Building a wooden boat is like writing a book. It’s difficult, it requires lots of research, practice, patience, and flexibility.

Before the holiday break DMF students were frantically tying up loose ends before departing for some well-needed R&R!

Organizing my tools  was for a time quite an obsession. It started when our 1^st year instructors, Joel and Hans, introduced the Anarchist Tool Chest, both the book and the pine tool chest we were required to construct as part of our joinery project. I, of course, jumped in the deep-end and built a huge toolbox that I was sure would store all the tools I could ever dream of needing. Because let’s face it you can’t have too many tools (can you?)

Two and a half months in, three weeks until the Christmas break, and we have been working in both the classroom and the shop to learn how to effectively use composite materials.  The work has centered on a process of learning in the classroom followed by instructor demonstrations before we are set loose to try on our own.

Hello again! I’m Abby Shenker, student in Digital Modeling and Fabrication. In my first blog post here, I wrote about how varied the students at IYRS are. This month, I want to talk a bit about what many of us have in common. 

Over the last month of Marine Systems, we’ve been super busy both in the classroom and out on the shop floor. We’ve been learning how to read plans, layout the different systems, create wiring diagrams to plan our wiring, price out simulated plumbing jobs, and install both electrical and plumbing on our simulator

As far back as I recall, I’ve always been fascinated by sailboats, observing their magnificent silhouettes crossing Narragansett Bay or escaping toward the Atlantic horizon. Coming to IYRS has not only returned me to my home state, but it has also brought me that much closer to one day building my own boat with which to explore the intricate coast of Rhode Island and beyond.

I first learned about IYRS as a high school aged kid who visited Rhode Island in the summers with his family. Back then, I thought to myself, wouldn’t that be a cool life: working on boats, living out my days near the water, using nautical terms. I could see myself forty years down the road, smoking a pipe with a salty, grey beard, saying things like, “hold fast” and, “jib sheet.” But I was young, scared, and I didn’t know anyone who did things like that. It didn’t seem possible.