Step One - Using Resources at Hand!

First, you don't have to be a Professor and secondly, you don't need the Howells' millions to build a raft. All you need is an ax and a bunch of dead wood. Cut a half
dozen or so 12-foot long dry logs, about 12" in diameter, and 2 smaller logs, say 7 or 8 feet long and 4-6" across. Search around for something you can use as twine - fibrous bark or coarse seaweed will do the trick - to tie the logs together.

Step Three - Get Hitched!

Now you're ready to line up the logs so the notches are all even with each other. Cut the smaller logs into three-sided wood pieces, then slide them through the inverted notches to connect the logs (B). Use the seaweed (or other fibrous material) to tie the crosspieces in place. Finally, cover the raft with brush to provide dry footing and a place for luggage - you never know when you might be shipwrecked and spend over 30 years in syndication,
so you have to be prepared!

Step Two - Make the Cut!

Lay the big logs side by side until you have a platform measuring 12'X7'. This way you get a raft big enough to carry you and Mary Ann (sorry, Ging, but Mary Ann wins all the polls). About a foot-an-a-half from each end (of each log), cut  dovetail notches 2" deep and wider at the bottom than at the top. You can see what I'm talking about in
this drawing.

Step Four Find you very own Mary Ann
and SAIL AWAY!