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PhilBolgerBooks,Boats&Magazine
 Articles

 
 

 
 

 
 
Some
 Bolger Boats

 
 
Build
 the Pirogue 12 (Instructions, sorta, and
 plans)

 
 
Some
 Magazine Articles

 
 
The
 Bolger
 Boat Honor Roll (People who've built
 Bolger boats from 6ft on up).
 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
Yee-haa! The Cheap Pages are
 indexed & searchable:

 search for a design by name or type (catboat; Martha
 Jane; sharpie):

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 		
 
 

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 

 		
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
Tim
 Fatchen's Bolgerama-Down-Under: Tres Amusant

 
 

 
Light
 Schooner Home Page: Tons of Bolger Boat Links;
 great photo links;

 
 
and Tim's Square
 Boats too. AS19-29-39 and whatnot by Bolger.

 

 
 
Bill
 Samson's Newsletter Chebacco
 News: Almost 30 issues!

 
 
Joe
 McWilliams' Shantyboats:
 some Bolger, some Michalak, some Atkin...

 
 
and
 Dynamite Payson's Instant
 Boats page. The muthalode of small
 Bolger Boats.

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
Bolger
 Books

 
 

 
Charles Andrews says:

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
I've read a number of Bolger's books, and I've
 been a devoted follower of his work for the last 10
 years. I even commissioned a design: look for the
 wild brigantine in Boats With an Open Mind, the
 section on *Period Pieces,* that's the one. I've
 built the Scooner, which I still have. I cruised
 Black Skimmer and I have an unfinished Elegant Punt
 in my basement.
 
 
Anyway... I really think Phil can realistically
 be grouped with the greatest yacht designers of
 this, or any century: he's right there with the
 Herreshoffs, father and son, the Atkins, Garden,
 Peterson, Stevens...but with a difference. Phil is
 the only one of the bunch (other than,
 provisionally, John Atkin) who designs great
 vessels for amateurs to build cheap. Boat after
 boat of his shows his encyclopedic erudition and
 creativity in the area of boat design; and he's
 nearly always ready to point out areas where he
 hasn't quite thought something through, which may
 make him unique among designers. His books on boats
 are, quite simply, a gold mine of information,
 probably not duplicated by anyone, other than
 perhaps William Garden; and even Garden doesn't
 reveal his creative process to the extent Phil
 does.

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
Links take you to a table of contents &
 comments for each book:

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
    
 
  • Small
 Boats
 
 
      
 
    • Bolger's original cache of "Instant Boat"
 ideas.
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • The
 Folding Schooner...
 
 
      
 
    • More mad schemes...
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Different
 Boats
 
 
      
 
    • Hard-to-find, but worth it.
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • 30-Odd
 Boats
 
 
      
 
    • About thirty, and not really so odd.
      • 
 
    
 
    
 
 
     
    • 
 
 
  • 100 Small Boat Rigs
 
 
      
 
    • This is a great book. Bolger goes over just about
 every rig you can imagine, including some which you
 probably haven't, with a cartoon-sketch accompanying
 each.
      
 
      
 Out of print but a few copies may be lurking around
 from Boatbuilder Books for $19.95. Include $3
 shipping in the USA, $6 Canada, $12 elsewhere.
 
 
        
 
      • Fax: 407-459-1558/Vox: 407-459-3636
        • 
 
 
      • Box 540638, Merritt Island FL 32954
        
 
        • 
 
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • 103 Small Boat Rigs
 
 
      
 
    • Republished by Phil Bolger & Friends, the
 three new rigs come in an essay on the merits of the
 Chinese Gaffer. It may sound odd, but the CG is well
 reasoned and has antecedents in the rigs of Commodore
 Munroe's sharpies and in an obscure 1939 book by
 circumnavigator Conor O'Brien called Sea-boats,
 Sails and Oars.
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Bolger
 Boats
 
 
      
 
    • A reprint of Small Boats and The
 Folding Schooner...
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Boats
 With An Open Mind
 
 
      
 
    • The only collection of designs currently in
 print, and well worth it. Includes many classics:
 AS29, Martha Jane, Micro, and more.
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 

 
 
 

 
 
Bolger-Related
 Books - titles by Dynamite Payson you're likely to
 see referred to again and again. 

 
 
    
 
  • Payson's Instant
 Boats web page. Plans and information.
    • 
 
 
  • Instant Boats
 
 
      
 
    • Nail and glue designs. External chines for simple
 building.
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Build the New Instant Boats
 
 
      
 
    • "Tack-and-tape" designs
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Build the Instant Catboat
 
 
      
 
    • Build BOBCAT, a 12-ft catboat.
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Build the Gloucester Light Dory
    • 
 

 
 
...&
 Magazine Articles

 
 
 
 


 
 

 
 Some
 Bolger Boats:

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 Chris
 Crandall

 and
 his Teal

 
 
12-ft row-and-sail sharpie,

 a very popular design - maybe the most popular
 Bolger boat.

