Phil Bolger's Amesbury Skiff MippetChapter 1 of the late Philip C Bolger's fascinating book "Small Boats,"
describes the design of this little skiff. That book was published in
1973, and I know of only a few Mippets that were ever built. Mr. Bolger
certainly never foresaw that his design would be re-created as a
skin-on-frame boat (and it certainly never occured to me, either,
when I spoke with him - one of my fondest memories).
My Mippet was another conceptual proof that many different types
of boats can be built much quicker, cheaper and easier with non-
traditional skin-on-frame construction. The original Mippet was
designed for batten seam plywood, using frames and stringers
almost identical to what my skinboats use - hence the conversion
was logical and relatively easy. I added inwales, transom and
quarter knees, and a breasthook to retain stiffness, modified the
frames for skin flex, and added rubrails. The transom got a
sculling notch, for safety (in case of a lost or broken oar).
She's constructed, as many of my boats are, with Western Red
Cedar stringers, marine plywood frames and with a ballistic
nylon skin. She's by far the sturdiest skinboat I've ever built -
very rigid and solid feeling, despite her miniscule weight (44 lbs).
9'6" in length, by 3'6" wide. A Mippet, either in wood or SOF, would
describes the design of this little skiff. That book was published in
1973, and I know of only a few Mippets that were ever built. Mr. Bolger
certainly never foresaw that his design would be re-created as a
skin-on-frame boat (and it certainly never occured to me, either,
when I spoke with him - one of my fondest memories).
My Mippet was another conceptual proof that many different types
of boats can be built much quicker, cheaper and easier with non-
traditional skin-on-frame construction. The original Mippet was
designed for batten seam plywood, using frames and stringers
almost identical to what my skinboats use - hence the conversion
was logical and relatively easy. I added inwales, transom and
quarter knees, and a breasthook to retain stiffness, modified the
frames for skin flex, and added rubrails. The transom got a
sculling notch, for safety (in case of a lost or broken oar).
She's constructed, as many of my boats are, with Western Red
Cedar stringers, marine plywood frames and with a ballistic
nylon skin. She's by far the sturdiest skinboat I've ever built -
very rigid and solid feeling, despite her miniscule weight (44 lbs).
9'6" in length, by 3'6" wide. A Mippet, either in wood or SOF, would
make a fine tender for a larger vessel, and a great cartopping
boat for fishing or just messing about. Sorry, there's no building
