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I sail a Reuel Parker Chesapeake Bay crabbing skiff, whose rig I believe is drawn similarly to his Ohio sharpie. Sounds like the solution you are experimenting with is similar to what I've been doing...

Interesting. I also built an aerolite canoe, with cedar floorboards. I lashed the boards to the frame with artificial sinew (I also wanted them to be removable) and have never had issues with...

I have a sharpie built to the same design as leaotis--an 18 footer that probably weighs about 800 or 900 lbs tops when fully loaded. I found an old Karavan rated for about 2800lb. It is too wide,...

I believe this is my father's part-time operation, in collaboration with a long-time friend. It's a very small operation and they're just getting started, but I believe they do have white oak. He's...

Agreed. Those are the same Nikons I packed for daysails on my 18 footer, but between their bulk and higher magnification I switched to 8x42s and have been very happy with them.

I can't speak to image stabilization, but here's another vote for low-mid range birding binoculars. I frequently sail (and canoe) with my Celestron Nature DX 8x42s (about $150) and they've been...

I built and still paddle the Snowshoe 14. I have sometimes mulled a similar question about rowing conversion, though not with a sliding seat. The boat has held up well to paddling abuse for about ten...

Big congratulations. She looks great. I'll be looking out for her on Monona and Mendota next year.

Nathan

Very cool. And isn't it incredible how every used bookseller seems to have the same handwriting for their penciled-in pricing?

What a fantastic story, and great to find connection to your boat's life before it was ever part of yours. It's amazing how small the world can get when you're attached to physical artifacts that...

Got our for the first sail of the season in Madison, WI a couple weeks ago. The day started with dead calm, so I rowed onto the lake for a mile or so, then it rained. Then a gentle breeze picked up...

Fantastic. All other things being equal, 15' makes for handsome proportions. Your pannier trailer hitch looks brilliant--much simpler than the options I've dreamt up (but never really experimented...

Bravo. Looks fantastic.

Nathan

I dealt with this dilemma on my 18' crab skiff when I rigged a new sail. The luff has significant curvature to accommodate mast flexibility--too much, it turns out. When I laced the luff tight...

Thanks for the info Bruce. Drake does sound like a great option to add to the list. More and more I enjoy getting out on the lakes on windy, choppy days, but the kayak is my foul weather boat and...

Great to see another Reuel Parker sharpie on the lakes in Madison. How has she handled? Lake Wingra seems a perfect lake for a couple hours in a 14 foot boat. I've only ever rowed the 18" crabbing...

Beautiful. I've been thinking about a small rowing double ender as the next boat--something easier and quicker to get out on the water on, like a canoe, but with greater stability and load capacity....

Greetings, regional neighbors. My garage in Madison (currently cold storage) is home to Reuel Parker's 18ft Modified Crabbing Skiff, a Snowshoe 14 Geodesic Aerolite, and a modified CLC kayak from the...

A few more from lake Monona.

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Seventy degrees in Madison, WI yesterday, and just barely enough breeze to ghost along all afternoon. It's an absolute delight to cruise slowly along on a placid lake without wind or powerboat wake...

Lots of great local options between paddling and sailing your new canoe. The whole chain of lakes around Madison are worth exploring. Lake Mendota is the small "inland sea" that gives you access to...

Ha! Yup, that and an outboard. She rows like a truck.

Thank you! She's Reuel Parker's Modified Sharpie Skiff, based on fig 115 in American Small Sailing Craft--a Crisfield/Smith Island area crabbing skiff from around 1910. You'll find at least a couple...

Lovely! Looking forward to that kind of foliage down here in southern Wi any day now.

Always have faith that there'll be more good weather days before the season shuts us out. The worst thing that...

I avoided the crowds and the spectacle of the Dells area like the plague for my first several years in Madison. But I finally realized a couple things a few years ago: The landscape is actually quite...

A couple more.... one in Madison and a couple north around the Dells

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Beautiful. Makes me want to trailer north on a warm weekend (if we get any more of those).

I moved from away the Chesapeake Bay region a decade ago, so these days autumn on the lakes and rivers...

Looks like I hit "reply" too soon (or too late). Everything I've learned about crabbing skiffs is from Chapelle, so I'd be interested if there's more historical info out there too.

As for...

That is a gorgeous skiff.

I second Mr. Paskey's recommendation to buy Chapelle's pamphlet. It's a great little book. It has designs and a few wonderful illustrations.
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