BOLGER BOATS ON THE WEB

An ever-increasing selection of Bolger designs other than the Light Schooner in websites. All sites have photos, some have information, most have enthusiasm, all are worthwhile browsing. The boats range from the stunning to the stunned. They ALL work well, especially the square ones.

These examples are still only a tiny fraction of Bolger's 700-odd designs. Study plans are available from Phil Bolger & Friends Inc (see bottom of the In Print page). Over 200 of Phil Bolger's designs have appeared in Messing About in Boats. Dave Thibodeau has indexed all issues -- go to MAIB, click on Index and use as keywords Bolger, Phil or Bolger on Design.

Your Bolger Boat not listed? email us
 
 

Very small boats:

Nymph dinghy Small and elegant. Lots'n'lots'n'lots'n'lots of Nymph photos on Michael Galvin's Nymph page.
Nymph Larry Barker's page with good photos of a full-size sail in operation.  He also has a useful boating links page. 
Reubens Nymph A slightly, um, hippier version of the Nymph dinghy, a.k.a. "fat" Nymph in Oz but never the more obvious "Nymphatte".  Instant Boats is running a Nymph Challenge featuring this hippy dinghy..
Reubens Nymph: Another, set up for paraplegic use and reported to have passed all expectations...
Nymph, half-size sail Also, a photo of how the longitudinal thwart works with four kids at once...
YellowLeaf canoe  OwlnMole strike again with this small and elegant Bolger design. 
Bolger Bee, the step-sharpie tryout, also an excellent small, and fast, tender.  Ron Magen's building log. 
Featherwind (the $200 sailboat)  Dave Carnell's simplified hull and rig, modified from the original Bolger design.  All you modifiers take note, this is an APPROVED modification. Alternative link also available.
Shoebox punt An even smaller dinghy, square of course. Building photos from which expletives have been deleted, sadly...
Tortoise punt Square boats rule OK!
Tortoise punt Seth Mackinko's present to his nephews. Building photos.
Elegant punt This is on the Instant Boats site (listed under "whole spectrum" sites below) but there are additional colour photos of this neat small boat.
Elegant Punt  More photos and vital statistics from Scotty.
Elegant Punt (first in Dale Ruth's serial boatbuilding)
Elegant Punt  Another from Mike Stockstill.

Brick  The definitive Brick page with a new Brick produced by Owl'n'Mole Brick The most basic Bolger Box Brick A great photo of one under sail. Purity is everything in design. Brick Curtis Barrow's webpage on his Brick construction  Tim & Brick  No, not Tim & Flying Tadpole...this is Tim Hansen's page  Low-cost Brick  umbrella-ed and polytarped by David Routh  Brick, floating  With construction photos (Jim Wygralak)  More Brick building with Michael Surface

Gloucester Light Dory (Gloucester Gull) Bolger's "ticket to heaven". Run through on construction, hints, photos of this rowing dory of ultimate grace, beauty, elegance and functionality. Who said Bolger designs were homely? There is also more information on the Instant Boats site.
Queen Mab  Design #638, 7' x 32" small cat boat, designed weight 25 pounds! Text and photos of Dave Thibodeau's boat.
Queen Mab  On Mike Stockstill's pages, more photos of Dave Thibodeau's boat.
Cartopper dinghy for lounging about in (requires some K-Mart additions)
Light Peapod 12' rowing dinghy.
Auray pram 9'9" fisherman's, er, fisherperson's punt.
12' Bolger Pirogue A boat to be sailed tenderly. Nice paddling it though. Opinion is split on the Bolger pirogues being tippy boats...
16' Bolger Pirogue...  Andrew Hamilton is quite happy with his, and...
12' Bolger sailing Pirogue...  Craig O'Donnell reckons the tippy reputation results from walloping cods, not from the boat...
...and a photo of the 12' Pirogue from Craig.
Which pirogue?  Even I'm losing track...Richard Spelling's version. Apologies from Richard: the construction photos were eaten by the disposable camera...
Teal A rowing version of Teal, the classic Bolger instant boat.
Teal Zeiger family building Teal as practice for Martha Jane.
Teal Chris Crandall's Teal (finally! sorry Chris...)
Teal Alan Julian's Oz version (another fiddler with plans, sigh...) 
Skimmer 8' box boat+15hp motor = speed on flat water.
Skimmer (of sorts)David Gray's Styrofoam insulation board version.
Pointy Skiff  Some nice photos of this simple and elegant rowboat.
Pointy skiff? Brick?  This is Larry Henry's site and I keep getting confused with it, so just go and look, hmm? Larry says: Remember; the Titanic was built by the professionals, but Noah's Ark by amateurs!

