Boatbuilding Schools

woodster · Mar 31, 2013

shemandr said:
There was a discussion yesterday about how we would like to start a boatbuilding school in the New Suffolk NY area. Specifically utilizing an unused building on a public property there. My question is: Do any members of these forums have any experience with the many public boatbuilding schools which are non-profit, not restoration centers, and focus on small stitch and glue sailboats?
We are interested in how they handle matters of funding, insurance (These programs will be directed to but not limited to teens), relations with the public school system etc.
I have read of such organizations if magazines in NYC and other places but I've forgotten where and would like to contact them to see how they have organized themselves.

you may want to take one of those classes you mentioned your self ...by doing so it will give you the opportunity to learn how they do it as well as learning the skills of boat building .....

regards

woody

tommays · Mar 31, 2013

Oakcliff in Oyster-bay has the modern repair and maintenance thing going on and its building up fast as its now and Olympic training center

The http://www.limaritime.org/mission_statement.html not really sure how much is going on her now

Pretty cool thing for city kids

http://www.brooklynboatworks.org/program.html

KD3PC · Mar 31, 2013

Insurance and politics are the killers of these types of projects, to get beyond the politics you will need to get with a good PR person who understands non-profits. And if you are not a known local, it will be even tougher to get agreement. And an attorney on retainer, especially if you are going to allow the kids to use the stitch and glue boats you are building.

No good deed will go unpunished, so be prepared. My recent experience with boat building weekends has left me jaded about doing them any more. All but impossible to get affordable insurance unless you use a municipal or museum, that will allow you to use their blankets. And dealing with the public is something every one should do at one time.

YMMV

PaulK · Mar 31, 2013

You might want to check out what these guys are doing: http://www.rockingtheboat.org/about/staff/ There's also a program in Bridgeport CT that is supposed to help at-risk youth learn marine skills. It's run by Family Services Woodfield (FSW). Ask for Ted Littlejohn. "Bridgeport Boat Works, YBC’s first business, offers participants opportunities to build, restore and sell boats or
contract with customers to repair their vessels. They work
on launches, canoes, custom skiffs and dinghies. Through
these activities, youth learn how to use tools, basic carpentry,
boat construction, repair and maintenance of wood and
fiberglass products. They also apply math skills in the
measurement of materials and basic blueprint reading and
learn to be part of a team as they participate in the production
and decision making about accessorizing the products."

Focusing on small stitch & glue sailboats may work as a one-time project, but the market for such boats is fairly limited. What does a kid (or adult) in the program do after he's built one? What's the NEXT step? Stitch & glue is pretty easy, and not much skill is required to achieve satisfactory results. To learn more about boatbuilding, you have to get into other methods, and the school gets complicated pretty quickly.

I am setting up a one week one time program to build a 3-sheet rowboat with 5th and 6th graders this summer. If it works out, we may run it again next summer for a new crop of kids, and perhaps set it up so each one takes a boat home at the end. It's not a boatbuilding school - it's a boatbuilding project. You may want your school to offer students more.

DannyS · Apr 2, 2013

This is a school in St. Paul Minnesota that might be worth a look.
www.urbanboatbuilders.org

PaulK · Apr 2, 2013

We're preparing to use space in an elementary school. Some sawhorses in the cafeteria or a utility room would suffice. We won't need any real power tools to cut or fasten 1/4" plywood and 1x2 furring strips. Maybe a hammer. Maybe a battery-powered drill for screws. Some clamps to hold things that we're cutting, bending, or gluing.
I thought up another project at one point for the Norwalk CT Maritime Center/Aquarium that might also be interesting. It's based on one that the shipping companies in San Francisco supported in which teams of perhaps 15 built lifeboats and raced them against each other. On a smaller scale, but also to keep kids off the streets, have local companies each sponsor a boat - like Little League - built in a facility with access to the water (e.g.: The Norwalk Maritime Center). Each team of 4, 5 or however many kids would build a matching, appropriately-sized rowboat and oars that THEY would row in a race at the end of the summer. Sponsor's name could be emblazoned all over the topsides and oar blades: great for newspaper photos. Big townwide party,(Labor Day?) speeches, prizes, and hoopla awarded to the winning team (and sponsor!). Good image-building, citizenship, team effort, and self-fulfillment for all involved. The cost of materials would be a few hundred dollars per boat for stitch & glue designs. Lifejackets could be donated or even borrowed. Instructors/Mentors could volunteer or be paid, depending. Seems like it could work, and possibly become an annual tradition.

PaulK · Apr 3, 2013

If you can get it going in your neighborhood, maybe we can get it going over here too, and have a Cross-Sound challenge. Huntington and Darien used to race each other in five-oared whaleboat replicas built for the 1976 bicentennial... (The CT Yankees used them to slip over to Long Island to steal sheep & cattle from the LI Loyalists)