Catboats, Fiberglass Runabouts, Aluminum Runabouts, Maine Schooners, Wooden Boat Restoration, Small Sailboats, Racing Hydroplanes (Marshall, Crosby, Catalina, Edey & Duff Stone Horse, Sharpie, Lone Star, Feather Craft, Crestliner, Reinell, Chris-Craft, Pacemaker, Chrysler, and many more)

Restore Your Wooden Boat, How to Do It by Those Who’ve Done It
by multi authors, edited by Stan Grayson

Book Specifications
Trim Size: 8 ½" x 11"
Total Page Count: 128 pages
Binding: Soft Cover
Illustrations: 101 photographs and drawings
Price: $17.95
ISBN: ISBN: 1-928862-11-X

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Are you daunted by the challenge of restoring that wooden boat you’ve long dreamed of? Need some inspiration? Need evidence wooden boats aren’t just for the wealthy or professional boatbuilders? How about some practical advice on building a home-made steam box or how to flip over a hull inside a two-car garage? Restore Your Wooden Boat, How to Do It by Those Who’ve Done It is the book you’ve been looking for.

This book brings you the stories of eight men who restored a wooden boat on their own and lived to tell the tale. Among the authors are a doctor, a consultant, a retiree, a contractor-turned-teacher, a project manager, and a carpenter.

Just as people have different preferences when it comes to boats, the book includes a variety of boat types – sailboats, a rowboat, outboards, and a twin-engine cruiser. A classic Chris-Craft, a Lyman, a Pacemaker Sea Skiff, an Old Town, and an Alden daysailer are among the boats included. Nor is the book limited to one construction method. You’ll learn how owners worked on plank-on-frame boats, a plywood boat, and lap strake models.

This is an inspirational book that every wooden boat owner, or would-be owner, will want.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Bringing Back a Rowboat
Chapter 2: A Chris-Craft Sportsman
Chapter 3: A Classic Daysailer
Chapter 4: A Lyman Sleeper
Chapter 5: A Chris-Craft Kit Boat
Chapter 6: A Sleek Sloop
Chapter 7: An Old Town Runabout
Chapter 8: The Pacemaker in the Steel Mill

Book Specifications
Trim Size: 8 ½" x 11"
Total Page Count: 176 pages
Binding: Soft Cover
Illustrations: 202 photos and drawings (141 b/w and 61 color)
Price: $23.95
ISBN: 1-928862-10-1

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They were Mustangs and Malibu’s, Cadillac’s and Chryslers – but they weren’t cars! They were the fiberglass and aluminum, runabouts that revolutionized America’s boating industry in the years immediately after World War II. Now, Peter Hunn’s long-awaited new book tells the stories of the men and companies behind the great switch from wooden construction. It was the advent of affordable aluminum and fiberglass runabouts that didn’t need time-consuming maintenance that made boating more affordable and attracted millions of Americans.

Today, these stylish, colorful “sports cars of the waterways” are increasingly recognized as historic but still-affordable collectibles that provide lots of boating fun while evoking nostalgia for an earlier era's sometimes flamboyant style. The author discusses the technologies that made such boats possible, design features, and he offers valuable tips on what to look for when purchasing and restoring a runabout. There are well-researched historical listings on over 600 builders of aluminum or fiberglass runabouts.

Packed with useful information, this book is a treat!

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: From Fighter Planes to Runabouts — An Aluminum Boat Overview
Chapter 2: Paint and Polish — the Major Aluminum Builders
Chapter 3: In Shops Throughout the Country — Smaller Aluminum Builders
Chapter 4: From Plastic to Glass — Fiberglass Runabouts, an Overview
Chapter 5: The Glass Runabout Comes of Age — Fiberglass Boating’s Major Players
Chapter 6: A Multitude of Brands — Fiberglass Boat Builders, the Minor Makes
Chapter 7: The Colorful World of Classic Runabouts
Chapter 8: What to Look for in a Vintage Aluminum or Fiberglass Runabout
Chapter 9: All Decked Out — Equipping a Vintage Runabout

Prop Riders -- 60 Years of Racing Hydroplanes

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Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive look at what one famous driver called "the greatest game on earth." Prop Riders presents the story of limited-class hydroplane racing in all its color and fascinating technical detail. Prop Riders brings the story of the skittish hot rods of boat racing -- hydroplanes powered by highly tuned V-8 engines from Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler, to name just a few. Interested in the smaller boats? A stock Toyota engine or highly modified BMW-powered screamer? The high-winding Crosley motors of years gone by? They're all here.

