Boat Data Book
Second Edition
By: Ian Nicoloson
Conway Maritime Press Ltd.
ISBN: 0 85177 345 1

Ian Nicolson’s “Boat Data Book” can’t be described as a “sit down, page burning, cover to cover read”, but certainly should be a centerpiece of any boat builder’s library.  In fact, if you did try to absorb this wealth of data in one sitting the men in white coats would probably scoop you up for a restful weekender in a softly lit room with gentle walls and probing conversations about your family life and potty training. But this 175 page gem is the best compilation of boat building facts, charts, tables and descriptions this reader has ever encountered. It also gives one an idea of the myriad of things a Naval Architect must keep in mind when casting ideas onto the drawing board and lofting floors. If you’ve ever wondered how long a typical arm’s reach at a Nav. station should be, or the breaking loads of bolts in wood, or prop pitch and thrust horsepower conversion ratios, (how big a screw do I need to stick on this beast to make it go somewhere?) this is the resource for your desk/bench. I mean this book has IT. You'll find most useful the immediate access to every sort of conversion graph between imperial and inch, foot, pound, and volume measurement imaginable. It’s a wealth of information on lumber and ply, fastener specifications and loading values to name just a few of the miracles packed between the covers. Everything from weight per volume per species to radius of curve (with and across grain) to shrinkage rates per moisture ratio is there for the taking. For bending tolerance info it's worth it’s weight in gold or, more to the point, marine ply. When wondering if you can really slap that half inch thick fir ply to that radical bend or go with two layers of quarter inch this will give you a measure of the reality factors.  The price of the book will probably be recovered in the Marine plywood you don’t turn into oatmeal because you didn’t know the bending strengths required to make that monster fit.

My dog-eared and stained copy is the Second Edition and I see at Amazon.com that the Fourth edition is now the current release. I can’t imagine that much has changed through the subsequent releases from mine perfect edition, so you can’t go wrong with a new one or an old one. Look in the used books stores too. I bought mine there. Can't imagine why someone let it go. This is gold on paper my lofty (bad pun) friends. And good news! The book’s price won’t empty your college fund or take food from your baby’s mouth. Amazon starts it at $16.00 for used and $21.00 for a brand spanking new copy. Believe me, your copy will not stay squeaky clean and newly for long. At roughly  9” X 6” X 1” it will live happily amongst the glue pots and sawdust of your shop with epoxy resin thumbprints and pencil notes happily showing you are a wizard of nautical. For the longest time I carried my copy in the car for those few minutes of read and dream while waiting at the drive-through or for sweetie to finish at the grocery. Here’s the Amazon link.