I'm charmed by the innovative, practical, high-performance, thrifty boat ideas of Phil Bolger and Jim Michalak. And to me these ideas morph and come to life in the book, "The Simplistic Sailboat: A Family Cruise in a $600 Boat," by Dan Hookham.

Dan was inspired by Bolger & The Gang then took their ideas and ran with em to create a boat that was just right for him and his family. He didn't want to use plans, wanted the project to be organic and living. I don't think they'd mind. He clearly had plenty of skills already, as he and his family were living aboard another boat he had built. The new project was a little family-trip beach cruiser. He put it together in a couple weeks, with $600 and scavenged materials from area dumpsters. His little book is the story of this process, his worldview, and the resulting summer cruise their family went on in their new little boat. It gives lots of info on the islands in the Puget Sound region that they traveled among. I also really liked how he included the cultural setting for what he was doing and why---that's the worldview part, I suppose. He gives plenty of props to the working fishermen and their make-do values. Now, quarters might be viewed by some as being a bit cramped. 2 parents and 3 kids on a, what, 23-foot beachable boat?

Oh, the book is also about family and marriage. It's a wonderfully integrated tale.

Ordering link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0965595447/jeffpottersoutyoA

Here's a link to the technical concepts bible, by Phil Bolger, with a totally new view of boats if you haven't heard of him before. Plenty of culture in there, too:

http://www.amazon.com/Boats-Open-Mind-Seventy-Five-Unconventional/dp/0070063761/jeffpottersoutyoA

Here's a how-to book featuring Phil's designs converted into backyard potential:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Boatbuilding-Dynamite-Payson-Harold/dp/0071472649

Another easy-build book by another tiny boat guru, Jim Michalak:

http://www.amazon.com/Boatbuilding-Beginners-Beyond-Everything-Motorboat/dp/1891369296

Here's a website offering several Bolger's Black Skimmers, a handy thinwater boat, for chartering in the Keys; $750/wk:

http://www.hallman.org/bolger/BlackSkimmer

Here's an amazing central resource for all things "cheap boat":

http://www.friend.ly.net/users/dadadata/boats.html

Mike O'Brien's "Boat Design Quarterly":

http://www.boatdesignquarterly.com

Phil Bolger plans---and more---available online:

http://www.common-sense-boats.com

Gotta always mention the huge cheap-boat resource of Duckworks:

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com