Rich Difede (Gold Coast Yachts) says, “Talent is critical… so what do we do to manage its development ?” Rich joins PBRadio hosts Barbara Jean Walsh and Ann Avary in discussing talent from a variety of viewpoints: mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and professional.
Shaped on all Six Sides from New Canada on Vimeo.
A short documentary about the craft and philosophy of wooden boat carpentry.
Directed by Kat Gardiner
Produced by Kat Gardiner & Nathan Walker
Starring Andy Stewart
with
James McMullen
Greg McCrosky
Nathan Walker
A Food Chain Production
Shot & Edited by Kat Gardiner
GoPro & Music Supervision by Nathan Walker
Titles by Slow Loris
Music by
Your Heart Breaks “Instrumental #1”
Dana Falconberry “Please Sparrow”
Sea of Bees “ALIEN”
Special Thanks to:
Brad Goldthwaite, Kristin Stewart, Jessica Lynch, Mike Quinn & Mission Control, Will Murphy, James McMullen, Clyde Peterson, Dana Falconberry, Julie Ann Bee, John Baccigallupi, Frank, Benoit & Greg.
Old Town, Maine. Peterborough, Ontario. Canton, New York. We instantly associate these locations with the great canoe makers of their time. Old Town. Peterborough, Rushton. The companies and their canoes are revered. For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, Tacoma, Washington, and Willits Brothers top that list.
From the first canoe they built in 1905 while still school boys in Des Moines, Iowa, to the last one finished following Floyd’s death in 1962 in Tacoma, Earl and Floyd Willits built floating masterpieces in wood. With the exception of brief periods, including service to the United States during World War I, they spent a lifetime producing just under a thousand of their “double-planked canoes.” As they stated in their 1935 catalog, “for utility and service, our canoes are decidedly superior to the canvas covered canoes.” They must have believed that claim because for nearly 60 years they built only one model of canoe. Read More
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding owns two Willits Brothers canoes. The 2013 Traditional Small Craft class is documenting the lines of the canoe.
David Flaxer, a graduate of our Contemporary Wooden Boatbuilding class of 2008 recently wrote to us about his experience at the School and the magnificent wooden boat he built using the skills he learned.
We always love to hear from our graduates, thanks for the thumbs up, David!
At some point in my mid-fifties I had the notion to build a wooden sailboat. I think the idea of constructing something as complicated as a classically designed craft grabbed me – after all, an object practically devoid of straight lines and perpendicular angles seemed wonderfully mysterious in its creation. Just how was that done? I wanted to connect to the sweet lines and the beauty of a boats shape: hull and house, sail and spar. These vessels were developed organically though millennia of sea trials by boat builders and sailors, who learned from practical experience the interaction of water and wind. Lastly, while I’ve had exposure to the rough carpentry of house building, never did I attempt the skills of fine carpentry; I wanted the exposure to exotic woods, from buttery Honduran mahogany to the sweet fragrance of yellow cedar.
So I sought out a boat school to introduce me to these aspects of the nautical world. How fortunate was I to have discovered and enrolled in the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding! The program did not disappoint. The skilled staff was talented and diverse, each instructor possessing a particular expertise that covered the wide range of skills needed to become a boat builder. The organization of the educational program, from the use of tools, theory and construction lectures, lofting, and hands-on construction was structured in such a way that they incrementally built my skills. Moreover, the education program induced in me a shipwright’s sensibility and a confidence to believe that I myself could build the boat I envisioned.
And build it I did. As soon as I graduated I undertook the construction of Coquina, a 17 foot cat-ketch, designed in the 1880’s during the golden age of yachting by the famous boat architect NG Herreshoff, Sr., the “Wizard of Bristol”. My requirement called for hull construction using contemporary materials (plywood and epoxy) while the rest of the boat was made of mahogany and old growth spruce. With the training received from Northwest Sails, which is associated with the boat school, I was even able to construct my own sails, rigging and boat cover. So, I was able to build the entire boat, from the bronze hardware to the trailer it sat on. After 1200 hours labor, spanning 18 months or so, I had my first sail, from a boat launch adjacent to the school.
This link will connect you to the photographs of the boat launch celebration > http://tinyurl.com/bwn6xg9 http://tinyurl.com/czg6n2k < points you to a compilation of 222 construction photographs, from inception to launch.
My experience with the Boat School exceeded my expectations. I can recommend the School without qualification to anyone who is motivated to build a boat with their own hands.
David Flaxer
[email protected]
July 24, 2012
David Flaxer’s COQUINA under sail. David built his boat using the skills he learned at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.
