The late Robert M. Steward spent more than 55 years in the boatbuilding business, working for various design offices (among them the highly regarded Philip L. Rhodes firm) and for numerous builders on both coasts. For 24 years he was a designer and engineer at Huckins Yacht Corporation in Jacksonville, FL, and served for a year as its president before his retirement in 1981. He remained active as a designer and marine consultant until his death in 1996. Carl Cramer has been the publisher of WoodenBoat magazine for more than 20 years, during which time WoodenBoat Publications launched Professional Boatbuilder magazine (1989) and IBEX, the boatbuilders' trade show (1991), both of which Carl oversees. Prior to his career at WoodenBoat, Carl graduated from the Yacht Design Institute and apprenticed as a boat designer and builder in the early 1970s.

Chapter 1. General; Chapter 2. Plans; Chapter 3. Tools; Chapter 4. Woods; Chapter 5. Fiberglass and Other Hull Materials; Chapter 6. Fastenings; Chapter 7. Lines and Laying Down; Chapter 8. Molds, Templates, and the Backbone; Chapter 9. Setting Up; Chapter 10. Framing; Chapter 11. Planking; Chapter 12. Deck Framing; Chapter 13. Decking; Chapter 14. Deck Joinerwork; Chapter 15. Interior Joinerwork; Chapter 16. Finishing; Chapter 17. Sailboat Miscellany; Chapter 18. Steering; Chapter 19. Tanks, Plumbing, etc.; Chapter 20. Mechanical and Electrical; Chapter 21. Potpourri; Chapter 22. Safety; Appendices