ve built the “plug”, it’s easy to create a lot of identical hulls. Add to that the fact that building a fiberglass hull is quite a bit faster than ma ..read more

“I want to learn boatbuilding, but …” I’ve been in touch with a lot of people who want to learn wooden boatbuilding but are held back by obstacles that feel difficult to overcome. What I hear the most is: I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have access to a suitable workshop. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have the time I want to learn boatbuilding, but I can’t afford it. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I’m afraid I’ll fail. These are all real and relevant concerns. But in most cases, I believe they can be overcome. In this blog post series, I’ll address eac ..read more

“I want to learn boatbuilding, but …” I’ve been in touch with a lot of people who want to learn wooden boatbuilding but are held back by obstacles that feel difficult to overcome. What I hear the most is: I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have access to a suitable workshop. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have the time I want to learn boatbuilding, but I can’t afford it. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I’m afraid I’ll fail. These are all real and relevant concerns. But in most cases, I believe they can be overcome. In this blog post series, I’ll address eac ..read more

“I want to learn boatbuilding, but …” I’ve been in touch with a lot of people who want to learn wooden boatbuilding but are held back by obstacles that feel difficult to overcome. What I hear the most is: I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have access to a suitable workshop. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I don’t have the time I want to learn boatbuilding, but I can’t afford it. I want to learn boatbuilding, but I’m afraid I’ll fail. These are all real and relevant concerns. But in most cases, I believe they can be overcome. In this blog post series, I’ll address eac ..read more

Here's a video of the sea trials for the Harry Bryan designed Ladybug wheelbarrow boat that I've just completed.  I built the boat as a research project - I wanted to figure out whether it would be a good fit for an online course designed for adults building a boat with a child or a teenager.  I think it might be a good bet: It's a fun and reasonably simple build. And the resulting boat is a lot of fun, too.  We wheeled the boat from our home in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, down to the city lakes where a local café owner was kind enough to allow us to launch the boat from&nbs ..read more

I've been on the water to shoot a bit of video of the Fiddlehead Canoe that's on auction right now. This was such a beautiful, tranquil experience. I hope comes through in the video. The auction ends on Sunday, May 28th 2023. See the current high bid ..read more

This video is an excerpt from the Small Boat School online course on Building the Fiddlehead Canoe. Classes open for registration twice a year. As preparation, sign up for the Free Mini Course on Getting Started in Boatbuilding. This mini course will help you get your workshop and your tools ready for your boatbuilding project. Video transcript:  When you buy a vintage tool at a flea market or online, you can be almost certain that the cutting edge is dull. But quite often, the edge isn't not just dull. It has often seen all sorts of abuse. Sometimes yo'll see that the tool has never ..read more

This video is an excerpt from the Small Boat School online course on Building the Fiddlehead Canoe. Classes open for registration twice a year. To get notified about future course openings, please sign up for the Free Mini Course on Getting Started in Boatbuilding. What's the video about? This video covers the basic theory of edge tool sharpness: What is the definition of a sharp edge? what is a dull one? What has to be done to make a dull edge sharp and durable? The video also briefly outlines my daily sharpening routine. Video transcript:  To help you understand sharpening, I'd l ..read more

** Considering building a boat? I've created a free mini course, that will help you get started **   In this video, I will show you how to scarf two pieces of wood together.  Scarfing is a technique that is used a lot in boatbuilding, because it allows the builder to use shorter pieces of wood And because it makes it possible to use straight grained wood instead of crooks for curved boat parts.   - Mikkel Pagh -- Video transcript: Sometimes, the wood you have available is not long enough for the part that you want to make. Or perhaps you need a curved piece of woo ..read more

When you decide you want to build a wooden boat, you will need a workshop and some tools. And of course, you'll need materials for your boat. I've written this post to give you an idea of the cost of these things. Cost of a boatbuilding workshop and tools The cost of setting up a workshop depends on: • What tools and facilities you have available already • Whether you will be buying new or used tools • Whether you will buy machinery or have your wood milled elsewhere So the cost could range all the way from almost nothing if you buy used hand tools at flea markets to perhaps 10.000$/€ if you ..read more