David Flaxer’s COQUINA under sail. David is at the tiller of the boat he built with skills learned at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.
Our beloved Master Instructor, Jeff Hammond received a thank-you email from a student who began his woodworking career 20 years ago under Jeff’s expert tutelage. We think that Kipp’s story is a perfect example of how the skills learned at the Boat School, building beautiful works of floating wooden art, can be transformed into any of the fine woodworking trades. For 31 years, teaching craftsmanship has been our mission and we are pleased to see how far Kipp has taken his craft.
We want to share Kipp’s story with you! Please watch the inspiring video of Kipp in his shop using the skills he learned from Jeff Hammond 20 years ago at the School, masterfully crafting wooden musical art.
Jeff,
I was a student of yours nearly 20 years ago, in the class of 1993.
At age 21, I came into your program without ever having held a hand plane, a chisel or a spokeshave. I had no previous exposure to technical drafting or to lofting. I only say this because I want you & the staff there to know that my journey as a craftsman began at your school.My craft has become, over time, the building of guitars rather than that of boats, but it is a craft that I have mastered. I wanted to share with you a video that was shot in my shop a few weeks ago. (see below)
I hope that it displays the degree to which my life has been affected by your program. I also hope that you can send it to both Ray Speck & Neil, who taught our orientation to woodworking & to anyone in your community to whom it may apply.
I am both thankful & immensely grateful for all that your school has done & continues to do for the preservation of craftsmanship.
Respect & Regards,
Kipp Krusa
class of 1993
Birth of a Guitar from Christopher Durai on Vimeo.
Uploaded on May 2, 2008- Rob Ayer
Visit the school for more information: http://northwestboat.wpengine.com – This is a time-lapse video I created based on photos taken at 60 sec intervals for 4 months while at NWSWB. The large boat is a Cape Cod Catboat and behind it is an Edwin Monk Sunray Lake runabout.
The time-lapse was done with a Nikon 8700, a DigiSnap 2000 from Harbortronics ( https://www.harbortronics.com ), and a lot of patience.
This classic Pacific Northwest design is from the board of George Calkins, and was drawn in 1963. It was the biggest of the Bartender class, which was designed for the rough surf off Washington and Oregon’s Pacific coast. The design was so successful that it was accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard for use as its surf rescue boat.
We are building this boat with a mid-section stretched 16 inches – one frame bay – to yield a design length of 27 feet 4 inches, and will raise the hardtop over the steering console an inch or two for the owner’s headroom. It is framed in sitka spruce, planked with marine plywood and sheathed in 9-ounce fiberglass below the waterline and 6-ounce glass above.
Students in the 2012 Yacht Interiors class July – September 2012 built most of the interior of this boat. The hull was begun on January 7th 2013 by students in the Contemporary class and rolled upright on May 10th, 2013. Work is continuing on this beautiful, powerful boat as of this writing and we expect the boat to be completed by the Contemporary class of 2014 in time for the 2014 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA, on the Olympic Peninsula, and is a private, accredited non-profit vocational school.
Our mission is to teach and preserve the fine art of wooden boatbuilding and traditional maritime crafts.
You can find us on the web at http://northwestboat.wpengine.com .
You can reach us via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
9:00 am – 7:00 pm
431 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival is the most education-packed and inspiring wooden boat event in the world. Featuring more than 300 wooden vessels, dozens of indoor and outdoor presentations and demonstrations, a who’s who of wooden boat experts and thousands of wooden boat enthusiasts, there’s something to do, someone to meet, or a boat to board at every turn. Expanded a little each year, the festival honors its traditions while inviting energetic debate and demonstration about the latest innovations in boatbuilding, equipment, skills, and adventure.
Graduates of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding work in our nations’ shipyards, boat shops, educational institutions and maritime museums, maintaining the continuity of the art of wooden boat building, repair and restoration.
It seems that with each conversation I have with individual boat school students, new and diverse goals emerge for their careers. Today I spoke with one who is preparing to enter the automotive industry to do design work. Another wants to work in a high quality speed boat company. Other students are interested in teaching and still others want to incorporate their skills into their work fishing. I love all the visions and all the students – we never have a dull day at the Boat School!
This was a great week in the Bartender boat project. Quinten has a scheduled interview with an employer, the boat exterior is coming along quite nicely, and we’re getting close to actually rolling it over!
You can see more photos about the Bartender at the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwswb/sets/72157633338042561/
Congratulations, team!
