New Links 7/11/08 Distant Shores, a great info source. 8/07/08 Corrected address on Njordboats, in Slovenia

Distant Shores is a web site by a Canadian couple who travel around the world visiting and cruising on yachts and making video DVDs about it. But that's just part of it. They maintain a blog, put on seminars, and much more stuff of interest to boat people. They have a DVD available August 2008 which has great shots of Benno & Marlene's 41 Diesel Duck, down in the "Crib."

Ben's Logbook: Ben is a French guy, an artist, and a very clever web builder who created this blog. It starts with his adventures or perhaps better MISS adventures having a new 382 DUCK built in China, and will continue on with his cruise "south". Shades of Moitessier? Nah, Ben is far more social!

Ruth Johnson's Blog about she and Randal's circumnavigation in a 462 DUCK. It's full of photos and travel comments.

dieselducks.com I decided to make a site specifically devoted to my DIESEL DUCK designs. So, THIS site, dieselducks (note the plural!).com has all the poop about that rapidly growing family since I figured this site is already confusing enough! The DUCKS have worked out great and several have cruised all over the planet. If you like my power designs I think you'll find this site interesting! Of course, I'm not impartial....

Ducktalk Started in fall of 2005, it is devoted just to chat about the DUCKS. Anybody can join and participate! All you need is to just like DUCKS!

Don Kotts Marine Artist: I've been ragging my friend Don for years to get a web site up to show and market his art. Don spends to much of each year in the fishing bidness, but finally has decided to take more time for his paintings. He does custom work as well as commissions. He even does cartoons and Xmas cards! Don illustrated my Navigation book, in case you seen it. If not, you can buy it here of course! His site will give you a good idea of his versatility. Here's a couple of his things I especially like.

Asboat.com:is the site for a very large and versatile shipyard in Izmir, Turkey. Jurgen's 44 DUCK stopped there for a haul out on its trip back from China and the manager of the yard really liked her. One thing led to the next and now they show a DUCK on their web site and are actively looking to build more. Or any other custom design of mine for that matter. They are unusual in that they build in steel, wood, fiberglass, or aluminum. Their best prices are for steel but the other materials are proportionally priced and all are very reasonable. They build everything from big power cats that look like space ships to megayachts and of course those beautiful Turkish clipper bowed wooden charter boats. They don't mess around. They recently bid a complete 41 EVO Duck, saying it would be out the door in 4 months.

Building a Wood 38 Duck: Bill Zeuli hired Wayne Shibley Wooden Boat Works to build his 38, stretched to 40. Bill is working with him on it. This new web site is documenting step by step the who process. It's good to see a pro built WOODEN Duck going together! The yard is in Chicago.

Furledsails.com: is an Internet "Pod Cast" focused on cruising and recreational sailing. There's so much interesting stuff on "da net" and I only learned of this one when they asked if they could interview me. Quite flattering, of course. Anyway, it's an interesting deal even if their choice of content can be debated (!). I almost feel sorry for television these days. I watch very little of it anymore. Of course perhaps if there were less commercials? Dream on, huh....but meanwhile, you might enjoy some of the stories broadcast here on furledsails.com

Price Boat Company: Jerry Price built a wood 38 (Shown in the Photo Gallery section. This site details the boat and gives information about his yard.

http://lnx.bonita.it/ The original Big Mel (Melquiades 64) was built in the Gdansk (?) shipyard in Poland. Maybe old Lec Luvensa or however he spelled his name welded on her, I dunno. She motored away but was never completely finished and in 2005 I think it was, her Switz owner sold her. She is now an Italian operated charter sailing ship. Here's the Link to their site. This great; when in Holland you can stay at the Big Mel B&B near Amsterdam and perhaps sail on her too. And when in Italy you can stay on and sail the Big Mel down there. Such decisions! (5/19/06)

http://grizzly.infosky.ch/grizzlybear.ch/ is about the building of a GRIZZLY BEAR in Switzerland, which, in typical Swiss fashion, is beautifully put together. The site they created about it shows the construction well. The text is in German but if you don't read it you'll still enjoy the photos. This is a new address as of 4/06.

