"Former Mystic Seaport Curator Ben Fuller has selected and annotated 87 boat plans from the Museum's collection, plus plans for oars and rigging, with the amateur builder in mind. He offers a brief background on each boat, notes their strengths and weaknesses, and offers construction tips or suggestions for using the plans to help the reader select the right boat. The boats range from simple skiffs through handsome Whitehalls and sleek canoes, to a 20-foot catboat."

Presents step-by-step instructions and diagrams for creating sixteen small-boat designs, and offers advice on selecting a design, choosing and assembling building materials, and the actual construction.

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

The first edition was published in 1977 and this edition completely revises and supersedes the Rev.1 edition (ISBN 9251040613)