How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats [Hardcover]

John Brooks (Author), Ruth Ann Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

A quality builder, John Brooks teaches at the WoodenBoat School. The construction technique described here is durable,, and low maintenance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

As a child, John Brooks loved to build models and sail with his grandfather. When most teenagers were at the prom, John was changing jibs in the Indian Ocean, halfway through a 35,000-mile, two-year cruise. He began building boats in commercial yards at 19, while studying boat design and building his own boats. John worked for many years honing his craftsmanship on fine yachts, small boats, custom furniture, and a harpsichord. He has been a instructor at the WoodenBoat School in Maine since the mid-1990s, teaching glued-lapstrake boatbuilding, fine interior joinery, and carving. Ruth Ann Hill grew up on the coast of Maine. A writer, boatbuilding assistant, naturalist, and graphic artist, Ruth is the author of Discovering Old Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park: An Unconventional Guide and a contributing editor for Maine Boats & Harbors magazine. John and Ruth started their business, Brooks Boats, in 1991. They design and build glued-lapstrake boats in West Brooklin, Maine-and get out to enjoy their handiwork in its proper element whenever they can.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wooden Boat Publications (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937822582
• ISBN-13: 978-0937822586
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Boating

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on glued lapstrake, April 5, 2005

By 

David S. Robbie "dsr51262" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats (Hardcover)

This is a great book for any boatbuilder, especially the home builder like I am. I have built 3 lapstrake boats, 2 hard chine boats and 1 cedar strip and I like glued lapstrake the best. John's book has a great amount of detail. I wish I had this book years ago. I really like his method of planking without clamps. He screws down battens instead. The building frame and mold set up allow you to get underneath to scrape excess epoxy before it cures. He focuses on minimizing sanding after the planking is all done. Sanding can easily take as long as building if you do a sloppy job. Many shopmade jigs and neat ideas are shown like such as: angle gauge, gain-o-matic, circular saw batten guide when ripping strakes, and many others. I was very interested in the section on finishing. I saw one of John's boats in person at a Mystic seaport small craft event and I thought for sure the finish was sprayed. It was not. It was beautiful. John's craftsmanship is first rate and probably the best I have seen in glued lapstrake boats. His attention to detail carries over into his writing. Ruth Ann Hill deserves a lot of credit too for the high quality boats and this book. Not many people can do both building and writing well, but they pull it off. I hope he comes out with more boat plans in the future.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Epic, A Bible, a Masterwork, . . . and Such a Bargain!, November 21, 2004

By 

David A. Zapolsky (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats (Hardcover)

I am someone who has to think twice on which is the business end of a hammer, but after reading this book I am nearly to a point of conversion on wanting a new hobby. In a delightful, light, humorous tone, Brooks and Hill give step-by-step instructions on how to build a glued-lapstrake wooden boat. The book has a drawing or a photograph on practically every one of its 270 pages. Useful drawings and graphics and notes for how to do hundreds of steps pop up every other page. Clever ways to do things, jigs you can build, tools you can construct yourself, serendipitous discoveries, and hints and tricks and lessons learned from their own mistakes appear in jaw-dropping detail throughout the book, shared in a reassuring "don't worry, if we can do it, so can you!" tone. Brooks and Hill obviously have great senses of humor and untold amounts of patience and resourcefulness which they transmit to the reader, page after page, from the beginning of the project to the bitter end of painting, varnishing, installing hardware, and even launching.

Brooks and Hill seem to have anticipated every spot in the process where a builder might encounter a pesky problem or where goofups are common. They are there ahead of time to warn of the potential problem, and they're there after the fact with a fix-up if the goofup occurs anyway. This advice has to be worth its weight in gold, considering the number of complicated steps involved.

I am not a religious person, but just knowing that there is a paragraph in this biblical work on what I can do if my keelson warps or how I can fix it if my spiling pattern for the sheerstrake curves out into free space gives me spiritual reassurance. Read it yourself and see if you don't feel just a little better about the state of the world -- even if you never build a boat!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book to answer all your questions, June 13, 2006

By 

neilm (Kodiak, AK United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats (Hardcover)

Although I enjoy reading John Gardner's books the most, when it comes time to build this is the book I'll have on my workbench. It's packed with more info than any other book I've seen and answers all those nagging questions. It's by far the best Bible on boat building. The only part about his boat building technique I question is the use of screws, battens, and small blocks of wood to replace clamps. Guess I'll have to try it both ways to be convinced it's easier. Hat's off to you John. Good work.

Neil