Learn Boatbuilding Free--Plus Free Housing and Food

[Lynora]

Hi all. I'm a long time lurker. Love this place, and I've gotten lots of valuable info here. Thought maybe I could return the favor.

Not last winter, but the winter prior I did this free 9 month wooden boatbuilding apprenticeship (Sept-June) on the coast of Maine. It's a pretty good gig. You've got to apply the year prior and go for a three day visit and have an interview, then you find out if you're accepted the following summer. I learned a lot, met some cool people, and had a warm bed all winter. It's not a perfect place--there's drama as with all community living situations. But generally I'm glad I did it.

Here's the link. Would be more than happy to answer any questions if anyone is interested and wants to know more.

https://www.carpentersboatshop.org/apprenticeship/

 

[L0s3r]

Man, that'd be awesome, and It's only a few hours away from me too. If only I was not afraid of commitment enough to apply a year prior 😬

 

[Lynora]

Man, that'd be awesome, and It's only a few hours away from me too. If only I was not afraid of commitment enough to apply a year prior 😬

You can always turn it down if they accept you. You're not really committed to anything till you accept their acceptance or what have you the summer prior to the September you'd be going. But I feel ya.

 

[Odin]

Interesting offer...

Not to familiar with the subject... (think I might have seen a boat craft documenturay somewhere sometime... )

How large are the ships they teach to build? Or is it certain basic skills that can be scaled up?....

are they boats you can sail legally or are there regulations against those types...

Guess I'm asking what is the extent of the knowledge offered?

 

[Lynora]

Interesting offer...

Not to familiar with the subject... (think I might have seen a boat craft documenturay somewhere sometime... )

How large are the ships they teach to build? Or is it certain basic skills that can be scaled up?....

are they boats you can sail legally or are there regulations against those types...

Guess I'm asking what is the extent of the knowledge offered?

The boats built vary some based on whether they are building on spec or on commission. You can bet on building lots of rowboats or tenders, as they're called here. The style of tender they build is called a Monhegan Skiff. It was originally designed for lobstermen on the island Monhegan. The other boat that they build most every year is a Catspaw Dinghy. It's a very small recreational sailing boat. The largest boat I worked on there was a Hershoff type Dinghy that we were restoring. (You'll learn both wooden boatbuilding and restoration). It was maybe a little longer than two cars parked end to end.

Most all of the skills can be scaled up, for instance, we toured the rebuild of the massive tall ship the Ernistina Morrissey in Boothbay Maine, and there was a former apprentice working on the project. A fellow apprentice from my year worked on winter maintenance of the schooner The Clearwater last year, also a very large tall ship.

The boatshop sells the boats that are built there. It helps cover part of the cost of having the apprentices there free. Anyone can go there most any weekday and get a free tour of the shops, boats for sale, campus, etc.

As far as extent of knowledge-- the teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and experienced and are willing to answer questions. There are also shelves and shelves of books and magazines related to wooden boat building. I like that it's a teaching type apprenticeship rather than a you do the grunt work kind of apprenticeship, like I tend to see in farming. Apprentices are also given evening and weekend access to the shops, after the first two weeks or so, to work on whatever projects they like. You get out of it what you put in, essentially.

 

[CrowTheBard]

This is so awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
Crow

 

[sheepflip]

I'm from one peninsula west of there, really pretty area. When the course ends in June there's plenty of seasonal work around, every year more and more businesses have employee housing.

 

[Minky]

Building a skiff would be kinda cool!

 

[Deleted member 27861]

I know nothing about sailing as a way of vagabonding, but this sounds amazing! If I don't end up working as a ranch hand or in some intentional community by September, I might just consider doing this thing.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Sent in my app, probably too late for 2020 lol

 

[Lynora]

Sent in my app, probably too late for 2020 lol

Sweet! Good luck! Sometimes they have folks who've applied drop their applications and then end up having openings later in the year. You never know.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Sweet! Good luck! Sometimes they have folks who've applied drop their applications and then end up having openings later in the year. You never know.

Alright, I've heard back, seems they're still accepting people for the 3 day trial

 

[Lynora]

Alright, I've heard back, seems they're still accepting people for the 3 day trial

Nice! Good luck. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's a really cool place.

 

[thejword]

thanks for the post. it sounds like a great opportunity.