Smaller trailer boats, mainly sail:

Gypsy 15 ft very elegant tack and tape (stitch and glue) sailing dinghy. Construction and sailing photos from Jorge Espinosa in Ecuador.
Gypsy Peter Pillsbury's decked version, providing large fore and aft flotation tanks. 
Pirate Racer A simple and elegant double-ender reminiscent of Windsprint but intended for building cheaply, in multiples, for kids to play/race in a spirited fashion. This link is Leo Foltz's "keep the kids occupied while building an AS29" boat. Some rather startling racing rules come with the boat; they're in "Boats with and Open Mind" (see the In Print listing).
Oldshoe  ballasted daysailer much bigger than her dimensions suggest: 11'7" x 5'1'', draft 1'3", sail 91 sq ft
June Bug 14 ft rowing/sailing tender, at Messing About In Boats. B/w photo, Bolger's design comments with it. See also the Instant Boats site, below.
June Bug in colour, in Dale Ruth's sequence of boat building.
June Bug in Phil Lea's how-to-cope-with-leeboard-failure article. 
Bobcat There is a photo of Bolger's ply version of a Beetle Cat in between unrelated boats and the cookery session.
Bobcat   Bill Courson's Bobcat, more photos.
Bobcat   Flynn's Folly.
Windsprint (16' sharpie daysailer):  Robert Berger's Cool Change
More on Windsprint: photos, construction, building log, sailing. John Bell's pages are also a good read for other boat topics too
Yet more on Windsprint: Patrick Crockett's boat, some nice photos.
Windsprint Robert Lundy's building log and photos.
Keel daysailer Not trailable but still a daysailer.
Prince William Sound Yawl 16'5" cold-moulded sailing beauty. The boat's nice too...
Nord Koster Canoe Yawl another stunning and curvaceous 16' canoe yawl in the style of Albert Strange
Spartina An almost finished cold-moulded version of Bolger's lapstrake revision of Montgomery & Friend's hard chine 1921 catboat. Another very elegant boat.
Light Schooner For those who came direct to this page through an outside link, here is the definitive 23'6" Light Schooner ("Scooner") site (plug). 
Light Schooner photos Our favourite boat (of course).
More Light Schooner links Other Light Schooner sites.
Folding Schooner The Light Schooner's ancestor. 30' long and uses a 15 ft trailer. Sailing photos now up. 
Folding schooner  Some construction photos of Leander Harding's boat, courtesy Peter Vanderwaart. 
Sneakeasy Long lean fast powerboat with an edgy air about her. No wake, no house-mortgage-type fuel bills. Speed under power with style. This is Gregg Carlson's rapid production of the step-sharpie version.
Sneakeasy  For the older flat-bottomed version, see Mark's at Toucan Canvas.
Sneakeasy construction has ended at Fritz Funk's Sneakeasy Home Page and it's now afloat.  This page is the best general Sneakeasy info source.
Diablo If you must run a stinkboat, why not a really elegant one?? Ray Dionne & his sons constructed this one, and as they had a hard time finding any Diablo links when they wanted information, have put a heap up themselves.  (And here's another nice photo of a Diablo just for extras!)
Being extreme!  Your guess is as good as mine on what this SquareBoat trimaran might be! Cartoons only... 
Wisp  One of, if not the most, curvaceous and beautiful Bolger Boats.  A 20' beach sail cruiser.
 

Bed & Breakfast cruisers, most trailable:

