http://www.boatschool.com Silva Bay Shipyard School summaries of the latest news, announcements, and upcoming events en-ca Copyright © 2007 Silva Bay Shipyard School http://www.boatschool.com/shortcourses.php This summer the Silva Bay Shipyard School is adding a series of new courses for aspiring boat builders and woodworkers. Join us on Gabriola Island at our heritage boatyard on the water for a week or two and turn your dreams into skills.Cedarstrip Kayak Building Kayaks embody the principle that ‘form follows function’. Learn to build these beautiful craft in a week-long course taught by an experienced builder. At the end of the course we’ll draw for the boat and one lucky student will take it home for the price of the materials. July 9 – 13, 2007 Tuition $600 (class size is limited to six students) Steam-bending Wood Turning a stiff material like wood into a curve seems like magic until you are initiated into the mysteries of steam and heat. You’ll learn how to choose wood, build bending forms and construct a steam-box. This is practical alchemy that you can use to create useful or fanciful shapes. July 16 – 18 Tuition $450 - includes materials (class size is limited to six students) Making and Using Wooden Hand Planes Master craftspeople are familiar with the pleasures of using tools they have created. Utility meets art in this class where you will learn how to make and use one-of-a-kind hand planes. July 23 – 27 and August 20 – 24 Tuition $450 - includes materials Oar-making A proper set of custom oars can turn rowing from an awkward chore into a relaxing recreation. Learn how to match your oars to your boat and build a classic set to take home with you. July 30 – August 3 Tuition $500 – includes materials Building the Nutshell Pram This design is a sturdy tender, a maneuverable little gunkholer and a handy car-topper for exploring those interesting coves and lakes you’ve been driving by for years. This boat combines some traditional boat building methods with modern materials to produce a light and practical way to follow your dreams on the water. There are two versions of this course. August 6 – 17: Two students will build two boats in two weeks and take them home. Tuition and Materials $2700 August 27 – 31: Students will build a boat in a week. At the end of the course we’ll draw for the boat and one lucky student will take it home for the price of the materials. Tuition $600 (class size is limited to six students) Schedule and fess for 2007 Silva Bay Shipyard School Summer Short Courses 2007-06-08T12:39:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/shortcourses.php 2007 Silva Bay Shipyard School Summer Short Courses : * Building the Nutshell pram (2 students per class) Build a practical and pretty 7’6” rowing dinghy in two weeks to take home at the end of the course. * Building the Nutshell pram (6 students per class) Six students build a boat in two weeks and one of them takes the boat home for the cost of the materials. * Cedarstrip Kayak building Six students build a beautiful kayak, one of them takes the kayak home for the cost of the materials. * Oar Making A one week course where you will build your own custom set of oars complete with leathers. * Steam-bending – Alchemy for woodworkers Learn how to turn straight wood into curves to make practical and sculptural objects. Keep checking this space for dates and fees – we’ll have them posted soon. 2007 Silva Bay Shipyard School Summer Short Courses 2007-05-15T12:39:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/launch2007.php Saturday, April 7, Launch Day!...started a bit rainy in the morning but it cleared off by the time the crowds starting arriving at about noon for the two o'clock graduation ceremony and boat launching. This day is the culmination of six months work on the part of students, the chance to see their project come to life in her element. It's also a very welcome break after the final intense few weeks work and worry over the hundreds of tiny details that complete each vessel. All the boats spent the morning on display in the Silva Bay Resort parking lot, some receiving a few final rigging details. The Mower Dory was the first boat to get wet, as always the tide was low and it's a slippery hike to the waters edge, but many hands make light work. Jon, Beau, and Bill did a great job in having the boat ready to sail, but of course the wind disappeared, so they got in some rowing. Next in was the Speedboat, wheeled into the water on a trailer. Peter, Adam, Greg, and Zach were able to get aboard and borrow a small outboard to really try her out. The boat met all expectations and spent the rest the afternoon ferrying various parties about Silva Bay. The designer even got to use her for a bit, great job guys! The Gartside went in next, with her dramatic black sails and bright topsides set off with a cherry interior, the boat is a standout. Still no wind but the boat maintained steerage in some light eddies, indicating serious sailing potential. Damian, Lorenzo, and Brandon can be very proud of this lovely boat. Last but far from least (though she is shortest) Willow, the William Garden designed Tomcat went into the water. Alex, David, and Bob did an outstanding job of this large but short boat, she proved a favorite for the day and grows on us as time passes. Each of these projects was ably directed and overseen by School Manager Les, and instructors Al and Trevor, special thanks to our staff from myself and the entire SBSS Board of Directors, well done. Saturday showed everyone that the boats would float, and Sunday we found out how they sailed. The dory and the Gartside are about even speed wise and will be closely matched barring navigational or tactical errors. Jon skippered the Dory to solid lead and a win in the second annual Silva Bay Launch Festival boat race. My thanks to all who participated. 