Making a Ripple: The 2 X 4 Canoe
Mark Schultz 2015
In pursuit of a craft for fishing and exploring the secluded lakes and streams of Northern Minnesota, the author has created Ripple; a sturdy, stable, comfortable and attractive canoe that can be built from four 16' 2x4s, fiberglass fabric and epoxy resin. If a cedar strip canoe is outside of your time, temperament, and price range, you may find the planked construction method described in this book to be an option well worth considering.
Besides including the complete plans and step by step instructions, the author goes a step further and details the construction of a trailer and hitch system for pulling the canoe behind a bicycle. For about $300 and 2-3 hours per day, for a total of about 40 hours, those with basic woodworking and fiberglassing skills can create this canoe and trailer, and perhaps soon find themselves making another one. L.O.A. 14'3", beam 36", rocker 2", beam at 2" waterline 30", bow height 16", weight 56-60 pounds
Soft-cover Book Available from Amazon $19.95, 64 pages
Making the Food Less Travelled: A Self-Watering Planter
Mark Schultz 2016
Self-watering planters allow anyone with a few square feet of fairly level ground to grow their own produce, making them ideal for the Urban Homesteader. They also use very little water, put the garden bed at a convenient tabletop height,virtually eliminate weeding, are amazingly productive, and best of all are self-tending for days or even weeks at a time.
In this first volume of the Making the Food Less Travelled series, the author explains the benefits of an automated self-watering planter as well as offering detailed construction plans to build your own 8' planter, how to use mini float valves to automate your own self-watering planters, and even how to make simple self-watering planters from plastic buckets.
Soft-cover Book Available from Amazon $19.95, 38 pages