Day to Day - First Year Boatbuilding & Restoration

Everyone in the Boatbuilding & Restoration program has a very clear passion for learning the trade. We all come eager to jump into our projects that we have been working on. At the beginning of each day, we meet up as a class to talk about what the goals are for the day and the plan for the days to come.

My tool tote - complete with a custom wood burn.

 

After the meeting, we all go back to our projects at hand. For year one students we are currently working on tool totes and starting on a wooden backing out plane that will be used later in the year when we begin planking the beetle cats. As for the year two students, they are currently working on restoring a 16’ cat boat called ‘Sea Duck’ and a Herreshoff 12 1/2. 

 

Second year project, Seaduck, set up in Restoration Hall as they begin the restoration.

 

My classmates and I in the first year of the program all come from very different backgrounds. Some of us have worked with wood before and others have not.  However, even with everyone's skill level being a little different,  the passion for the craft is there in all of us. We work together to help each other out if someone is struggling or we share any tricks we find that may help us get through tough situations when making these projects.

 

My classmate, Mike, working on one of our bench projects.

 

As the day comes to an end, we wrap up whatever project we are working on and begin to clean up the shop. We all have set tasks to complete in order to have the shop clean and ready in the morning so that we can get right to work the next morning.

 

My classmate, Caleb, practicing working with a chisel, one of the first tools
we learn to use properly.

 

At the end of the day, we don't want to stop stop because each moment we spend working we feel more accomplished and knowledgeable.  And this is only the beginning...

 

Keegan Kuba is an alumni of IYRS's Composites Technology Program and is now currently enrolled in Boatbuilding & Restoration.  Follow along with his progress over the next two years!