2007 Silva Bay Shipyard School Boat Launch Festival 2007-05-15T12:39:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/march2007.php With the winter Boatbuilding course rapidly drawing to a close, the shop is humming with activity and endless questions on the finishing details of each boat. Three boats, the Dory, Speedboat, and the Tomcat will all have plywood decks with varying finishes, while the Gartside remains an open boat. Cockpit coamings are one of the key details that will be completed in the next week. All the boats are receiving floorboards, thwarts, toerails, rubbing strips, many hours of sanding, and much paint and varnish. These last weeks will see rigs completed from the roughed out spars, and oars built for some of the boats. The complex windshield, systems installation, and seating of the Speedboat is coming together. And the students are becoming familiar with the term, “90% done and 90% left to go” as they attend to the seemingly endless list of tiny details that characterize custom wooden boats. (Tad Roberts) The boats are nearing launch date as decks and details are finished 2007-03-18T12:39:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/feb2007.php Planking is finished or being finished up on all the boats this week. The speedboat is upright and has received all her bent oak frames, and the Mower dory is right side up and ready for her centerboard case. The Tomcat team has completed planking and started fairing and calking their hull, and the Gartside is completing their cedar topside planking. Once planking is complete and the boats are upright it becomes clear how big they really are and how much work remains to get them finished. Three of this year’s boats are decked, which adds labour, and the Tomcat and Speedboat have extensive joinery beyond that. Burt the completion of the basic structure is a major and satisfying milestone in the construction of any boat. Congratulations on reaching that first milestone guys….to each student, and especially to our staff, Al, Trevor, and Les, well done! (Tad Roberts) The final, whiskey, planks are in and the boats are turned over 2007-02-05T12:39:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/jan2007.php All the boats are being planked this month, some had a start before Christmas and now the rest are catching up. The speedboat and the Gartside 15’ are both getting plywood garboards, and the dory’s bottom is Kevlar sheathed plywood. Outer keels, transoms, and centerboard cases are also being completed. Planking is a repetitive business, but the reward is in seeing the true hull form emerge as each strake is completed. Meanwhile all heads are busy thinking hard about the next steps. Another two weeks will see the first boat off the molds and right side up, when work of a different type begins with laying out interiors and decks. Already questions are arising about rig details, sailplans, and hardware, as launching day appears on the far horizon. (Tad Roberts) The Wooden Boatbuilding students are fitting planks this month. 2007-01-29T04:08:35-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/nov2006.php November will see all the boats set up, with molds or frames in place and backbone built. First came the lofting and then the strongback or building frame, set at the height the building team decided on. The Gartside, Tomcat, and Speedboat are all built on molds, while the Mower Dory is planked directly onto it's frames, simplifying the construction. So the molds are set up and laborious fairing begun, and the Speedboat team are moving quickly and have the stem up and keel roughed in. Each boat is built in a slightly different manner, the Speedboat and Gartside are both lapstrake planked on closely spaced molds with their frames bent in after the hull is turned upright. The Tomcat is carvel planked on to frames that are bent over ribbands faired over the widely spaced molds. And the Dory is lapstrake planked onto it's built-up straight frames with half-lapped joints. It's an exciting month with the full size form of each hull becoming clear for everyone to admire. And the teams are becoming intimately familiar with every piece that makes up their boats. (Tad Roberts) The Wooden Boatbuilding students are building molds, frames, and backbones this month.. 2006-11-19T04:18:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/oct2006.php It's half-way through October and the 06-07 Boatbuilding students are building half-models and beginning lofting. The teams are starting to work together as they lay down the first, full-size lines of the boat they will build this winter and launch next April. Some of the half-models are about finished while others will be completed over the next few weeks. But boatbuilding excitement is in the air when one enters the shop, decisions on type and quantity of materials are being made, construction details are being modified, lines are being adjusted as they are drawn on the floor, and each boat team is taking on character. Next week the molds will be under way, exciting times! (Tad Roberts) The Wooden Boatbuilding students are making half-models and lofting lines this month. 