How To Build A Skin-on-Frame Canoe, Essex Shipbuilding Museum, May 15th & 16th

May 13, 2009

When: Saturday and Sunday, May 15th and 16th, All Day
Where: Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main Street, Essex, MA

Ever wanted to learn how to build your own canoe?

If you have, the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, not too far down the road from Newburyport, is hosting a two-day program, How to build a skin-on-frame Canoe, with Hilary Russell of the Berkshire Boatbuilding School, on Saturday and Sunday, May 15th and 16th. There is also a two-hour overview on Friday evening, May 14th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The cost for the course is $175.

This is a wonderful opportunity to learn how to build your own canoe. Students will be given a list of materials, sources, and a step-by-step written explanation of the skin-on-frame building process, so that – with the aid of their own notes and photographs from this course – they will be able to build their own skin-on-frame canoe or rowboat.

Friday, May 14th: Students will meet at 6:30 – 8:30 Friday evening, become familiar with the shop, and set up for work the next day.

Saturday, May 15th: On Saturday morning students will install the ribs and in the afternoon they will lash the stringers to the ribs and stems.

Sunday, May 15th: On Sunday morning the group will glue in place the inwales and dry fit the backrest, thwart, stemband, and rubrails. That afternoon students will skin the canoe.

Depending on the number of students, the group will build one or possibly two boats, which will be raffled off at the end of the class, with a charge of $475 to cover cost of materials and milling.

For More Information

For more information about the course and to register for the course, please visit the Berkshire Boatbuilding School website.