 Chris has broadened his cruising horizons with a
 Michalak shantyboat, Harmonica.
 Scientifically named Occam's Razor, I might add.
 Photos on Jim Michalak's web page here.

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Windsprint

 
 
 

 
 
This lug-rigged sharpie is a very popular Bolger
 design since it sails well and isn't too big for
 one person to handle. Robert Berger's web page has
 some nice pix of his.

 
 
 

 		
 
 

 

 

 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Jinni

 
 
16-ft sharpie camp cruiser with a

 cat-yawl rig.

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Long
 Micro

 
 
I found this nice example somewhere on the Web
 and lost track where. Several people have since
 told em where. I guess I should update the
 caption.

 
 
Long Micro is a 19-ft box-sharpie with a small
 keel. In this picture she's about 5 feet off the
 beach.

 
 
 

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Chebacco
 Boats

 
 
Here's an atmospheric shot of Bill Parkes'
 Chebacco.

 
 
This design comes in several versions (plywood
 chine, like this one; lapstrake; a 25-footer; and a
 motorsailer). Chebacco owner Bill Samson tracks the
 worldwide Chebacco builders' community in his
 web-based Chebacco News.

 
 
 

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 
Here's the motorsailer, built by Bob
 Cushing.

 
 
Both photos are from Bill Samson's excellent
 Chebacco
 News.

 
 
 

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Payson
 Pirogue

 
 
 

 
 
Bill Samson's paddling pirogue on the rugged
 coast of Scotland.

 
 
Bill says: "Cop a load of this! Sheila and I had
 just paddled across the mile or so of open sea to
 the island of Lismore! Good eh? (We must have been
 out of our tiny minds!)"

 
 
(This is not the same as the Pirogue 12
 or the Common Sense Designs Sailing
 Pirogue. Yes, there are at least 3 Bolger
 Pirogues.)

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Dovekie

 
 
This the the Edey & Duff Dovekie.
 It's a trailer-sailer camping cruiser. The mast may
 look odd because the sail has been brailed up to
 the mast for the night.

 

 Jim Plourde owns this one, and it's anchored in one
 foot of water and one foot of mud scarcely 500
 yards from where I live.

 
 
If this were England, 1900, I suppose this would
 be a leeboard canoe yawl (no, there's no
 mizzenmast).

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
Martha
 Jane

 
 
 

 
 
An all-time classic design. Larger than the
 Micro at 23', trailerable, with water ballast. The
 cabin is small but spacious given its size (sounds
 like a real contradiction, but sailors know exactly
 what this means!)

 

 The cockpit is huge. Anyone have some photos? And
 yes, my image is sailing slightly uphill.

 		
 
 

 		
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Pirogue
 12

 
 

 
The plans for the Bolger Pirogue 12 are right here on
 this web page. They were published in Messing About in
 Boats in the June 1, 1997 issue. If you mail Bolger
 $25 he'll send you two 8-1/2 x 11 sheets with the
 original plan on them; it is essentially a shareware
 design and he invited people to build from the plans in
 MAIB.
 
 
The plan here is sufficient to build from. If you do,
 Phil would like you to send him $25 as a builders' fee
 "or 2% of the sale price" if you build one and sell it to
 someone.

 
 
This is not a difficult building job, but it helps to
 have built a "stitch & glue" boat before. If you
 haven't, read H. H. Payson's Build the New Instant
 Boats, see Chesapeake Light Craft's web site for a
 kitbuilding description that applies to this boat or find
 the Stitch
 & Glue Primer on Jacques Mertens' web
 page.

 
 
 

 

 
 
Update:
 1/1/2000

 
 

 
 

 
 
I've been paddling and sailing one for a couple of
 years thanks to a loan from John Harris. I have lots of
 small tips (or preferences) which should go in here -- so
 expect some more soon. Any topics in italics are
 things I have been too lazy to get to so far. Sorry about
 that.
 
 
 

 
 
In addition, John got his sails assembled (one gaff,
 and one lug) at a very good price from Sailrite.
 They no longer sell completed sails, only kits, but the
 price is very good (under $100 for each of these). Ask
 for the "Bolger Sailing Pirogue Gaff Sail" or the "CLC
 Mill Creek Lug Sail" depending on which one you
 want.