Cynthia J leeboard catboat An older design, and an early SquareBoat. A couple of building photos and completed boat photo from Martin Ellacott. Despite appearances, Cynthia J is not ancestral to the Micro, being unballasted and keel-less.
Jochems Family Schooner  Bolger's design #639, in the same genus with an equivalent rig to the Light Schooner, but accommodation and 5000 lb displacement to boot. Utilises the Birdwatcher-style combined cabin/cockpit, picture windows, shelter. Still easily trailable, a truly cunning boat. Infinite headroom in the full-length combined cabin/cockpit. Cantilevered masts, both folding down for trailing. The boat my wife wouldn't let me build! Now with Bjorn Harbo's Norwegian Wood building photos!
Black Skimmer One of the most popular of Bolger designs, and another which demonstrates that sharpies can be stunning.
Skillygalee, a much more elegant approach to the BlackSkimmer parameters. 29' X 7' X 1'6", this is "Woodwind", the original Skillygalee, used as a day charter boat by Fritz Koschmann in sunny Alaska. Stunning scenery in the background of the sailing shots...doesn't seem fair, really... 
Double Eagle A new design, 40' catamaran, commisioned by Fritz Koschmann to allow both more people on charters and more protection from that tropical Alaskan weather. Bolger's Chinese Gaff on this design. Fritz is currently building  
Martha Jane  Another square boat derived from the Black Skimmer.  Trailerable, water ballasted, good accommodation for weekending.  This is the Zeiger family's boatbuilding page in the chilly chilly waters of Juneau, Alaska (the boat is Mark's challenge to the cruise ships).  Lots of construction piccies. Recent update! 
Martha Jane Shirley Valentine, Graham Cheers' now well-tested Martha Jane, superbly finished, in both its pre- and post- sponson'n'extra-ballast incarnations.  This boat trails all over the Australian continent--favourite cruising grounds range from the Murray Lakes (amazing photos of it here too!) to Cairns & beyond 
Martha Jane  Steve Anderson's MJ "Landroval" from construction, right through to launching and sailing.  There's also a beautiful sailing photo of Bennett Scheuer's Martha Jane, "Steadfast"..
Martha Jane  Mike Stockstill provides more building pictures and narrative of Rambunctious.  (Mike is a specialist at building large boats in snowdrifts, by the way). And sailing. And motor tests. 
Chebacco boats Construction, sailing...Chebacco News has it all and changes regularly. In fact it's so good that it's embarrassing us here. Build Scooners, folks, Scooners. What do you want a cabin for, after all??? 
Great Birdwatcher photos   On the other hand, if you must have a cabin, why not one with infinite headroom? Especially if you play basketball? Oar-auxiliary, camp-cruisers. Birdwatcher's predecessor was Dovekie, a production boat, but Birdwatcher is for those of us with thumbs only. One of the most elegant of Bolger's simple sharpies. Lots of serious thoughts too from Jim Michalak, himself a designer of some elegant boats. We'll feature some of his designs in SquareBoats, when we get there,,,
Dovekie:  21'3'' x 6'8" production sail cruiser with oar auxiliary.  Study plans and photos.
Dovekies and the odd Martha Jane doing what comes naturally to them - no fuss shallow water cruising on the Shallow Water Sailor pages.
Micro ...the world's only real pocket cruiser. This was once the only photo on the Web, but now...
...the DEFINITIVE Micro pagefrom Chuck Merrell. "Trivial Pursuit" in great photos and construction photos, with a link to an extreme goldplater Micro! This is a MUST SEE page. Technical details, links and an archive of the original Micro newsletters.
Yet more Micro... Construction, internals. Note, large photos in Tim Webber's (and George Fulk's) building and sailing photos...
...and even more on Micro construction... Look, read, learn as John Morrice progresses through construction in the chilly British Isles.
...and another progressive construction... A good building page from Rob Feeney.
...and one with a bowsprit, no less.. Demountable bowsprit and jib added, a sort of racing (?) version to terrify other boats and her crew alike...
... and the original Canadian Micro? Martin Ellacott with photos of building and floating, and comments on Micro in use....
...and Tom Etherington's Micro... We lost this page for a while but here it is back again...
...and the soon to be famous Paloma Blanca: currently the contender for the world's most venturesome Micro...
...and Stan Muller's Snow Goose building shots...
...and Peter Lenihan's Micro...
...and is it a YAM? (yet another Micro?)  Well, yes, but this boat, like Paloma Blanca, has really done things...
...and David Jost's Micro Firefly under construction... 
...but sadly Pippo's (Italy)  super Micro info is no longer accessible.  We're keeping this slot open though in case he reposts!
Long Micro Totally reworked website choc-a-bloc with information, FAQs, photos on this great pocket cruiser. Square boats really rule OK! This is the best info available on the Long Micro.
Modified Long Micro  Dave Zeiger's and Anke Wagners's former liveaboard (building an AS29-derived boat)! Sailing photo on their external page.
Topaz  under construction, much more information at Duckworks Magazine, go thou...
Microtrawler Superfast powered step-sharpie minitrawler with full accommodation for two.
Microtrawler George Shannon's boat, good article and great photos! The series is now complete. 
AS19 direct (or go via the other Advanced Sharpies)  The smallest of the Advanced Sharpies. An uncompromisingly square boat.
AS19 "Orpheo" Same boat as the preceding, but more photos on Mike Stockstill's own pages.
AS19-Sailing photos are up on the SquareBoats website.
St Valerie  Curvaceous two-masted lugger of French inspiration.
Seabird A Bolger re-incarnation in the spirit of the original but with Bolger simplifications.
Seabird ...and this one intending to use a junk rig.
Tennessee A superb and simple 30' power cruiser. This is Charles Leinweber's building narrative.
Tennessees on Australia's River Murray have undergone a population explosion, and developed a rather Australian style. In terms of sheer numbers, they're the most popular Bolger design in Australia, at least in larger boats (Nymphs turn up everywhere). 