In Prop Riders, fans will learn what each Class is all about together with fascinating details on hull design; construction, powertrain technology -- even the fast-growing hobby of restoring vintage hydroplanes! Long-time fans will especially appreciate the section of postwar records with detail on the boat, driver, and engine.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 -From Skimmers to Prop Riders
Chapter 2 -Under the Skin
Chapter 3 -Something for Everyone: APBA Hydroplane Classes
Chapter 4 -Limiteds Overseas
Chapter 5 -North American Hydroplane Builders
Chapter 6 -Multi-engine Ingenuity
Chapter 7 -Race Day
Chapter 8 -Drivers
Chapter 9 -Reviving the Past
Appendix A: Records
Appendix B: Unusual Designs
Appendix C: What's in a Name?
Appendix D: Glossary of Terms

About the authors: Dayton, Ohio's William Kunz has been a hydroplane enthusiast and E-Class participant for many years. After his retirement as a driver, he sponsored a boat driven by Jim Kropfeld, who went on to become one of the sport's superstars. Phil has worked as a photographer since 1981 and is one of the country's leading experts on the subject of limited-class hydroplanes. Bill Holder is the author of numerous books on American muscle cars. A former aerospace engineer, he is well known for his writing on racing and related subjects.

Cape Cod Catboats
By Stan Grayson

Book Specifications:
ISBN: 1-928862-05-5
Price: $39.95
Binding: hard-cover
Subject: Transportation
Availability date: Approx. July 30, 2002
Trim Size: 8 1/2" x 11"
No. Pages: 208
Illus: Approx. 115 b/w and line drawings plus approx. 16 color photographs.
Jacket: 4-colors

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What do you do when an old favorite is sold out? In the case of Catboats, the author decided to start from scratch on an entirely new book. Cape Cod Catboats is the result. This book presents the latest results of the author's years of research into the history and development of America's most unique and enduring sailing craft.

The book includes an in-depth look at the catboat as both a work boat and a yacht, examines the rise, decline, and resurgence of the catboat, traces the catboat's complex origin and development, and provides practical advice on catboat sailing. Although the focus is on the Cape Cod cat, there is very important new material on catboat development in New York/New Jersey, Long Island's Great South Bay, and Rhode Island.

Three entire chapters are devoted to post World War Two catboats. These include a chapter on the catboat's role in the development of fiberglass construction during the late '40s/early '50s, a chapter on production daysailors, and a chapter on modern, production cruising catboats. The latter two chapters include results of owner surveys, advice on how different brands compare, and how they can be improved. In addition, the author shares his thoughts on the state of catboat preservation by individuals and museums

Compared to Catboats , this new title will be more lavish. It will feature a larger page size, hard-cover rather than soft-cover binding, and 16 pages of color photographs, all for a price that is just five dollars more!


About the Author: Stan Grayson has researched catboats for 25 years and has sailed catboats on the coast of New England and in Barnegat Bay.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Prologue: The Harbor in Time
Part I: The Old Days (circa 1840 - 1940)
Part II: Rebirth (1948 - 2002)
Chapter 1- A Sail in the Mist (explores catboat origins)
Chapter 2- Workboat (discusses catboats used for fishing, freighting, and passenger carrying)
Chapter 3- Yacht (discusses the rise of the catboat as a cruising and racing yacht in the early 1880s, the Golden Age -- 1885 - 1895 -- and subsequent developments)
Chapter 4- The Artists (C. C. Hanley, Gilbert Smith, Archibald Cary Smith)
Chapter 5- Rig (details of the cat rig and an in-depth look at why some boats were fitted with bowsprits and jibs.)
Chapter 6- Decline and Renewal (reasons for catboat's decline in popularity and the reasons for its modest resurgence between World War One and World War Two)
Chapter 7-: Carl Beetle and the Fiberglass Pioneers (how a small group of forward-looking boat builders in the New Bedford area introduced fiberglass as a boat-building material in the years just after World War Two)
Chapter 8-: Daysailors (from the wonderful, wooden Beetle Cat to today's crop of fiberglass daysailors, a look at development, specifications, and appeal)
Chapter 9- Cruisers (a survey of currently available fiberglass catboats equipped with cabins)
Chapter 10: The Enduring Catboat (stories of people who have built or own unique catboats today: a cold-molded daysailor, a recreated 25' Crosby, a restored 21' Crosby, the first Marshall 22, and the only survinvg D-Class racing catboat)
Appendix A: Where Have all the Catboats Gone? (thoughts on the historic preservation of catboats)
Appendix B: Practical Matters (q and a on everything from a winter cover, to selection, to sailing advice)

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