Small Craft Advisory: A Book about the Building of a Boat

Even readers who deem themselves confirmed landlubbers will warm to this charming memoir. Rubin, founder of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, author and professor of English, has had an affinity for boats all his life. He doesn't require long voyages; like Kenneth Grahame's Water Rat, he enjoys ``simply messing about in boats.'' Rubin built his first boat when he was 13, to ply the creeks and marshes around Charleston, S.C.; since then he has owned a succession of sail- and powerboats, most of which have given him trouble. In his mid-60s, he made the decision to have a small wooden cabin cruiser built to his specifications. As he watches the boat take shape, Rubin reflects on his life. When the Algonquin was finished--trials run, adjustments made--Rubin drove 150 miles just to assure himself that she was there, a reaction that most other boat owners can recognize. In addition, Rubin offers the fine local color of coastal North Carolina. (Nov.)