2006-10-17T08:21:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/boats.php The Wooden Boatbuilding class of 2006-2007 has 4 new boats under way: a 14ft. Gartside Skylark, a 12ft. 6in. William Garden carvel catboat, a 18ft. plank-on-frame Mower dory, and a custom 16ft. lapstrake speedboat. The 2006-2007 Wooden Boatbuilding class is building four boats 2006-10-12T02:13:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/ For the 30th annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival the Silva Bay Shipyard School was represented by three small traditional boats. All three traveled from Silva Bay to Port Townsend on their own bottoms; Seka under power, the Mower Dory Swordfish under sail and oars, and the Gartside 12 was towed. Seka is the 13'6" mahogany lapstrake diesel tender for Island Eagle built in the class of 04-05. This was her second voyage to Port Townsend as mother hen/tender/ferry/towboat to the Shipyard School Raid. Swordfish was built in the 05-06 class and sponsored by Barefoot Wooden Boats. She was raced in the Shipyard Raid by Barefoot's Richard Lyons and Quill Goldman (both SBSS alumni), placing a very creditable third overall. And Trevor Henderson's Gartside 12 was towed south by Tatiania, another Mothership in the Shipyard Raid. The Gartside got some use along the way by various Sea Scouts who truly enjoyed her sailing ability, and she was sold at the Festival. While three small boats is not an overwhelming presence, it is a significant achievement, and my thanks to all who made it possible. Also significant was the fact that these boats were in the water and in use, not static display pieces. Next year let's try to have six boats in the show! (Tad Roberts) Three boats built at SBSS were part of the Wooden Boat Festival 2006-09-17T08:47:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/august2006.php Congratulations to all the graduates of Ships Cabinetry 2006. The last two weeks of class were hectic, with everyone putting final finishing touches on their major projects, the tool chests. But most had time for assorted small projects, wooden planes, a paddle, a pair of nice oars, and various smaller boxes. Everyone also spent some time carrying on the interior mock-up work inside the Vertue. While the effort involved in designing and then building individual tool chests was an immense step for many of the students, the results are stunning and lay the foundation for each craftsperson to go on and build ever more challenging pieces. The facility to be able to draw out something, and then build it, will apply no matter what field of endeavor they pursue. One of the more striking facets of this class was the effort that each student put into making their chest unique and truly one-of-a-kind. Again, great work by all students, Al, Trevor, and Les, and now on to Boatbuilding in October. (Tad Roberts) Congratulations to all the graduates of Ships Cabinetry 2006. 2006-08-29T13:14:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/links.php Six new links, including a new movie about the James Caird at the British National Martime Museum, the new small boat design section at Tad Roberts Web site, and some older sites, about Arctic voyages and marine woodworking in Nova Scotia. New links 2006-07-29T08:40:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/july2006.php We are approaching the end of the Ships Cabinetry class and all the students are involved in the final assembly and finishing of their tool chests. The breadth of individual design is amazing, one is traditional with a flat top and rope grommets, while others are almost art nouveau in their detail and style. Lapstrake tops are popular, there are several, in various spices, and curvatures. There are also raised panels and even a butcher-block. The final question is how to finish the wood, again a very individual choice, most are rubbed with traditional oil, while others are using wax or varnish. Each of the students has created an individual unique piece, of which they can be proud, and which will serve them throughout their careers as woodworkers. A fine tool chest not only safely stores fine tools, but will be a calling card at every jobsite they visit. Nice work. July 2006 Ships Cabinetry Class report 2006-07-28T16:56:00-08:00 http://www.boatschool.com/june2006.php Each student is taking a turn on the glue table to put together the pieces of their dovetailed toolboxs. Once the pieces, front, back, bottom, ends, and top are assembled, it's time for the really big event and gluing the whole works together. Each of these toolboxes is designed by the builder, and each exhibit common features (such as the dovetails) and individuality. But each will be a first major piece that the builders will treasure forever. Elsewhere on the school grounds students are working at building mock-ups of furniture and bulkheads in the Vertue Sloop Kiri. Al would like to see the interior much further along, and all major interior pieces in before they start on the cabin trunk. One of the unique features of the Vertue is her deck stepped mast in the middle of a belowdecks passage. This poses a structural challenge that will be dealt with by building a laminated ring frame on a bulkhead under the mast. The young boatbuilders will learn about taking these problems in stride. June 2006 Ships Cabinetry Class report 2006-06-30T07:22:00-08:00