Boatbuilders' & Sailors' Blog

2010 Youth Apprentice Program launched

Rod, Webmaster — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:39:09 +0000

The Spaulding Wooden Boat Center’s 2010 Youth Apprentice Program for high school aged boys and girls will offer a rewarding experience but also require a significant 11-hour per week commitment. New apprentices will begin at the boatyard the week of June 20th, 2010. The youth program is open to all high-school aged boys and girls. The deadline to apply is May 10, 2010.

Apprentices will learn the art and craft of traditional wooden boatbuilding working alongside professional boat builders in the oldest wooden boatyard in Sausalito. This year the youth boat project will be a one-of-a-kind wooden sailboat drawn in 1923 by Myron Spaulding and redesigned specifically for this program by Tom Wylie, a world-renowned boat designer.

Details are available at 2010 Youth Apprentice Program.

Engineering and visualizations by Douglas Frolich

‘Lightly Salted’ is launched

Rod, Webmaster — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:48:07 +0000

Lightly Salted, a Norwegian sailing and rowing pram built by the students in this year’s Youth Boatbuilding and Sailing Program, was launched with much fanfare at the Spaulding Center on Saturday.

Norwegian pram ‘Lightly Salted’ is born

Rod, Webmaster — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:34:58 +0000

Students and instructors who built "Lightly Salted"

Students put finishing touches today on the 12 foot Norwegian pram they’ve been working on for months. This is the second Norwegian pram built in the program. The first, Guppy, was built by the inaugural class in the program last year.

The students took a vote on what to name this year’s boat. The winner? Lightly Salted, chosen in honor of the potato chips favored by the students.

Norwegian pram progress as of September 17

Rod, Webmaster — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:56:08 +0000

Norwegian pram photo taken September 17

Destiny’s poem

Craig — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:39:15 +0000

A few of our students from last year have been dropping by to help us build. One of the “Guppy girls” from last year, Destiny Smith, was here this week helping with the planking and the stern thwarts. She wrote a lovely poem about her visit:

Finally Back!

The saw dust in the air,
And the salty bay near.
I look into the door,
I’m so glad I’m back here.

I walk into the dark building,
Stuck on De-ja-vu
“Oh! You’re back!” Craig says.
“Hello, Craig!” I reply, “Nice to see you.”

I watched for the first few seconds,
Then said, “What can I do?”
Craig looked at me,
And said, “We’re gonna plane it in a few.”

Once we finished planing,
We put it on the boat
To screw in the riveting holes.
Some of the wood was a mote.

But while I was drilling
Something bad occurred.
I drilled the drill into my shirt.
Not something I would have preferred.

Luckily I had a shirt under.
But the bad luck didn’t stop,
I got dolphinite on my arm.
And that made my hop.

We had to end early
At around 3:30 instead of 5
But my problem is,
My grandpa didn’t know, he was s’post to be my drive.

So I was stuck for an hour and a half,
with nothing to do.
Then, someone told me to write this poem.
This poem, I wrote to all of you.

The hull is finished!

Craig — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:31:03 +0000

We laid the final plank last week and removed the molds. GuppyII (working name until we launch her) is looking good with lovely lines. August will be a busy month to get her frames, thwarts and rigging installed. We hope to keep to our scheduled early September launch. Come by Spaulding on Tuesday or Saturday afternoons to watch, or lend a hand.

Youth Boatbuilding and Sailing students land-sail Guppy in Sausalito July 4th Parade

Rod, Webmaster — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:42:12 +0000

Students, volunteers and staff at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center took Guppy, the Norwegian pram built in our 2008 Youth Boatbulding and Sailing Program, for a sail through downtown Sausalito in the 4th of July parade.

Getting Guppy ready for her parade debut

More photos are on our main blog, Brightwork, at http://blog.spauldingcenter.org.

Photo of Norwegian Pram Progress

Rod, Webmaster — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:26:10 +0000

Here’s a photo showing progress on the pram as of May 6.

The 2009 class is off to great start

Craig — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:32:02 +0000

Year Two of the Youth Boatbuilding has started with a great group of new students and adult volunteers. This year we are moving at lightning speed with most of the students finishing their wood working projects in only two classes. Last week we constructed the strong back, which is the frame that will support the boat during construction. This week the students laid out, cut and shaped a keel plank of Alaskan yellow cedar. The keel plank is the foundation of our Norwegian Pram. When she is launched she will join Guppy, the pram we built last year as the beginning of the Spaulding small boat fleet. Next week will be working on the transoms and shaping new planks.

Open House for 2009 Youth Boatbulding & Sailing Program

Rod, Webmaster — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:52:25 +0000

The Spaulding Center will host an open house on March 14 at 1pm for the Youth Boatbuilding & Sailing Program that commences March 21 at the Spaulidng Center.

Students aged 12-18 will have the opportunity to build and then learn to sail a traditional wooden boat.

You can find information about the program at Youth Boatbuilding & Sailing Program. For further information, call Andrea at 415 332-3179.

Location: Spaulding Center in Sausalito
When: Saturday, March 14, 2009, 1 pm to 3 pm

Latitude 38 covers launch of “Guppy”

Rod, Webmaster — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:42:57 +0000

The December issue of Latitude 38 has an article about the November 8 launch of “Guppy” at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center. Click on image to view article.

