Re: What are good Boat Building Books
Any book by John Gardner (Building Classic Small Craft, The Dory Book, More Building Classic Small Craft, Classic Small Craft You Can Build, Wooden Boats To Build And Use) should fill the bill if you're interested in small craft. Many of those books are available here on iboat. Zack Taylor's Successful Waterfowling has some simple small designs out of plywood if your library can get it (when you read it, just be aware some editions have a major mis-pagination issue). Phil Bolger pioneered (at least as far as I know) stitch-and-glue construction of small boats and has some (shall we say?) unusual designs to his credit. For traditional plank-on-frame in larger boats see David C. "Bud" McIntosh's How to Build a Wooden Boat, Howard I. Chapelle's Boatbuilding, and perhaps Robert M. Steward's Boatbuilding Manual. I found Ferenc Mate's From a Bare Hull ("A complete handbook on how to...finish out a fiberglass hull and deck. Covers every aspect of fiberglassing, woodworking, electrical, plumbing and hardware installation.") on sailboats to be useful and interesting reading. He has other books out there also. WoodenBoat magazine almost always has some history in each issue and may be available at your local used book reseller. And go to St. Michaels, Maryland's marine museum for some great examples of early american small craft. Have fun.
<br />Although it's totally out of date and is mostly about yachts, Skene's Elements of Yacht Design is a classic. I find it a handy reference and you can impress your uppity yachting friends & coworkers.