Vacation homes and Real cruisers (real cruisers don't carry quiche):

Jessie Cooper,  25'6" cruising sharpie.  This is Chuck Merell's major essay, discussion and photo presentation of this seminal design, the ancestor of the Advanced Sharpies.  Chuck lived and cruised aboard his Tomboy, who you can see beached on the cover of Boats with an Open Mind.
AS29s  The SquareBoats! website is coming on....  We're still incorporating pages in this links list as we produce them (or as others produce them).  Go to the Advanced Sharpies  page for boats in USA, Australia and Germany. Lots more AS29 photos, INCLUDING, FINALLY, UNDER SAIL!!!!.  Singlehanded, no less. Storms, fires, pub crawls...
Can't afford a real AS29?  Buy a VIRTUAL AS29 and cruise the Aegean, Great Lakes, English coast etc etc.  Even we've coughed up for this simulation (how could we resist?) The AS29 model will soon be sporting Lady Kate's colours! 
AS39, the ultimate Bolger Box  As well as links to Loose Moose,Bob and Sheila Wise's late transatlantic-voyaging SuperBox, we also present Bob Archibald's former boat Wizard, with lots of interior shots. See what a real liveaboard looks like (but think also whether you really need or want a boat this big).
Wyoming 51'x8' of river cruiser in the Duck Flat version.  Small engines and extended cabins.  Not for high speed hooning...
Fast MotorSailer  22'7" x 8'0" x 9" Outboard-powered trailerable motorcruiser with sailing capability, mountains of room and a cutwater!  A SquareBoat with flare (?) Definitely capable of high speed hooning...
Resolution  Philip C Bolger's home and workplace for many years.  The launch Shivaree is also in this series of photos from Michael Galvin (of Nymph fame). 

Whole spectrum sites:

Bolger boat owners/builders Craig O'Donnell has compiled a roll of people complete with email addresses and the Bolger boats they own or have built. Have a look at how many have multiple Bolger boats. Is this a peculiarity of Bolger owners? (yes) Is it because the boats are affordable?? (yes) Does this fleet ownership tendency mean these people are bloated plutocrats, I mean plutoed boatocrats??? (er..) And for all you Terry Pratchett fans out there, are multiple question marks the mark of mental instability????

Teal (12'), Payson Pirogue, Jinni (16'), Long Micro (19'), Chebacco (20'). Multiple photos increasing rapidly. There's also lots, lots more on Craig O'Donnell's Cheap Pages: move around and watch your Internet connection bill soar. While there, visit his Short Boats page. Not Bolger, but very much in the minimalist tradition. Cheap, too...

The whole Instant Boats fleet in Harold "Dynamite" Payson's catalog, up to and including the Light Schooner. More than thirty Bolger boats in the cattledog. Photos of completed boats and boats under construction (mainly b/w) and profile study plans for Surf, Teal, Canoe, Chebacco, Black Skimmer, Cartopper, Windsprint, Nymph, Elegant Punt, and Light Schooner. Some links to individuals' pages including this one, so you can circumnavigate...

Bolger designs in the Common Sense Boats catalogue: Big Dory, Brick, Fishcat, Idaho, Martha Jane, Micro, Long Micro, Oldshoe, Pirogue . (Previously Common Sense Design. Appreciations to Bernie Wolfard for introducing a lot of us to the Bolger boats)
Compulsive building Gregg Carlson, a really compulsive Bolgerboatbuilder. This link takes you to the top of his page: if you've worked through our list of links from the start, you'll already have seen the boats. But someone this dedicated deserves multiple links!
SWBANS Photo Gallery A changing kaleidoscope of Bolger and other designs

Build your own navy etc:

"HMS" Rose For those who would like to build or sail a really large Bolger boat, er, ship. Believe it or not, this 18th Century RN frigate is actually a Bolger design too. This link is a flyer for sail training, trips etc but there are lots of pictures and links to related sites.

General sites with significant Bolger boat content:

The Boatbuilding Community: not a solely Bolger site, but has Bolger boatbuilding projects in it..
Messing about in boats: samples from the hardcopy magazine, including articles by Bolger on design. Why not subscribe?
 
 

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