Used by permission of Latitude 38.

“Guppy” launched at the Spaulding Center

Rod, Webmaster — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:03:05 +0000

The newly completed Norwegian sailing pram, christened “Guppy,” and built by our 2008 Youth Boatbuilding & Sailing Program, was feted and launched at the Spaulding Center this last Saturday. Well over 100 family and friends attended the launch party and BBQ on our docks.

Photos from the event are below and also in our Media Gallery.
Photo Slideshow (21 photos)
[[Show as slideshow]]

Photos by Rod Bauer

Guppy is ready to launch!

Rod, Webmaster — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:06:58 +0000

Launching of “Guppy” Saturday November 8

Please join the builders, friends and supporters of our Norwegian Pram, now named “Guppy,” for a festive and historic launch party and BBQ on our dock.

Festivities start at 11am.

Please RSVP for the BBQ to Mark Welther at mwelther [at] spauldingcenter.org, or call (415) 332-3179.

Find directions to the Spaulding Center at Visit Us.

The Spaulding Center is on Facebook and Twitter

Rod, Webmaster — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:48:38 +0000

If you’re on Facebook, come join us in the
Spaulding Wooden Boat Center Facebook Group

We’re also on Twitter as “woodenboat”

We finished the hull!

Craig — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:35:56 +0000

After 8 weeks we have finished the hull. This took a lot of work by everyone, laying the keel, attaching the transoms and shaping and riveting 8 planks.

Here is a little time lapse slide show of the the work we have done so far.

To see a larger version go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Javadad51/SpauldingBoatTimeLapse

It loads slow the first time through and you can change the sequence time to 1 second each for better show.

We will continue to work on the interior and rigging and I look forward to launching the boat later in in September.

Building the Pram Week Two — Four

Craig — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:12:55 +0000

The pram is starting to take shape. We have laid the keel plank, set the molds, attached the stern transom and riveted in our first two planks. Everyone seems to love the riveting, which is good, since we will have to set more than 350 copper rivets before the hull is finished. Next steps are to attach the bow transom, plane the two bottom planks and then work on shaping and riveting the remaining 6 planks.

Building the Pram – Week One

Craig — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:35:08 +0000

The first week of classes to build the Norwegian Pram started out great. I had built the “strongback” ( a frame that the boat will sit on during construction) the week before the first class. On Saturday, we had 16 students divided into two teams, On worked on lofting the curve of the keel and setting o up risers to hold it. The other team cut the keel out of one of our planks of yellow cedar. Each plank is 12ft long, 1/2 inch thick and 11 inches wide. On Tuesday we shaped the keel plank and cut the hole for the dagger board. Another team worked on creating templates for the transoms ( there are two on a pram) and the knees to attach them to the keel.

Polaris Sail

Craig — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:09:28 +0000

On Sunday, June 22, we took 12 students from the class sailing on Polaris, a restored 34-foot gaff rigged “pumpkinseed” sloop built on San Francisco Bay in 1906. We had some good winds at the gate and put Polaris’ rails in the water a few times. All the students and crew had a great time. Thanks to Captian Bill and Allan for their help. To see pictures go to Flickr.com .

Final Class of Phase One

Craig — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:58:51 +0000

I am sorry that I am just getting around to posting a few more pictures from our last class.

I wasn’t able to get photos of everyone with their project, the students all did great work!

Looking forward to the boat building phase in June.

Class Five

Craig — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:11:09 +0000

As we come to the end of this phase I am happy to see how nice the students projects are coming out and all the happy faces. During the break this week, all of the students had a lot of fun touring Polaris, a restored 34-foot gaff rigged “pumpkinseed” sloop built on San Francisco Bay in 1906.

Next week is the last class of this phase and we are all looking forward to starting building the Norwegian Pram in June.

Class Four Photos

Craig — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:39:51 +0000

Photos from Class 4 including Jonah demonstrating scarfing a plank .

Class Photos

Craig — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:32:49 +0000

Here are photos from Class Two and portraits from Class Three of some of the students who have finished their projects.

Class Two & Three

Craig — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:27:02 +0000

This is the third week of the class and everyone is having fun (well, I am a little exhausted keeping up with 18 students ages 10 –16). The students have all been great and, except for making me crazy rockin’ the docks during the break time, are joys to work with. We have been concentrating on building three basic woodworking projects: a toolbox, a step stool and a wooden mallet. Since we are using only hand tools, the biggest challenge has been to saw a straight line using a handsaw. The help I am getting from the adult volunteers has been invaluable. Thank you John, Jerry, Matt, Bruce, Geff, Ed, and Holly!

Having the class at Spaulding provides great opportunities to see the skills the students are learning in actual practice. This past Saturday I demonstrated using a hand plane, and then, during the break, Jonah from Spaulding was out in the yard working on his own boat using a hand plane to shape the end of a 25ft long mahogany plank!
I have posted pictures from the second class and the portraits of the students who have already finished the construction of their first projects.
“Hey students, make sure I get a picture of you with your project!

—Craig

First day of class April 5

Rod — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:08:47 +0000

These photos were taken at the first class meeting of the 2008 Youth Boatbuilding & Sailing Program at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito.