Queequeg's Coffin
Before boats were designed for the tyranny of stand-up headroom, esthetic proportion ruled nautical form, and while it is as difficult now as ever it was to define such beauty, you know it when you see it. William Atkins knew it, and I fell in love with his efforts from the first time I saw Ripple for sale. The price to be paid is not small, though. Well, actually, it is exactly small . You won't find a more compact (Latin for cramped ) 26 footer than Ripple, so every cubic foot of storage space is dear. Facing two to three months aboard for a trip up and down the Inside Passage, I need to optimize my storage, and have been building a house-top carrier to help. The challenge, of course, is to devise a solution that does minimal esthetic damage while making a substantial contribution to available storage. I'll be taking propane canisters along with me as well, and having a non-interior storage space for those will increase safety and peace of mind. I also wanted it to...