Describes the advantages of wooden boats, tells how to select a boat worth restoring, and covers work schedule, budget, tools, woods, hull repairs, decks, internal spaces, and finishes.

Mudlark, build in 1953, is a modified version of the iconic Meadow Lark, a shallow-draft leeboard sharpie ketch designed by L Francis Herreshoff. But she is about to sink. Ian Scott decides to save her, and to do the work himself. This is the story of why and how he devoted many years to the restoration of Mudlark, and of what he learned in the process about wooden boats, the timbers they are made of, the designers and craftsmen who make and repair them, the tools they use and, not least, about himself. It is also the story of his imaginary conversation with Mudlark's ghosts: the designer, the naval architect who modified the sail plan, the commissioning owner and the builder. All are long dead, but their work lives on in Mudlark.

This book is about fixing up old boats made of wood. For many people, a boat isn't a boat unless it's made of wood. The psychological and philosophical reasons for needing to own a boat made from honest trees instead of the material that L. Francis Herreshoff characterized as "frozen snot" needn't concern us. But in this day and age, hard-nosed economics and the ubiquitous bottom line certainly should. FACT: You can buy a repairable wooden boat and renovate and remodel it for a lot less money than you can buy and renovate a plastic or metal of similar size and condition. Jim Trefethen has renovated dozens of good old wooden boats, and in this book he's sharing his collected wisdom, craftsmanship, and penury with you. It will supply you with the basic skills you'll need to successfully renovate an old wooden boat--any old wooden boat, from a 16-foot canoe to a 50-foot cruiser, and everything in between--provided the boat actually is repairable (and you'll learn how to determine that, too). After you've read Wooden Boat Renovation, we hope you come away knowing what is possible and how to accomplish it. Then we hope you actually do it.

Now MBI Publishing Company’s two top-selling boating titles—written by one of the world’s top authorities on the subject of antique wooden boat restoration—are available in one volume. In this comprehensive restoration guide for owners and enthusiasts of wooden powerboats of all makes and models built from the early 1920s through the 1960s, author Don Dannenberg covers all major woodworking aspects of restoration: surveying, disassembly, repair, reconstruction, and varnishing. But when it comes to restoring a classic wooden powerboat, getting the frame, planking, and deck right is just one part of the story. Danenberg also walks enthusiasts through the topics of hardware, running gear, electrical wiring, plumbing, instruments, upholstery, trailers, and maintenance. Fully illustrated with step-by-step color photos and written in an entertaining style in which the author stresses sound reconstruction techniques over preservation of original components, this comprehensive volume also includes resource listings, glossaries, and School of Hard Knocks sidebars.

Well-known as the editor of the best-selling annual Mariner's Book of Days, Peter Spectre lives in Spruce Head, Maine.

The dory has seen duty as a fishing boat, lumberman's batteau, lifeboat, recreational rowing boat, and racing sailboat. The most comprehensive book about dories ever published, this is at once a history of the dory, a practical handbook on dory building, and a compendium of 23 dory designs with full construction details. The author, a longtime contributor to National Fisherman, and the illustrator, Sam Manning, are perhaps the foremost experts on the subject. A steady stream of letters and photographs to the late John Gardner from successful dory builders worldwide has been testimony to the widespread popularity and influence of this book.