Dave Gentry Custom Boats
Chapter 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 make a fine tender for a larger vessel, and a great cartopping boat for fishing or just messing about. Sorry, there's no building guide available, as this design belongs to Phil Bolger and Friends.