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
Laying
 Out the Sides
 
 
Draw one side full-size on a piece of 4ft x 12ft
 plywood made by epoxying one and a half sheets of 1/4"
 plywood end to end. To mark the points which determine
 the sheer (the upper curve of the side) and the
 chine (the line where the bottom meets the sides)
 measure off the stations shown on the plan, and then
 measure off and mark two points on each station line, as
 shown:

 

 
 

 
 
Once you've done this, connect the dots with a
 long flexible batten (strip) of wood. A 10ft length of
 1/2" PVC pipe works, too, and it's cheap. If you don't
 have eight hands or a couple friends to help you bend the
 pipe to a smooth, fair curve, drive a nail into each
 marked point and push the pipe or batten up against the
 nails with weights (bricks, books, tools, gallon jugs of
 water). Make sure there are no kinks in the curve, and
 mark along it with a magic marker or a pencil.
 
 
The important part of the layout are the curves
 themselves. Don't worry about the actual height of the
 sides; the imaginary grid takes care of that. If one
 point or another is obviously wrong, trust the bent
 batten and draw the curve through wherever the batten
 says it should fall.

 
 
Then flip the side over and trace around it for the
 second side (easy!) and saw it out.

 
 
Cut out the four bulkheads: 1, 2, 3, and T. Note that
 transom "T" is one inch thick. It's quite small and you can
 probably get by with 1/2" thickness, well filleted with
 epoxy.

 
 
Assemble the bulkheads and sides stitch & glue
 fashion. Note that Bulkhead 2 is temporary and is only
 screwed in or glued with something like white glue or blobs
 of house caulk which can be scraped off (or use two vertical
 1x2s joined by a slab of plywood).

 
 
Turn the assembly over and lay plywood over the bottom.
 Mark the outline of the sides on it. Cut out the bottom and
 attach it, stitch-and-glue style. John Harris added internal
 chine logs, or wood strips, to reinforce this
 joint.

 
 
Add the shoe, an extra layer of plywood down the
 center, outside, to stiffen the bottom and help prevent
 abrasion.

 
 
Then:

 
 
The gunwales.

 
 
These are strips of wood which stiffen the upper
 edge of the hull. They only have to extend as far as the
 fore and aft bulkheads. Use epoxy and clamps to attach
 them. Round over the inner edges to spare your flesh.

 
 
The decks.

 
 
Decks are attached in the same way that the
 bottom is attached. If you build solid bulkhead air tanks
 as John did, you do not need to glue flotation foam to
 the underside of the foredeck and afterdeck. I would
 epoxy on a 3-inch-wide backing block of 1/4-inch
 material across the stern (under the deck) for mounting
 hardware through the deck, and add an internal or
 external V-shaped breasthook of 1/4-inch material
 at the stem, extending back about four to six inches.
 This makes it easy to attach a nice padeye for a painter
 and various fairleads as required.

 
 
The rudder.

 
 
For both the rudder and leeboard, 1/2-inch is
 thick enough. Laminate two pieces of 1/4-in plywood under
 some weights against a flat surface, or find the material
 of your choice. Cut it out as described in the plans and
 fair the leading and trailing edges. See below for a
 bungee-scheme adapted from John Bull's book Sail Your
 Canoe. It pulls the rudder down while allowing it to
 pop up when it touches bottom. The fact that the rudder
 is not weighted is one of my biggest complaints about the
 peeros John built. John, on the other hand, doesn't mind
 pirouetting in place inside the boat to reset the rudder
 to a full down position.
 
 
If you happen to have some 3/32" or 1/8" sheet
 aluminum running around, it can be used as the rudder.
 Round over the leading edge a little.

 
 
The leeboard.

 
 
Cut it out as shown. Fair, or round over, the
 leading and trailing edges of the leeboard. Extend the
 fairing on the leading edge most of the way to the
 centerline of the board at the top. When you're heeled
 over, the water can come up nearly this far. Same for the
 trailing edge.

 
 
The mast and rigs.

 
 
John designed a simple and effective mast
 step. The mast partner is a piece of wood
 attached to the upper side of the deck with screws from
 below. John decided to use some spare jibs from a racing
 dinghy as sails just to get them in the water during
 their first season:

 
 
    
 
  • Jib spritsails
 
 
    They work, but the mast is a little too tall for
 comfort in such a narrow boat! John settled on a small
 balanced lug, which works well.
    • 
 
 
  • Balanced lugsail 
 
 
    Bolger has drawn a tiny gaff rig, but after
 experimenting I'm far from convinced that it's a very
 good idea. One nice thing about the peero, you can
 experiment with rigs like crazy without running up much
 of a bill. You need some tarp and a couple masts, one
 short and one long. For more about the sail rigs, see
 Odd
 Sails from Polytarp:
    • 
 
 
  • Bolger's recommended gaff rig.
    • 
 
 
  • Balanced, battened airfoil lugsail with club:
 Craig's experiment.
    • 
 
 
  • Sharpie sail: another of Craig's
 experiments.
    • 
 
 
  • Batwing sail: yet another experiment.
    • 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Notes
 on Small Changes

 
 
Don't be afraid to personalize your pirogue with
 additions which you like. For example, John added rubrails
 on the outside and used a push-pull tiller instead of
 Bolger's suggested steering pedals.