L. to r: Bruce Blatchley, instructor, with Evan, Matt, Quentin and Chris.
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Please join us on October 12 & 13 for the 2013 Wooden Boat Festival and celebrate the unique maritime history and culture of Louisiana. From canoes to pirogues, bateaux and steamboats, Louisiana’s unique maritime history and culture, it’s all here at the Wooden Boat Festival.
Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival – a celebration of the traditional timber sailing boats of Ireland. The Festival runs from Fri 24th -Sun 26th May 2013 – with more events and more boats. We invite sailors and boat-lovers from near and far to join us in Baltimore in May for a weekend of sailing, talking, learning and partying in true West Cork style! Run in conjunction with Baltimore Seafood Weekend, on shore there will be the best of food and drink in the restaurants and bars. In the food tents lining the pier, West Cork’s finest fish smokers, cheese makers and organic gardeners will ply their exotic, world famous wares. Please contact us if you require more information about the Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival. We look forward to welcoming you in May.
Each Father’s Day Weekend wooden boat owners display their craft at The San Diego Wooden Boat Festival. Averaging around 80 wooden craft participants, the show will include vessels ranging from row boats to regal schooners, all on hand for viewing by the public. We have great live music, food and activities for children.
Sponsored by Koehler Kraft – San Diego’s longest standing full service boat yard located on beautiful Shelter Island in America’s Cup Harbor. Koehler Kraft has been a family-owned and operated boat building and repair facility since 1938. Koehler Kraft’s team of professionally trained and certified master shipwrights can handle all of your boat’s wood, fiberglass, or composite needs.
Whether you are a long range cruiser, an ocean racer, a weekend warrior, or anywhere in between, we will help you figure out what the best plan is for you.
Mystic Seaport will once again host the 22nd Annual WoodenBoat Show, June 28-30, 2013.
Come visit a variety of marine vendors, learn new skills at our expert skills demonstrations, admire boats built by WoodenBoat readers, or even build a boat with your family over the course of a weekend! And of course, nearly 100 wooden boats of all sizes will be on display on the docks and scattered throughout the beautiful Mystic Seaport village. Make plans now to attend this fun-filled weekend!
The 37th Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival will be Thursday, July 4th, through Sunday, July 7th. All your favorite activities will be back, and we’re planning a few special new ones, too!
The 15th Annual Wooden Boat Festival will be held on Saturday July 20, 2013 from 10 AM to 4:30 PM at Barker’s Island Marina in Superior, Wisconsin.
The show is the largest wooden and classic boat show on Lake Superior and features vintage and new boats of all kinds – pulling boats, power boats, sailing boats, canoes and kayaks.
Don’t miss this action-packed weekend that’s fun for the entire family! Watch as two-person teams creatively build boats from scratch on Saturday and race them on Sunday in the SikaFlex Challenge.
Tour the majestic Denis Sullivan, the world’s only recreation of a 19th century three-masted Great Lakes schooner, which will be docked alongside the museum.
Kids can build and paint their own sailboat or tug (one per child, $2 per kit), meet Coastie, the Coast Guard robot, and try mini-tug races!
The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the history, preservation, and creation of wooden boats and maritime traditions. To that end, we present the annual Kachemak Bay Wooden Boat Festival in Homer, Alaska – fun, education, and lots of simply messing around with boats.
Students attending our summer 2013 Repair and Restoration class are scheduled to restore a 1958 runabout that was donated to the School this week. The owner home-built the boat from a Chris Craft kit while attending High School in 1958, and enjoyed running it around the Northwest waterways for over fifty years. It came with all original documentation and assembly instructions as well as its 1970’s-vintage Mercury 500 50hp outboard. The students will restore the boat and put her into service as the School’s water-taxi, ferrying students & staff out to our boats moored in Port Hadlock bay. Many thanks to Jake T. for the classic restoration project.
[soliloquy id=”3373″]
Tim Lee, Large Craft Instructor, takes a moment out with students Austin and Evan while working on a Hanson Forest Service Crew Boat.
http://www.olywoodenboat.org/
The winning poster for the 37th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival was designed by Sarah Felder, alumnus of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. Felder attended the Boat School in the 2011-12 school year and distinguished herself as a dedicated traditional wood craftsperson and student.
Her poster honors both the festival as well as the tall ship Adventuress’ 100th birthday, which seems fitting since Sarah has served as the first mate of the Adventuress for several seasons. She now is working for Salish Sea Expeditions, but will return to serve on the Adventuress this summer as first mate. We at the Boat School are exceedingly proud of Sarah and her many professional accomplishments.
Congratulations, Sarah!
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Michael Melchiori graduated in the class of 1998. He now owns his own business in Portland, Oregon, called Vintage Boats.
