Little Silver is 25 feet 6 inches long; 24 feet on the water line; 7 feet 6 inches in breadth; and of 2 feet draft. Not too big for amateur constructors; nor too expensive for professional builders. Fact of the matter is I have kept before me the idea that cost of building must be kept down to the minimum. There is nothing in the specifications of an expensive nature; the woods are of the simpler kinds, the hardware galvanized iron throughout, and all expensive fittings eliminated. If you will build Little Silver exactly as shown in the plans, without adding or leaving out the simple features I have gone to great pains to incorporate in her plans, the little boat will be a great success. I am asking you not to erect a high and unsightly cockpit shelter, nor a bird cage standing top, nor an automobile type steering wheel, nor any of the gadgets that increase the work of caring for a boat, and, I think, decrease the fun of owning one.

The mast and sail are the only items that can be dispensed with. However, you will be astounded how well the boat will sail before a favoring breeze, and how much gasoline will be saved while sailing. In rough water the motions of your ship will be easy and comfortable if you carry a bit of sail. It is largely for this reason that so many small fishing motor boats carry a mast and sail. And you cannot go wrong following the practice of men who earn their living harvesting the sea.

Little Silver was designed for a crew of two. And if you will look at her cabin plans you will find that there is an abundance of room for living aboard for an indefinite time. The two bunks are ample for comfortable sleeping; then there is a tremendous stowage space forward; a water tank of 22 gallon capacity; stove; ice box; lockers; everything needed for cruising. The headroom is all that should be expected in a small cruiser. It is the greatest of mistakes to attempt to get full standing headroom in any shoal draft motor boat under 30 feet long; even in this size your boat will look high sided and high housed -- and will be. The cabin of Little Silver is a chummy little place, snug and shippy and carrying an atmosphere of the sea, rather than that of a house ashore.

There is plenty of room on deck to move about and a dandy cockpit. The fuel tanks are fitted under the two cockpit seats, and since the cockpit floor runs the full width of the boat and the cockpit sides and ends are watertight any gasoline spilled, while filling, drains overboard through the scupper pipes. Little Silver steers with a tiller. Try a tiller once and you will forego the use of a wheel.