 
 
    
 
  • Push-pull or "Norwegian tiller" and rudder bungee
 with uphaul.
    • 
 
 
  • Rubrails.
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Mast.
 
 
      
 
    • If you decide on a gaff sail or batwing sail, make
 it not 9'9", but about 10' 3" to 10'9" depending on
 your height. You don't want to duck under the boom
 each time you tack. It's a royal pain in the arse.
 It's also nice to be able to see under the sail
 without craning your neck. This is supposed to be a
 relaxing little boat to sail.
      
 
      • 
 
 
    • If you use the balanced lugsail, you can get by
 with an 8' mast. I made one from a piece of "red cedar
 baluster" which cost me about $6. It's squared with
 rounded edges as it comes from the home center.
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Alternative mast step.
    • 
 
 
  • Bulkhead 3.
    • 
 
 
  • Paddle stowage.
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Chine log.
 
 
      
 
    • John put the chine logs inside the boat (a
 chine log is the wood strip that forms a place
 to fasten the bottom to the side) because he thinks it
 looks and sails better, but you can put them on the
 outside like many of Bolger's Instant Boat designs, or
 just use an epoxy fillet with fiberglass tape and
 forget the chine log.
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Scuppers.
    • 
 
 
  • Handles.
    • 
 
 
  • Inner Leeboard Backing Block.
    • 
 
 
  • Outer Leeboard Braces.
    • 
 
 
  • Leeboard Forward Position.
    • 
 
 
  • Recessed Foredeck & Hatch.
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Footbraces.
 
 
      
 
    • John added a pair of adjustable kayak footbraces
 under the foredeck. Some sort of footbraces are
 essential. These are deluxe. Yours can be simple
 wooden chocks.
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Craig Skeg.
 
 
      
 
    • Sometimes I just felt like paddling the peero. The
 rudder is annoying when you're not sailing so I came
 up with a little skeg that drops over the pintles.
 Much, much better: [image to come].
      
 
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 
 
  • Seat.
 
 
      
 
    • John's seat design is a stroke of pure genius:
 [image to come]. Imagine an oval of
 plywood with the narrow end cut straight across. This
 is the backrest, straight edge is the bottom and rests
 on the bottom of the boat. A reinforcement is epoxied
 to the back, and a line runs through the
 reinforcement. One side of the line is tied into a
 padeye (or simple hole in the gunwale) and the other
 passes through a jam-cleat. Just about instantly
 adjustable seatback position, very comfy too. Look
 out, La-Z-Boy!
      • 
 
    
 
    • 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Notes
 on Sails

 
 
You can order the sail kits for this boat from Sailrite
 and the price is very good (under $100 for each of these).
 Ask for the "Bolger Sailing Pirogue Gaff Sail" or the "CLC
 Mill Creek Lug Sail" depending on which one you want.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Thoughts
 in General

 
 
Surely I must have some. Ah yes. The best way of rigging
 the lugsail is found here: [URL] the system of
 halyards was described by George Holmes, one of the
 inventors of the canoe yawl, back in about 1880. It does a
 great job of keeping the sail taut in the luff and at the
 same time keeps the yard waggling to a minimum. I have some
 diagrams and photos which will go up ASAP.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
Pirogue
 Construction Plan
 
 

 
This is scanned from Messing About in
 Boats. I have modified the plan only to make the
 dimensions clearer, clean up spurious bits of scanner
 crud, and fill some areas with grays to help you
 visualize the shapes. Click on the image to see it
 full size.

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Used
 Bolger Boats

 
 
I don't sell boats. I thought I
 might extract a few Bolger boat classified ads from
 Messing About in Boats from time to time. The
 real motivation is to convince you to subscribe
 to MAIB. The secondary hidden agenda is to get you on
 the water in a Bolger boat if you're really,
 really afraid to build your own.
 
 
These are from September and October 1998. I can't
 promise that I'll update these very often, and I can't
 promise that I'll even keep this section here.

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
Back
 to the Boats or to The
 Cheap Page or to the Top.

 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
1.5 10/20/97
2.0 01/04/00

 		
 















  
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