Product Description

The Sharpie Book traces the development of the sharpie from its earliest days to the latest plywood-and-epoxy designs; gives comprehensive instructions that can be used to build sharpies of all types and sizes; and includes more than a dozen designs and plans for sharpies from 15 to 40 feet from the likes of Chapelle, Kunhardt, Munroe, Boiger, Clapham, Kirby, and the author. A sharpie is a long, narrow, flat-bottom craft that evolved in the 19th century along the Connecticut shore as an oyster fisherman's boat. An 1880 report by the U.S. Census Bureau characterized the sharpie as "so good a fishing boat and so fast a yacht that it has been adopted in a great many other localities throughout the United States." To this add three more superlatives--easy, cheap, and fast to build--and you have the keys to the sharpie's almost cultlike popularity among backyard boatbuilders.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #537196 in Books
• Published on: 1993-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 179 pages

Review
``. . .provides a wealth of rare and previously unpublished photographs.'' (Boatbuilder )

``Parker instructs the reader in an interesting step-by-step manner that inspires desire and enthusiasm in even the most inept Yankee doodler. But even if you never plan to build a sharpie, this book will delight sailors and boatbuilders alike. (The Ensign )

``This is a little gem of a book. . .There's an abundance of good, hard-nails advice on these pages. . .Parker has done a grand favor for everyone interested in shoal-draft sailing. The little volume belongs on the shelf with Chapelle, Bolger, Beebe, and the rest.'' (WoodenBoat )

``This is a little gem of a book. . .There's an abundance of good, hard-nails advice on these pages. . .Parker has done a grand favor for everyone interested in shoal-draft sailing. The little volume belongs on the shelf with Chapelle, Bolger, Beebe, and the rest.'' (WoodenBoat )

``Parker instructs the reader in an interesting step-by-step manner that inspires desire and enthusiasm in even the most inept Yankee doodler. But even if you never plan to build a sharpie, this book will delight sailors and boatbuilders alike

From the Publisher
A great book - a must.
'The sharpie book' is much more than just a boatbuilding book; it is, exactly what it says on the cover, a book about sharpies: their history and evolution; their construction; their many variations as working boats and pleasure craft; their sailing and handling.

The author Reuel B Parker provides many sharpie variations, from shorter beamier sharpie-skiffs to double-ended schooners, all with excellent drawings and explains their traditional construction in some detail. But better than all the historical and practical information he provides is his engaging and persuasive enthusiasm for this essentially affordable boat type.

WATER CRAFT - JUNE-AUGUST 2000

About the Author
Reuel B. Parker has spent a lifetime building, repairing, restoring, designing, and cruising in sail- and powerboats. Author of The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding (International Marine, 1990) and of numerous articles for WoodenBoat and Boatbuilder magazines, he has been a devotee of sharpies since his childhood on the shores of Long Island Sound. He is currently putting the finishing touches on a 60-foot Virginia pilot schooner; he plans to move his design business aboard and go cruising.