Building the Uqbar Dinghy Paperback – February 19, 2014

This book was easy to read and understand. I cannot wait for a free weekend to build this project…ThanksIt will be a fun family build.

this was not described as another version was as paperback but it was not a hardcover. Amazon's bad! Content was as I expected. Delivery charge outrageous.

Great little dinghy...plans good. Just what I needed to get around my boat when it's on the lift.

Can't wait until I can start building one.

I helped build one of these boats years ago when Mr. Jordania was giving weekend workshops at the YWCA in New York. Now seeing that this book is available has brought out smiles and good memories. It was fun and amazing to see how you could actually stitch a boat together. My preference was the 7-foot, as it is a useful size without being too small but also not too heavy. The sides are high (high freeboard), which makes it useful as a dinghy to take along when you are sailing on a bigger boat. And I might add it is very stable as these things go. It’s also good as a rowboat or sailboat to play around in.A tip if you build one and get some epoxy on your skin: A good way to get the epoxy off is by using a Doby pad (sponge with plastic mesh over it), soap and/or vinegar, and hot water: comes off very easily. Getting it on your clothes is another matter, so wear old work clothes.By the way, the advertisement on Amazon says that first-time boat builders can build this boat in one day. I believe this is incorrect. I’m sure it would take a first-time builder, at the very least, a long weekend to build the structure. The book even says that the supervised workshops took from a Friday evening through most of Sunday. So give yourself time for preparation, then the actual building, and then allow some additional time for the finishing touches, e.g., light sanding for the irregularities, varnishing, and adding the fixtures/hardware. It still will be pretty fast, but let yourself enjoy the process. The instructions in the book look clear, so I am looking forward to helping some neighbors build one of these dinghies this spring.

The necessary diagrams are too small to be legible in Kindle..

I'm just finishing cutting out the pieces of the Uqbar 10 sailing dingy, and I've already learned a lot.#1 Forget the $400 price. You can't even buy marine grade plywood for that, and the West epoxy products are Over $120 by themselves.#2 Lowes, Home Depot, Ace and other builder stores don't carry most of the supplies you need for these boats. During the pandemic, marine grade plywood is almost impossible to get, even from a lumberyard. And you'll really have fun finding someone to make you a 10' dowel if you want a sailing model.#3 Unless you've done this sort of thing before, you'll need to allow a lot more time than they say to properly measure and cut the pieces. See the page of diagrams I attached. You better be good at fractions, and you need to cut to a sixteenth of an inch.#4 I am currently at work stoppage due to a missing dimension on the diagram for Uqbar 10 AFT Transom, page 45. (see photo) There's also a random measurement in the middle of the page. No way to know if the angles of the diagrams are accurate without cutting one and seeing if it fits. AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE?Having said all that, I'm looking forward to having a boat I made myself, and I look forward to teaching my grandchildren how to row and sail.