How to Make a Coracle, Sean Hellman (book)

A 24-page booklet by Sean Hellman with full-colour photographs detailing each step in making your first coracle, a small round river boat, and how to paddle it. It describes making a coracle from ash laths, with a chapter on making a traditional coracle with hazel or willow rods.

Coracles differ from most river craft in weight, construction and how they are paddled. Traditionally made from willow, ash or hazel covered in a large animal hide, they are now often made from ash lath and calico waterproofed with bitumen paint. They weigh 25 to 40 lb and are easily carried with a strap across the shoulders. They are paddled with a single paddle held in both hands over the front and moved in a figure of eight, pulling the coracle through the water.

With very shallow draft and no keel, the coracle suits rivers where other boats would run aground. It was used to ferry people and goods across rivers and for fishing with line or net. Each river in Wales has its own design, but the boat type is found worldwide, from Britain and Ireland to France, India, Vietnam and Iraq.