Lam Sails is one of the largest sail lofts in the world. They have excellent sails and wonderful service. You can contact them directly yourself through their web site, or go through me. There's info about my involvement you can get to by clicking the "link" on the home page

bartenderboats.com: One of the most appealing designs ever done is George Caulkin's wonderful Bartender boats. At this writing George is in his 90s and to busy crabbing, fishing, and sailing his engineless 20 footer and roaring around in his V-8 powered 22' Bartender. He's far to busy to learn the net and market his designs in this New World net stuff. So, Bill Childs who like me is also crazy about Bartenders but unlike me has the energy to make a site for them and market the plans. Not only that, Bill is offering CNC cut kits for them, and even custom building new ones. This is great to see because now the Bartenders will get new exposure and a new generation will learn about them! Here's a photo of the 22 headed out across an Oregon river bar. The 22 was always my favorite and in August, 2005, I ordered a 22 hull (outboard version) from Bill! I'm going to finish it out to look JUST like this one in the photo.

Idlewild Expedition: is the Home Page of IDLEWILD, a 57' power cruiser (see her photos and design info in the STOCK PLANS section of this site). She's accomplished all sorts of adventures since her 2004 launch including just completing the longest non-stop passage ever done in a power yacht; 4,000 plus miles from Greenland to South Africa.

SeahorseYachts: Builders of the 46-2 and 38-2 Diesel Ducks in various models, as well as three 44 DUCKS, all which have gone cruisin'.

reducostall.com This French yard is tremendous; I visited them Oct. 2001 and really liked what they're doing. They like my designs I am flattered to say, and they showed me how their unique system in heavy HEAVY aluminum is suitable for many of them, especially the DUCKS.

groups.yahoo.com/group/BackyardBoatbuilding2 This is a really good site because it is made of of folks actually BUILDING boats of wood and steel who share their information. I'm very flattered that the emphasis is on my designs. I have nothing to do with the site other than I enjoy following it myself. Sometimes I need to bite my tongue, but I notice that eventually issues get a logical answer and it seems best I keep my two cents outta it.

Trawlers And Trawlering: The new name for the old Trawlerworld site, and now an even better incredible free place which is becoming "the" internet info source about cruising under power. I'd rather it was called TROLLERS and Trawlers but that's OK! My friend Georgs has done an incredible job creating this thing. It's the creation of my friend Georgs who had previously set the sailing speed record from NY to SF, edited motorcycle magazines, and in general had a lot of fun specializing in nothing, and one day realized that cruising power made good sense. He created Trawler World, which in just a few years has become a huge deal with festivals around the country. As usual of us guys with ADD, he went on and created this. I wish I had his energy!

mindspring.com/~waltmur/Self-Steering/index.htm Walter Murray has created this wonderful site which will tell you all sorts of things about wind steering systems. I bet most of you didn't know that the "sailboat" windvane was invented by a French guy, to use on his POWERBOAT to single hand back to Europe from the US. In the 1930s he had single handed a sailboat across, then, decided to take a powerboat (40 something footer) home. Not wanting to have to steer the whole time, he invented the wind vane! I've never seen it used on a powerboat which is why the history is especially interesting. A funny follow up; when he arrived in England after the totally uneventful crossing, crossing, nobody believed he had done it; he had blown out of the water all the old ideas about what a powerboat could do (even though several others had done it but not single handed). So, they ignored the fact that he had done it, the marine press never mentioned it, and the sailing crowd continued feeling superior and all. Then WW 11 happened and yachting stuff go put on the back burner..... Anyway, this is a good informative site.

worldvoyagers.com/index.htm This site is about a voyage around the world on IWALANI, which is my old "JUPITER" and later modified to "OLGA" for the Building Book. These folks built her, modified her to their special interests, and are out having a fine time. This is the fourth of this design that I know of that are out doing serious cruising. She's a heavy boat, but apparently she does the job. The design was a joint effort (my first custom design!) between myself and Doug Gilson. He built her near Seattle in 1981 or so, I forget, and headed "south" where he still is I assume!

Wendall's 38' DUCK page is about the building of a 38 DUCK. Wendell had Custom Steel Boats, in North Carolina, build the hull. He trucked it to the Boston area and has been working on it since. This site is funny because when I first met him, he still used a rotary dial telephone and had NO interest in computers. Now, just a few years later, he not only has a computer, but made this very elaborate site.

Njordboats is the site for a wood boatbuilding firm in Slovenia. The owner graduated from a Finnish wood craft school, and is building beautiful wooden boats. At this date he is building the schooner ARCHIMEDES (see Stock Plans) for a customer. The photos show he's doing a beautiful job of it. This is a new address as of 2008.