Silva Bay Shipyard School

In 2000 the Silva Bay Shipyard School Society was incorporated as a charitable, non-profit Society with an official Board of Directors.

The Silva Bay Shipyard school employs two highly qualified instructors to teach courses on a variety of subjects.

Terms: 2003-Present
Instructor, Wooden Boat building, Ships Cabinetry, and Introduction to Marine Woodworking.

Al has over 30 years of experience as a woodworker. His work has been primarily in boat building and ships cabinetry, but also in fine furniture. Much of his experience has included hands-on supervisory and training roles, including the training of apprentices in a benchwork joinery program.

Terms: 2003-Present
Wooden Boatbuilding and Ships Cabinetry since 2003; Instructor, Introduction to Marine Woodworking since 2004.

Education: Graduate of the Silva Bay Shipyard School, class of 1999-2000; studied cabinetry and veenering at Torsbergskolle, Bollnas, Sweden; graduate of the Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Kingston, Ontario where he was also a shop assistant. Recently completed a course in Blacksmithing at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.
Experience: Boatbuilding and restoration projects including finishing the construction of a 13′ launch, construction of 17′ and 18′ bidarkas, and various repair work on wooden boats; built own house, shop, garage, and studio.

The Silva Bay Shipyard School is operated by a non-profit Society with a volunteer Board of Directors.

Terms: 2009-Present

Nick Rushton (Rusty) found Tatiana, a thirty four foot plank on frame cutter, while visiting the Shipyard School in 2000. Tatiana subsequently proved to have been built to the lines of L Francis Herreshoff’s “Dulcinea”. Rusty has been a firm friend of the School almost since inception and has supported the Shipyard Raid as safety boat, picking up the rear of the fleet and offering tows and assistance as needed. Tatiana is also well known at Port Townsend having been on exhibit at the Wooden Boat Festival for each of the last five years.
In an earlier lifetime Rusty served in the Royal Navy as an Artificer (CPO), on leaving the Navy at thirty he went on to run Seismic Exploration ships all over the world, during which time he moved to Canada. The cyclic nature of the exploration industry and the start of a family prompted a third career change, he became one of the founders of a very successful research and development company specializing in commercial applications for strap down inertial guidance systems.
Commuting to Gabriola ceased in 2008 when Rusty retired and moved permanently to the Gulf Islands. His activities these days are focused on maintaining Tatiana, prompting his two daughters to visit regularly and keeping a smile on the face of all involved with the Shipyard School.

Email : chairman@boatschool.com

Terms: 2006-Present
Rick earned a B.A. in Anthropogeography before doing post-graduate work in Human Ecology at San Francisco State University. In 1971 he voyaged north to the Queen Charlotte Islands in a small, self-built wooden sailboat to begin a new life in Canada. His career has included wooden boat building, working on tugs and with the Coast Guard and as a charter Captain with the Ministry of Forests. While in Prince Rupert Rick built the sailing vessel Rupert Pelican which was on display at Expo ‘86 and has been his home ever since.
He has been involved with the Silva Bay Shipyard School Raid in recent years, lending his experience and support to the participants. Rick has been a valued member of the Silva Bay Shipyard School Board of Directors since 2006.

Terms: 2009-Present
Jennifer is currently a MSc candidate at the University of Victoria in the field of coastal ecology. She also holds a BEd with experience in developing educational programs in small coastal communities.
She currently teaches a naturalist program for school aged children on Gabriola and brings her skill set to the programing of the SBSS short course roster. Jenn is currently working on a number of fund raising activities for the Society. She is also the namesake of Gabriola’s newest traditional wooden cutter, to be launched this spring.

E-mail: secretary@boatschool.com

Terms: 2009-Present

Burtt Fidler is an amateur wooden boat builder, sailor, small boat enthusiast, and retired educator, who has done a few things in the past including hobby farming, working in sales, broadcast journalism, and is currently building a house on Gabriola with his wife Noni. Burtt is the proud owner of five small boats: a classic plastic 17′ Sailboat, and three wooden row boats, and a canvas on cedar single paddle canoe. In the past Burtt has been involved with several small boat clubs and as a member of the Oarlock and Sail Wooden Boat Club he has volunteered at the Vancouver Maritime Museum’s Heritage Boat Harbour. Burtt is hopeful that his past experience as a board member with several organizations will be enable him to make a contribution to the Silva Bay Shipyard School.

Terms: 2008-Present

Ryan grew up on Gabriola Island, fostering a love for the ocean and boating of all types. After studying Tourism and Recreation Management in Nanaimo he moved to Whistler where he worked as Food and Beverage Supervisor for the Four Seasons Resort. After two years in the mountains, Ryan moved back to Gabriola where he has spent the last six years working as a professional kayak guide and instructor. Ryan regularly volunteers at the Shipyard School Raid cooking on the mother ship or as captain of the support boat ‘Stella’, a Columbia ‘36 sailboat. Ryan, with his family, now runs two Gabriola based kayak tour companies, Baja Kayak Adventure Tours and Silva Bay Kayak Adventures.

Rufus Churcher
Andrew Deggan
Capt. Jacqueline Denee
Inge Fretheim
Quill Goldman
Jamie Lawrence
F. Limongelli
Richard Lyons
Rod Madison
Bey McGougan
Mike O’Brien
Capt. Bram Oudshoorn
George Remington
Tad Roberts
Jack Sickavish
Paul Thomson

Fred Apstein
Irv Boichuk
Alisa den Duff
Tony Grove
Ronda Gustavson
EJ Hurst
Les Jackson
George Marshall
Bob Wyche